Proposals Sought For Centre For Charitable Giving And Philanthropy

Charitable giving and the distribution of such donations is an area that has previously lacked research. Much of the emphasis of previous research centres on the “who?” and “how much?” of charitable giving rather than contextual issues such as “why is a person motivated to give?.”

The Centre, which sees a total joint investment of £2.2million over 5 years, will support high quality independent research aimed at influencing policy and practice decisions in the UK as well as developing the necessary evidence base to better understand charitable giving and philanthropy issues.

Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive the ESRC, commented: “This exciting new Centre will build on the ESRC’s long tradition of providing high quality independent research which meets the needs of a wide range of stakeholders, allowing us to engage nationally and internationally in order to inform on and develop the charitable giving and philanthropic issues that really matter We look forward to working with the Office of the Third Sector, Carnegie UK Trust and the Scottish Executive to establish this new centre for charitable giving and philanthropy.”

Acting as a co-ordinating hub, the new Centre will bring together leading experts and stakeholders throughout the UK and beyond to develop independent research capacity and, through knowledge exchange, support the work of regional and national organisations who could benefit from the research.

As well as the co-ordinating hub, applications will also be sought for “spokes” for the Centre in the following areas:

– Individual and Business Giving – exploring the structure of individual / corporate giving, motives for giving, role of incentives and policies to encourage giving, role of the media as well as the relationship between giving and citizenship.

– Charitable Giving and Social Redistribution – including the investigation of whether charitable activity might mitigate or reinforce social and economic inequalities, understanding the role between fundraising and distribution as well as the relationships between those giving and those receiving.

– Institutionalised Giving Structures – exploring the structure of institutionalised giving including who creates them, and what is their impact as well as exploring how new forms of philanthropy can emerge and how can partnerships be developed between the state and charitable organisations in order to deliver on joint outcomes.

John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, within the Scottish Executive said: “The new Scottish government is delighted to support proposals for the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy. We are determined to improve the government's co-operation with the charitable sector.”

Millie Banerjee, chair of the Carnegie UK Trust said, “I am delighted that Carnegie is partnering with the OTS, Scottish Executive and ESRC on establishing the UK's first philanthropy research centre. As a foundation we believe there is a need for more rigorous research and development to inform philanthropic foundations as creative and intelligent funders.”

The full specification for the call can be found at: http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportunities/current%5Ffunding%5Fopportunities/

The closing date for full proposals is 14th August 2007.