Boosting charitable giving

Whenever we write about charitable operations and charity giving, it is hard to get away from the fact that as a nation we are very generous in our support for charitable causes. This observation was highlighted yet again recently when the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) announced that donations paid via the foundation for 2015/16 reached ￡524m; the first time that the ￡500m mark has been breached.

 This represents an increase of ￡34m over the previous year with the total including a ￡4million boost from regular givers and ￡76million paid by employees through give as you earn schemes. Commenting on the figures CAF chief executive John Lowe said “This incredible level of support for good cause is befitting of one of the world’s most generous countries.”

 Of course, the level of donations received is only one side of the charitable story, with charities needing to control their internal costs in order to maximise the way in which they benefit good causes. Some of this cost control will come through good management but charities also need to keep an eye out for other forms of assistance which will help them to further their aims. For example, charities may be able to benefit from Google Ad Grants which offers charitable organisations free access to Google AdWords, subject to certain criteria.

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