Your report (“Wealthy trusts scrimp on charitable donations”, Report, October 24) on Pro Bono Economics’ research into grant-making trusts and foundations raises valuable questions about how charitable foundations distribute their assets and whether they could be doing more.
However, the piece seems to lean towards implementing mandatory minimum distribution targets in the UK as the answer to unlocking greater charitable giving. While this may seem an attractive solution on the surface, there are drawbacks to such a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
One way to ensure that foundations’ funds are more effectively deployed on good causes is an ongoing emphasis on good governance. Robust grant-making strategies, underpinned by investment policies and specific timeframes, will allow a foundation to harness its expertise and maximise its public benefit, rather than just focus on meeting a prescribed target.
This responsibility should sit with the charity trustees who should be allowed more credit for, on the whole, taking their responsibilities very seriously in these straitened times. Charity trustees should certainly be challenging themselves to do more, but mandatory spending requirements should not be relied upon as a silver bullet for more effective charitable giving.
Eleanor Sepanski
Partner, Boodle Hatfield, London SE1, UK