City Matters Edition 058

Page 16 | 22 - 28 November 2017
Extra Matters
CITYMATTERS.LONDON
CITY PHILANTHROPY HEAD ON WHY GIVING ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE MONEY
Giving’s brand new game plan
EVERY November, the City’s new Lord
Mayor announces the charities that will
benefit from the Lord Mayor’s Appeal during
their year in the top job.
It is an honour that yields considerable
monetary gains for the chosen organisations,
which benefit from a 12-month multi-million
pound fundraising drive.
But earlier this week Charles Bowman did
away with tradition and announced that the
appeal would support three charities – the
Samaritans, Place2Be and OnSide Youth
Zones – over three years rather than an annual
partnership.
It’s a significant shift for the appeal, which
usually targets causes particularly close to the
Lord Mayor’s heart, and forms part of a raft
of changes to City giving, starting with the
appointment of City Bridge Trust’s head of
strategy for City philanthropy, Fiona Rawes.
Connections
Operating alongside head of engagement
Cheryl Chapman, Fiona will help connect
businesses with social causes, as well as
establishing more effective connections
between the private, public and not-for-profit
sectors.
“I think the role was established by the
Corporation as a statement of its intention
to harness its many assets that have a
philanthropic dimension and ensure that
collectively they amount to more than the sum
of their parts,” she says.
“[We] have become far more strategic about
the business case for supporting social causes...
there’s an increasing professionalisation
around philanthropy and a greater focus on
the evidence and causes.
“Giving isn’t just about money anymore, it’s
also about time and talent.”
It’s a positive outlook based on over 20 years
working in the not-for-profit sector in a variety
talking money: Fiona Rawes has been given
top job as head of strategy for philanthropy
of corporate partnership and directorial roles
for the likes of the British Red Cross, UNHCR,
and responsible small business network Heart
of the City.
This followed several years at City law firm
Withers LLP; a U-turn Fiona says established
“a strong foundation” for her new role “forging
cross-sector collaborations between not-forprofits,
government bodies and business”.
Key to facilitating this strategic approach,
according to Fiona, will be innovative
approaches to technology – particularly
crowdfunding – and a broader range of vehicles
for investment.
“We’re looking at moving beyond pure
donations and expanding into the social
investment space where there are a variety of
different financial vehicles in place to inspire a
broader range of donors to get engaged.”
Optimistic
She adds that this week’s announcement of
the new strategy for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal
will allow the current and future Lord Mayors
to work together “more intelligently” and
“provide considerable thought leadership” in
how best to support their various good causes.
“There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic in
the philanthropic space,” she says.
“There’s really heartening collaboration
taking place around philanthropy across
London, with the GLA and London Councils,
London Funders and ACF, London’s Giving
and Heart of the City all working to ensure a
more collaborative and joined up approach
across government, civil society as well as
business.
“I don’t underestimate the challenges… [but]
there are a lot of key factors coming together to
ensure we are working together as effectively
as possible.”
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