How Can We Make Philanthropy Easy for High Net Worth Individuals?

An Interview with Anna Josse, CEO, Prism

“Charity is not like feeding pigeons in the square. It is a process that requires professional management.” Roman Abramovich, who has apparently donated more money than any other living Russian, ought to know a thing about what it takes to be a successful philanthropist.

With around ￡750,000,000 unclaimed every year in gift aid, it’s no wonder a charity like Prism, whose mission is to streamline the admin associated with large-scale charitable gifting, has been going from strength to strength.

I first interviewed Prism’s founder, Anna Josse, back in 2016. I wanted everyone to know about the great headway her ‘charity for charities’ has been making so invited her in for a cup of tea and a progress update.

What is Prism the Gift Fund? 

Prism the Gift Fund (Prism) is a registered charity whose mission is to increase the flow of funds into the charitable sector by making it as easy as possible for people to donate. We focus on the effective administration of giving by individuals, collectives and foundations who wish to make significant gifts to charities all around the world.

What services do you provide? 

One of our key services is to set up and manage Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), which are named, ring-fenced, charitable accounts within Prism, the funds of which can be distributed according to the wishes of the account holder/s. A DAF follows the same premise as a foundation and is a time, cost and tax effective alternative, enabling funds to be distributed swiftly and accurately to charities all over the world.

Prism has worked with a number of grant-making foundations who have decided to wind up and instead open up a DAF. This allows a quasi-board to continue to decide where to gift but removes the onerous responsibility of being a Trustee. Prism also provides back office administration for foundations.

For fundraising groups raising over ￡25,000 a year, we also provide a Collective Fund model, which is a unique and easy way to set up a charitable fund. These groups benefit from Prism's charitable status, and donations can be gift aided to support global initiatives. The model enables groups to focus on the cause while Prism provides the administration, compliance and governance.

Do you work directly with private clients or through intermediaries? 

Both. Clients sign up directly with Prism and we have contracts with them – both individual DAFs and Collective Funds. Clients refer clients; and then private client intermediaries – private banks, lawyers and accountants – all refer to Prism. In fact, we do a “lunch and Learn” with many of them to teach the rules around tax-effective giving, explain how Donor Advised Funds work, and to help everyone understand the language of philanthropy.

Tell us about some of the projects you are supporting through Prism.

Our year end is June and in June '18 we gave out ￡32m and had income of over ￡40m, distributed amongst a vast range of charities, including those working in the areas of emergency disaster relief, local community projects, environmental and animal welfare, and the arts and cultural heritage.

One of our roles is to carry out due diligence on charities and our June 17 accounts submitted to the Charity Commission show some of the projects we have supported. We align ourselves to the UN sustainable goals in terms of impact/output.

Is there a minimum you can invest? 

The minimum donation to Prism is ￡25,000. Most of our individual clients are gifting hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not multi millions.

Since we are a charity, people make donations to Prism – through, cash, shares, property, art or legacies. A balance of funds can be asset managed by the donor’s asset manager of choice. We currently have ￡90m being asset managed in a number of different structures, from traditional asset managers to hedge funds and bonds.

What's next for Prism? 

Since inception (2005) we’ve raised almost ￡200m. The board had a blue-sky session a year ago and we are aiming to reach ￡500m raised and to get more money out in the charitable sector all over the world.

Our core aims have remained consistent since we founded Prism, and we really do believe we can reshape how people enjoy philanthropy in this country. Although we’ve never really invested in marketing, we do now believe it’s our duty to spread the word about how easy it is to have a Donor Advised Fund. To encourage giving, to educate people to give and to make that as smooth a process as possible for people – that’s our vision and that’s where we’re heading.

Please note the value of investments and any income from them can fall and you may get back less than you invested. For information only and not to be considered financial advice. If you want help with your investment choices, we suggest you take financial advice, such as from a Sanlam financial adviser.