High number of rejected funding applications

80% of applications to trusts and foundations are unsuccessful but only one third of UK trusts and foundations say they are receiving more applications, according to a report published by the Directory of Social Change.

Sector Insight: UK Trusts and Foundations suggests too that some funders are responding positively to an increase in applications by considering applications more frequently and awarding more grants. The report also shows that two thirds of funders either received fewer applications or are experiencing no change. However, the research also found that just 20% of applications to trusts and foundations are successful, and one third of funders never provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Author Tom Traynor says: "There is good and not so good news for fundraisers here. Our research shows that many funders are trying to maintain the level of support they give to their beneficiaries during difficult times by assessing more applications and increasing their grant expenditure. Overall trusts and foundations appear to be receiving fewer ineligible applications than in the past, but some suggest the quality of applications they receive is declining."

Observes Traynor: "Two thirds of the foundations we surveyed say they review their guidelines every year, but around 80% of applications either don’t meet their criteria or are simply unsuccessful. Two fifths of funders told us that they don’t engage with fundraisers before applications are submitted. We think being open to engaging with applicants before a formal application is made and providing some feedback on unsuccessful applications can help to reduce wasted time and effort on both sides.

"There are resource issues for foundations in doing this, as even very large foundations may only employ a few staff. However we think foundation boards should be asking themselves whether a bit more investment in communicating with applicants could benefit not just those who win the grant, but those who don’t."

Donations to reach £4.8bn in 2015

Research from Cambridge & Counties Bank reveals that three quarters (76%) of UK adults expect to donate £4.8bn in total to charity over 2015 at an average of £110 per person.. According to the findings, one in seven people (14%) say they will give more to charity this year. However, 4% have cancelled all their donations for 2015 while a further 15% (6.6m people) are reducing their charity donations this year compared to 2014.

On a regional basis, the South East had the highest percentage of people (81%) who gave to charities last year. Those in the West Midlands had the highest average level of donation to charities of any part of the UK (£151 per person).

With charities holding around 15% of their total assets in cash, the challenger bank warns that many of the cash deposit accounts targeted at charities are paying derisory rates of return. Its research reveals that 24% are paying a rate of 0.1% Gross AER or less on balances of £50,000 and that only 8% are paying 1.5% Gross AER.

Transport professionals raise high sum in Africa

Thirty professionals from the transport and logistics industry battled stifling heat, rugged terrain and unforgiving altitudes to raise a staggering £133,000 for international development charity Transaid – the largest sum ever raised for the organisation in a single challenge or event.

The cyclists pedalled an impressive 400km across Tanzania over five days in order to raise funds towards Transaid’s work developing safer and alternative transport systems, improving access to livelihoods and healthcare for people in Africa. Starting next to the famous Mount Kilimanjaro and ending at the beautiful Ngorongoro Crater, the participants faced steep inclines and overcame mental barriers, many pushing themselves further than they thought possible, for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Commenting on his experience of the challenge, Alan West, efficiency manager at DHL Supply Chain, says: “It was rewarding to see first hand how Transaid can support the transport infrastructure and safety in Africa. Although difficult, Cycle Tanzania was ultimately the most rewarding experience of my life and it allowed me to get involved in something so life changing.”

Transaid’s event manager, Florence Bearman, who took part in the challenge, says: “I am incredibly proud of the group for exceeding our fundraising goal, their own individual targets and for completing such a challenging ride. Our next Africa challenge is Cycle South Africa in early 2017 and I’m looking forward to raising the bar even higher.”

Petition about Charity Commission website

Law firm Withers' charity and philanthropy team has launched a petition to campaign for the reinstatement of the Charity Commission's old website. The Commission's site has changed as part of the introduction of the Government Digital Service, which has replaced the Direct.gov site. Withers says that in the process, several important pages of guidance are no longer available, and the firm has picked up a lot of anecdotal frustration from individuals in the charity sector with the usability of the new site.

Chris Priestley of Withers comments: "Through our work, as well as our own use of the new site, we have established that there is a widely held feeling that the new Charity Commission site is not fit for purpose. The changeover to the new Government Digital Service has meant that a lot of the guidance and information on the old site is no longer accessible, and the site is very difficult to search and navigate. Charities cannot be expected to follow the Commission's guidance if they do not have ready access to it, and we encourage all those in the charitable sector to support this petition."

Motor sport support for aircraftsmen's fundraising ride

Jaguar and TV personality Jodie Kidd stepped in to support fifteen sailors from the Royal Navy’s future flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, at London’s Guildhall. The team had cycled their way from Edinburgh to London, raising in excess of £4,000 for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, the principal charity of the Royal Navy. It exists to support sailors, marines and their families, for life. Last year it gave £8m to people most in need including serving personnel, veterans and families.

Joined by five industry partners from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the 20-strong cycle team set off from Edinburgh Castle on Saturday morning and, after covering 500 miles in just five days, was cheered across the finish line outside Guildhall by their supporters, including the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow.

Earlier in the day they stopped off at the Ministry of Defence to be welcomed by Admiral Sir George Zambellas, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, who presented them with donations from their naval colleagues.

Jaguar supported the team on the last leg of their epic cycle ride with a bespoke Team Sky Jaguar F-Type Coupé support vehicle, driven by Jodie Kidd, to give them a final boost to cross the finish line in full strength. The F-Type Coupé acted as a high performance support vehicle for Team Sky during the 2014 Tour De France.

Jodie Kidd, who is no stranger to driving Jaguar cars, having taken part in memorable driving performances in the 2014 and 2015 Mille Miglia races, says: “It was a privilege to drive the Team Sky Jaguar F-Type Coupé and accompany the guys to the finish line. They have worked really hard over the past few days and raised a lot of money for their charity.”

Big grant for teenage cancer charity

The Queen’s Trust has awarded a new grant of £427,500 to Teenage Cancer Trust to fund Find Your Sense of Tumour, a special conference for young people with cancer, as well as a number of other Teenage Cancer Trust support initiatives.

Consisting of two separate events at different venues on staggered dates, and also involving on-site workshops and activities, Find Your Sense of Tumour is the only UK conference for young people with cancer. It provides practical, emotional and social support, focusing on key issues young cancer patients face including topics like body image, fertility, relationships, isolation and living with an untreatable diagnosis.

The Queen’s Trust funding has also paid for the charity’s new patient guide, Honest Answers, Sound Advice: A Young Person’s Guide to Cancer. Other Teenage Cancer Trust support events to receive funding include mentoring programmes and The Way Forward event, which helps young people move on after their treatment.

In July 2013 the Queen’s Trust awarded Teenage Cancer Trust a grant of £300,000 over two years to fund, develop and evaluate Find Your Sense of Tumour and to pilot innovative new ways of delivering events regionally. This further grant for 2015-16 will enable Teenage Cancer Trust to run the conference this year and next, whilst also developing further programmes to support young people.

The Queen’s Trust was established in 1977 with the proceeds of a public fundraising appeal that raised a total of £16.4m. Its primary purpose is to "help young people help others". Since that time, well over £80m has been distributed. The trust is currently spending-out its remaining funds with a small group of charities, enabling them to realise key strategic goals. It is likely the fund will be closed by 2020.

Partnership project boosts Dundee youth volunteering

Youth volunteering charity ProjectScotland is set to step up its support for jobless young people in Dundee. The charity will increase the number of volunteering opportunities available for young people after securing an employability contract with Dundee City Council. Over the next year, ProjectScotland will support an additional 75 young people aged 16-30 through an intensive volunteering and personal development programme that will focus on getting each young person into work.

The programme will sit within the Dundee Employability pipeline, which helps jobless people overcome a range of challenges to help them get into work. It will give young people the opportunity to gain practical work experience in a field of their choice whilst volunteering with a local charity or not-for-profit.

Each young person on the ProjectScotland programme will be matched to a rewarding volunteering role. They’ll have access to a mentor, and be given one to one guidance from an employability manager who will advise them on CV writing, interviews skills, and job hunting.

Retail IT upgrade for charity

British Red Cross has completed the rollout of a major hardware upgrade across its 360-strong store estate via retail solutions provider Cybertill. For many years, British Red Cross has relied upon Cybertill’s specialist software to manage both its front-of-store EPoS transactions, including the automation of Gift Aid processes, and back office functions such as stock management. As part of its delivery of a complete POS infrastructure, Cybertill installed - and has since maintained - a full network of PC-based touch screen terminals from its partner J2 Retail Systems, now Aures Technologies.

Explains Mike Picken, head of commercial development at British Red Cross: “Of our original estate of J2 580RTs, the majority were still functioning well after 5 years. We’ve found them a very reliable and trustworthy machine which has certainly done the job. But time’s moved on and more powerful models are now available. We have over recent months upgraded to the J2 625 terminal in each store. This contemporary machine comes with a 2 GB hard drive and an Intel Dual Core Atom 1.86GHz D2550 Cedarview processor to provide the longest product life possible. It is known for its reliability and high performance."

Says Picken: “We wanted the same look and the same familiarity for our staff, many of whom are volunteers, and we’ve achieved this but with a more powerful machine. Staff are commenting how much faster the J2 625s are, and of course faster transactions mean faster service, which is positive.”

Muslim charitable principles powered by Muslim bank

Al Rayan Bank, formerly Islamic Bank of Britain, has announced its two official charity partners for 2015. The bank has named Human Appeal as its Overseas Charity Partner and the National Zakat Foundation as its Zakat Education Partner.

Human Appeal is a British international development and relief charity based in Manchester. The charity has a presence in 25 countries, spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Human Appeal has been delivering humanitarian assistance for 24 years, and, in addition to providing aid in times of crisis, the charity’s sustainable development projects promote self-sufficient and empowered communities in some of the world’s poorest nations.

The National Zakat Foundation was launched in 2011, and since then has collected over £2.4m of Zakat – a payment for charitable causes that Muslims are obliged to make every year if their wealth exceeds a certain threshold. It has used the money to support 2,280 individuals and families in need in the UK, and launch four supported housing projects.

The charity's beneficiaries include the homeless, refugees, asylum seekers, ex-offenders, single parents and victims of domestic abuse.

Sultan Choudhury, CEO of Al Rayan Bank, says: “We are privileged to be working with two outstanding British charities. Charitable donations and Zakat payments enable Muslims to physically and spiritually purify their wealth which exceeds what they need to provide the essentials to themselves and their families.

By working with charitable organisations such as Human Appeal and NZF, we believe that we can not only foster a greater understanding of Zakat but also deliver real and immediate help to those less fortunate than ourselves – both at home and abroad.”

This is the first year that Al Rayan Bank has partnered with Human Appeal, and the bank is supporting the charity by giving it a platform to communicate with its customers through mailings, branches and online.

This is the fourth year that Al Rayan Bank has partnered with NZF, and together they will continue to promote a greater understanding of Zakat amongst British Muslims, building upon existing knowledge by providing online and in-branch Zakat education resources for the bank’s customers. As part of the agreement Al Rayan Bank will communicate Zakat educational messages to its customers through a range of online and offline channels.

Zakat shares a common purpose with the principles of Islamic finance, which is to provide an ethical and socially responsible financial system for the Muslim community. Islamic finance seeks to achieve this with partnership-based financial principles which operate without interest(riba) and speculation. Zakat achieves this by empowering communities through the redistribution of wealth.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge to light up for charity

On 22 October Gateshead Millennium Bridge is to be the first landmark in Great Britain to be marked with the colours of a national charity. The British Polio Fellowship is to project the green and blue colours of its Post Polio Syndrome Day emblem on landmark buildings and structures across the UK, to raise awareness of PPS.

PPS Day aims to draw public attention and create awareness concerning the estimated 120,000 people living with the late effects of polio and PPS in the UK. This figure is believed to be similar to the number of people suffering from Parkinson’s or Motor Neurone disease, but only receives a fraction of public and medical awareness.

“For us to get the permission to do this campaign across the country is extremely encouraging, but to get the ball rolling with one of the most iconic structures in the country in the Gateshead Millennium Bridge is amazing,” says Ted Hill, CEO of the British Polio Fellowship.

“I would like to extend my gratitude to Gateshead Council and the people of Gateshead in general. PPS is a real and present debilitating neurological condition, yet the vast majority of people in this country aren’t even aware of its existence. The chance to promote awareness across the country on iconic buildings will help us do that.”

PPS Day 2015 is set to be held by the Welsh assembly as the British Polio Fellowship looks to build on its 75th Anniversary year celebrations at Westminster last year.

IN BRIEF

PARTNERSHIP. David Lloyd Leisure has entered into a two year partnership with the British Heart Foundation to raise £200,000 for the charity. Throughout the partnership David Lloyd Leisure staff will also be encouraged to support the BHF’s fundraising campaigns such as "Wear It. Beat it" in February 2016 and the charity’s flagship cycling event, the London to Brighton Bike Ride in June 2016.

CONSERVATION PROJECTS. Marine conservation charity Sea-Changers has announced grants to six UK marine conservation charities and projects ranging from £500 to £600 each. The money has been raised from cruise-goers, sailors, scuba divers, surfers and other sea-users. The chosen projects are of a practical nature such as: training of citizen inspectors to assist with enforcement of fishing regulations; education projects in schools and communities around the UK; marine habitat surveys and research to understand more about the health of important species.