Press release
Corporate partners urged to provide unrestricted funding to charities
Corporate partners are being urged to support charities through the current funding crisis by providing funding to meet essential needs, according to a new report released today.
The new report from Benefact Group explores the last 12 months for the charity sector, from the end of lockdown, to the Ukraine conflict and cost of living crisis and offers practical advice and tips on how to foster genuine two-way relationships with corporate partners.
The findings draw on insight from beneficiaries of last year’s Movement for Good awards, who took part in two virtual roundtable discussions, as well as a survey of 250 charities.
The report finds that charities are struggling to fundraise while facing increasing demands for their services – leading to a cashflow crisis.
In response, 81% of charities want corporates to provide unrestricted funding so they can use the money to meet essential needs, such as the recruitment and retention of staff, like salaries and welfare benefits. Many corporate partners require charities to submit a bid for funds linked to a specific project or outcome. By lifting restrictions on how funds can be used, corporate partners can further aid charities in achieving their goals while still meeting their own corporate social responsibilities.
Coralie Hopwood from FarmAbility, one of the large grant winners who took part in the roundtables said: “To find unrestricted funding is gold dust to us, because we can use it flexibly and we can use it on our core endeavours. It means we can more easily adapt to changing circumstances as we go through the year.”
Among the issues cited by charities includes the challenge of recruiting staff (75%) with over a third (34%) saying that they have struggled to recruit over the past six months. This is despite improving their employee packages, including 43% offering a bonus scheme and two in five (40%) offering permanent flexible working.
The staffing challenge has been laid bare by the responses from charities, with one in five (21%) saying they are significantly understaffed and nearly three quarters (72%) responding to say they were moderately understaffed.
According to the survey, the lack of staff has directly impacted on the amount of funding charities are receiving as well as the amount of service users charities can support.
The report also found that almost three out of four (72%) of charities believe that the future of their charity is more in doubt today than it was before the pandemic.
Chris Pitt, Group Impact Director at Benefact Group, said: “At Benefact Group we believe business should be a force for good. In these challenging times, as charities struggle to cope with the impact of coronavirus, we think this is more important than ever.
“Owned by a charity, we make profits so that we can contribute to the greater good of society. While our model is different, we think all businesses can adopt this philosophy to some degree.
“We wanted to produce this report to help charities and businesses better understand how they can get the most of their partnerships. We’re incredibly grateful to our Movement for Good beneficiaries for sharing their experiences, inspiration and insight to help shape this guide. We hope this guide will help prepare charities and their business partners to better support each other in the uncertain days ahead.”
The Movement for Good awards is giving away over £1million this year. In June and September we awarded 500 charities a £1,000 donation. A further 120 £1,000 charitable donations will be given away in December.
The winners of the larger grants of £10,000 or more will be announced in October.
For more information about Movement for Good, including how to take part, visit www.movementforgood.com
Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group.
***ENDS***
Notes:
The Movement for Good report can be found here
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About the Movement for Good Awards
- Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards is giving away over £1million to help charities change lives for the better.
- 250 £1,000 grants were given away in June, a further 250 £1,000 grants will be donated in September, followed by 120 £1,000 grants which will be given away in December. £500,000 will also be given in larger grants later this year.
- The £1,000 awards launch on Monday 9 May and is open to all UK-registered charities. From 9 May anyone can nominate a registered charity at any time for the chance to receive £1,000.
- Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group.
- For more information visit movementforgood.com
About Benefact Group
- Benefact Group is an independent, specialist financial services group that exists to give all its available profits to charity.
- Owned by a registered charity, Benefact Trust, Benefact Group’s family of businesses provide specialist insurance, investment management and broking and advisory services in the UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland.
- Benefact Group is the fourth-largest corporate donor to charity in the UK, according to the UK Guide to Company Giving 2021/22. It has donated over £100m to charity since 2016 and is aiming to reach its target of giving £250m by 2025.
- Many businesses say they are different. Benefact Group really is. Find out why here benefactgroup.com
- The Benefact Group family of brands includes:
- Ecclesiastical UK
- Ecclesiastical Canada
- Ecclesiastical Ireland
- Ansvar UK
- Ansvar Australia
- EdenTree Investment Management
- SEIB Insurance Brokers
- Ecclesiastical Financial Advisory Services
- Ecclesiastical Planning Services Ltd
- Lycetts Insurance Brokers
- Lycetts Financial Services
- Lloyd & Whyte
