Sector organistions have broadly welcomed the Government's Giving White Paper published today.

ACEVO, NCVO, CFDG, CAF, IOF, Volunteering England and the Philanthropy Review all welcome the paper, albeit with different levels of qualification.

The Social Enterprise Coalition's Peter Holbrook and the DSC are the most critical. Holbrook argued the Government needs to create a bolder package of measures to encourage social investment. The DSC warned the paper devotes scant attention to improving charitable giving from Britain's companies.

ACEVO: Still major gaps in the Government’s plans

The charity leaders’ body, ACEVO, welcomed Government’s plans outlined in the paper to make giving both ‘easier’ and more ‘compelling’, but said Government still needs to “fill in the gaps” in their plans for building Big Society as identified by last week’s Commission on Big Society report.

Plans outlined today in the Government’s Giving White Paper cover both measures to increase giving and social action in the UK, including the introduction of a social action fund and reforms to the gift aid system, but ACEVO said whilst this is good news for the sector it will not fill the £1bn funding gap that the voluntary sector faces in the year ahead.

The final report by the cross party Commission on Big Society (established by ACEVO) found that only 13% of the public thought the government had a clear plan for building big society, and called for a variety of steps to ensure all parts of Whitehall pull their weight on the Prime Minister’s priority agenda.

The report, Powerful people, responsible society, also called for a sea change in how businesses approached the Big Society agenda, in particular banks, calling on UK banks to commit a minimum of 1% of their pre tax profits to charities.

On the Giving White Paper, Dr Peter Kyle, acting CEO of ACEVO, said: “Cameron’s speech and the Government’s White Paper on Giving will be welcomed by much of the voluntary sector today. But there are still major gaps in the Government’s plans which our sector will be looking to be filled.

“Our cross party Commission on Big Society pointed to a number of those gaps, calling on Government to outline how the agenda will be more joined up across Whitehall, how it will gain stronger engagement from the private sector, and how big society will work in deprived communities.

"The White Paper is a great step forward, but the Government still needs to answer these questions.”

NCVO: Range of innovative approaches

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said of the White Paper: "The giving of time and money is an important expression of our values and beliefs as a society. This paper draws together a wealth of intelligence on what can be done to stimulate greater levels of giving and participation in the UK.

"It is encouraging that the government has considered a range of innovative and varied approaches to remove barriers to the giving of time and money and targeting underrepresented groups.

"The Government’s ideas around leading by example – encouraging Ministers and Civil Servants to volunteer and opening up the government estate and websites - are also very positive.

"We are pleased to see that our Funding Commission’s recommendations for an infrastructure fund have been taken on board.

"Local support organisations play an essential role in developing the skills, capacity and knowledge of frontline organisations, so this fund will help them to adapt and modernise to best cater for their needs.

"Establishing a central online resource bank will also make it easier for frontline organisations to access useful information and resources.

"The proposal to prioritise impact reporting is also very promising; this echoes our Funding Commission’s first recommendation and will be key to building a sustainable voluntary sector."

Etherington noted that despite the difficult financial climate more than half of the population still give to charity every month.

"This shows the high levels of public trust and confidence that charities enjoy and represents a good base to build on.

"We look forward to working in partnership with the Government and the sector to take this activity forward as we work towards the Giving Summit in the Autumn, and hope that it will help to bring about a culture shift in giving and social action."

CFDG: commends themes in the Giving White Paper

The Charity Finance Directors’ Group welcomed the recognition of the importance of tax incentives to encourage giving and support for the Funding Commission’s recommendations outlined in the White Paper.

CFDG though highlighted concerns that some of the ideas presented lacked teeth in terms of the real impact they could have on the sector and on giving culture in the UK.

Caron Bradshaw, CEO of CFDG, commented: “I am encouraged by the way the Government appears to have taken on board the views of the sector on specific areas and issues covered by the Green Paper.

"In particular, the recognition of the importance of tax incentives to promote giving and the value of making use of current infrastructure should be welcomed by the sector.

"By supporting the Funding Commission’s recommendations for an infrastructure fund, the Government is sending out a positive message that it is willing to work with existing structures and take on the expertise and experience from within the sector as it develops these areas.”

CFDG is pleased that there is a continued emphasis on impact reporting in the Giving White Paper which acknowledges the barriers and limitations for many organisations.

Bradshaw added: “The Giving White Paper has remained solid in its commitment to impact reporting but appears to have taken on board that there needs to be more support for charities if they are to develop in this area.

"CFDG is passionate about developing impact reporting, transparency and accountability within the sector, but we feel that it is important for Government both as an advocate and audience to this information, to understand the barriers and that it needs to be proportionate.

"There is much more to be done here and we are pleased that the Government wants to open discussions with the sector on this area as part of their Giving Summit.”

Charities Aid Foundation: Tangible progress

John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) said : “The Government has made tangible progress towards creating a coherent plan to encourage charitable giving in the UK.

"While recognising that much of the development must be by charities and social entrepreneurs, Government has put its support behind excellent ideas such as improved access to local philanthropy advice and networks, and enabling donations through government websites.

“CAF asked Government to support innovation in the sector and they have responded with the Challenge Fund. Together with the Social Action Fund, this new investment should help the best ideas in the field grow and scale up. These are very welcome initiatives.

Low also noted that as well as providing support and investment, the Government can, and should, be leading by example.

"While the move to encourage Ministers to volunteer is a step in the right direction, Government could have encouraged them to pledge money as well as time, helping to shape social norms around giving.

“We are pleased that the role of tax incentives has been acknowledged and look forward to working with Government to encourage greater use of these important reliefs, including payroll giving.

"However, we hope that reform in this area will continue and that Government will not miss the opportunity to further charitable giving through initiatives such as Lifetime Legacies.”

IOF: Big step in the right direction; though missed an opportunity

The Institute of Fundraising said of the Government’s Giving White Paper: "This is a big step in the right direction towards creating an active giving culture in the UK.

"It is imperative that Government continues to support, promote and work in partnership with both the voluntary sector and commercial businesses if we are to turn these first changes into a sustainable reality.

"For example, it is vital that Government maintains the pressure on local authorities to ensure that charities and the voluntary sector are not disproportionately affected by cuts. It also needs to ensure that its plethora of different initiatives are joined up and working together.

"Creating a giving culture is about making sure that all groups can maximise the role they have to play. This is why Government must ensure that there remains a level playing field for all groups, be they big or small, and that new initiatives similarly benefit all charities.

"We think the Government has missed a golden opportunity to do more to invest in fundraising and the professional skills of fundraisers. It needs to more fully reflect the key role that fundraising has to play in creating a sustainable giving society.

"Furthermore it is disappointing that there is no evident push from Government to encourage and increase legacy giving amongst donors in the UK."

Volunteering England: Practical support to local infrastructure

Volunteering England chief executive Justin Davis Smith said: “The White Paper deserves to be warmly welcomed by the volunteering movement. It promises to make a positive advance in how people volunteer in our society and in how organisations support them.

“The White Paper meets a key objective put forward by the volunteering sector for central government to give practical support to local infrastructure.

“It establishes a trajectory for volunteering which manages to be both inspirational and pragmatic. It challenges volunteer involving organisations to think creatively, whilst offering practical support drawing on current innovations and on the lessons of experience.“

Infrastructure fund
The White Paper proposes an Infrastructure Fund to support front-line local volunteering organisations.

“I am very pleased we can now see the Government’s serious and practical commitment to local infrastructure,” said Davis Smith.

“Sustaining and developing local support services for volunteering is crucial for the Government’s policy agenda and for the volunteering movement as a whole.

“We look to the new fund to encourage more effective and sustainable networks of Volunteer Centres, work on which the networks and ourselves in Volunteering England have made progress during the past decade.

“The fund will prompt fresh approaches and will strengthen the ways Volunteer Centres and existing infrastructure bodies are successful in developing and brokering voluntary action in their communities. It will need to support best practice in the variety of local situations.

“The proposals for coordination and collaboration in local infrastructure, for stronger partnerships with local businesses and local public services as well as among local civil society organisations will be seen as realistic and helpful in shaping sustainable futures.

“The inclusion in the Infrastructure Fund of support for training volunteer managers will be a useful contribution to strengthening the profession. We know that the quality of volunteers’ experience and the development of new opportunities are founded on the quality of volunteer management. “

Social action fund
The White Paper proposes a Social Action Fund which will respond to proposals on key opportunities.

“The £10 million in the Social Action Fund will generate huge interest as it touches on numerous pressure points for volunteering organisations," said Davis Smith.

"I am delighted it builds on the excitement generated by the London 2012 Games to encourage people inspired by the Games to take up other volunteering opportunities and to create a lasting legacy.“

The Philanthropy Review: Government is serious about philanthropy

The Philanthropy Review applauded the Government for translating its promise to foster a greater culture of philanthropy into tangible action with the publication today of the Giving White Paper.

But warned that much more needs to be done to simplify giving and to redress the imbalance between the generosity of those who have least and those who have more.

Thomas Hughes-Hallett, Chairman of the Philanthropy Review said: “Today’s publication of the Giving White Paper shows that the Government is serious about keeping its promise to foster a greater culture of philanthropy, but we still have a long way to go, not least by encouraging leadership by example.

"We call on Government to continue to introduce new measures to encourage more people to give and people to give more. The question of lifetime legacies for example, and whether they hold the key to unlocking significant contributions from the high net worth community, remains unanswered.”

The Philanthropy Review particularly welcomes the Government’s commitment to:

Offer match funding for school-based giving programmes – we must invest in the children of today as the givers of tomorrow if we are to build a stronger culture of philanthropy;

Shine a light on payroll giving so that more employers offer this means of giving to charity, and more employees have the option to donate through their payroll;

Taking the lead in tackling severe limitations of available data on giving levels and trends.

The Philanthropy Review is due to launch its findings in June 2011.

Social Enterprise Coalition: open the gates for social investment

Peter Holbrook, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition, was the most critical.

He said: “While we all want a more giving, kinder society, individuals donating and volunteering simply won’t fill the gaping hole in the economy needed to support those who are unwell, vulnerable or disadvantaged.

"Individual giving can only supply a fraction of the capital needed to deliver the huge weight of expectation the Government is placing on civil society.

“It is unrealistic to expect the public to help pick up the pieces when unemployment rates are rising and people are being squeezed. Taxpayers should not be expected to step in and plug the hole where national and local government grants once were – they’re being asked to pay twice.

"Nor can we expect charities, many of which are relied on by the state to deliver public services, to count on individual donations.

“Instead businesses and investors should be encouraged and enabled to spend and save their money in a way that helps.”

Holbrook said that the Government needs to create a bolder package of measures to encourage ‘social investment’ - private investment into social and environmental solutions:

“Existing measures including Community Interest Tax Relief and the Big Society Bank are very well, but they’re not enough. If the Government is serious about creating a Big Society then it needs to draw in the business and finance world.

"Government needs to develop a broader set of levers and incentives to attract private capital to tackle deep-rooted problems that are traditionally solved by reliance on the public purse.

“For generations charities have been relied upon to tackle the UK’s social and environmental issues, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Rather than looking to what has always been done, the government has an opportunity to change the UK system. It is ill equipped to deal with the challenges our country is facing.”

DSC: Little sign of Government action to boost giving from companies

The white paper devotes scant attention to improving charitable giving from Britain's companies, warned the Directory of Social Change.

The average value of donations from the most generous companies to charity, expressed as a percentage of their pre-tax profits, is only 0.4% over the past decade.

Overall, companies only provide around 5% of total income for charities and voluntary organisations - far less than the general public or government agencies.

DSC's head of Policy Jay Kennedy said: "Looking at all the sources of support for charities, and company contributions probably have the greatest potential for growth.

"For companies that do give, there is plenty of scope to give more and to give better. But the even bigger potential lies in getting those companies that currently give nothing to start."

Kennedy acknowledges that most companies exist to make a profit not to support charity. But he argues that in the modern age, customers, staff and the general public increasingly expect companies to demonstrate social responsibility, and that donating to charity is a widely recognisable way of doing so.

"One way to get companies to do more could be to harness their natural competitive tendencies to drive up their giving. Government could clearly play a role by encouraging companies to give at least 1% of pre-tax profits, and by recognising the most generous, perhaps through the Big Society Awards.

"Government could also help ensure that company reporting of giving to charity is more transparent and meaningful.'

"However, there's nothing in the Giving white paper to suggest that even such light-touch measures are on the table, other than a vague statement about 'exploring the idea of a kitemark scheme'. They talk about reforming Payroll Giving, but that is mainly about donations from staff not the company itself.

"There are a number of good ideas in this paper, but the lack of clear and rigorous commitments around improving company giving is a glaring omission, which the Government needs to address."

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