Philanthropy 2035 part 1: The State of UK Philanthropy

02 December 2025
10 minutes
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Philanthropy has always played a crucial role in shaping society as we know it. There are countless examples of how passionate philanthropists have used their wealth and knowledge to improve the lives of others.

Whether it’s Andrew Carnegie who funded the construction of 660 libraries across the UK and Ireland between 1883 and 1929, or more recently Marcus Rashford who not only made several significant donations to FareShare but also changed the national conversation about food poverty.  

Many organisations have recognised there is appetite and opportunity to grow philanthropy. Barclays and Beacon Collaborative’s recent research The Modern Philanthropist found that since 2020, giving amongst those with investible assets of over £1 million had an average annual growth rate in giving of 18% (when adjusted for inflation), reaching £11.3 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, regulators and government departments are developing their own initiatives to encourage and enable philanthropy.  

The Chartered Institute has been supporting such projects for several years, providing insight into what interventions would help charities reach and retain major donors. Now, we want to raise the profile of charities’ voices in these discussions and identify new solutions that will help fundraisers meet their goals. We are therefore working with members to answer a very ambitious question: What do charities want philanthropy to look like in 10 years? And how can government, charities and other stakeholders work together to make it happen? 

About the research

The philanthropic market is complex, comprised of many stakeholders from charities, professional advisors, government departments, and of course the philanthropists themselves. What’s more, it is sensitive to many external factors, including the macroeconomic environment, major geopolitical events, and evolving societal needs. If we are therefore going to influence it, it is essential that we dig deep into what an ideal philanthropic environment would look like.   

With his in mind, we are breaking down the research into four key parts:  

Members can read more about the research questions we will be exploring for each part in our blog Introducing philanthropy 2035.  

This first part outlines the key findings about the barriers and opportunities to grow philanthropy in the short-term, and the key actions we think should be taken immediately to lay the foundations for future growth.  

The State of UK Philanthropy

Shaping the future of philanthropy is only possible if we have a strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities charities and donors are facing right now. We carried out a series of semi-structured interviews with Directors and Heads of philanthropy at charities within our membership community to identify the key challenges holding them back from growing their major giving programmes. We then supplemented the findings with additional insight from the wider sector, including an in-depth literature review and interviews with thought leaders in philanthropy and professional advisors.  

The findings revealed a mixture of challenges, some of which can be addressed by charities themselves, whilst others will require support from other stakeholders such as professional advisors, government and infrastructure bodies. From this we have identified five key actions that we as the professional membership body for fundraising can lead that will bring the sector together that will help charities enhance their major giving programmes and strengthen initiatives to grow philanthropy in the long-term.  

The challenges

Accelerating relationship-based fundraising 

The most common theme from interviews was that charities aiming to grow and sustain their major giving programmes must shift towards relationship-based fundraising. This approach focuses on providing donors with a tailored, meaningful experience—moving beyond transactional giving to foster long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. Doing so would unlock a wide range of benefits for charities and donors alike, including:  

  • Improving retention of philanthropists; 
  • Unlocking larger and multi-year gifts and legacy gifts; 
  • Funding for riskier more transformational projects; 
  • Making giving a more fulfilling experience for philanthropists. 

This approach also aligns with philanthropists’ giving habits, which are highly personal to the individual and typically consist of many touchpoints with the charity. The Modern Philanthropist highlights that alongside cash donations, philanthropists will often engage with charities in a range of ways, with 56% of respondents saying they took part in a fundraising event, 34% organising a fundraising event and 28% engaging in campaigning and activism.  

Whatsmore, philanthropists’ giving will often evolve throughout the course of their life. Notably, a HNWI who has been supporting a charity for many years is likely to leave them a gift in their Will, in fact research from Remember A Charity and Savanta found that 50% of individuals with over £1 million in investable assets have included a charitable gift in their Will—rising to 75% among those with estates over £5 million. As such, providing philanthropists with blended giving proposals could unlock both short- and long-term income.  

Although the charities we interviewed recognised the value of relationship-based fundraising, they were conscious that organisations are at different stages of adopting it. Whilst there is no single way of embedding this approach into a fundraising team, and this will be dictated by the organisation’s resources and the offering to philanthropists, there are several factors that are integral to doing so successfully: 

  • Support from senior leaders and service delivery teams; 
  • Appointing the right key point of contact for each philanthropist; 
  • Retaining fundraising staff over the long-term to ensure donors have a consistent experience; 
  • Being ready to have in-depth and meaningful relationships about the charity and cause; 
  • Coming up with creative ways to personalise stewardship journeys; 
  • Breaking down siloes between fundraising teams and the wider organisation. 

Additionally, interviewees highlighted that buy-in from trustees and senior leaders is particularly important to building meaningful relationships with philanthropists. Unlike other areas of fundraising, there are no formal routes for charities to connect with HNWIs, rather, they meet them organically at events, by the philanthropist approaching them, or through an introduction from a professional advisor. As such, trustees and senior leaders can play a pivotal role as ambassadors for their charity, taking the opportunity to champion it to HNWIs within their network.  

Charities who struggled to adopt a relationship-based fundraising approach highlighted that this was typically due to a lack of time and resources to give donors a holistic and fulfilling experience. Equally, they were concerned that many senior leaders do not understand the amount of time it takes to build authentic relationships with supporters, meaning fundraisers feel under pressure to make an ask prematurely.  

This challenge is not unique to major giving programmes, our Breaking down barriers to innovation report also underlines the importance of trustees and charity senior leaders understanding fundraising to create new and meaningful ways to connect with donors. As such, we believe that there needs to be a sector-wide initiative to educate and encourage trustees and senior leaders to build up their knowledge of fundraising.  

Building relationships with professional advisors

Although interviewees noted that professional advisors have always played a role in supporting philanthropists, they thought they were becoming more influential throughout a donor’s philanthropic journey. Indeed, The Modern Philanthropist found that 81% of respondents thought it was very or extremely important that professional advisors proactively raise the topic of philanthropy. In particular, 84% wanted more advice on how to structure their giving to maximise efficiency, and 79% confirmed that tax-efficiency influenced their giving decisions.  

But despite the clear appetite amongst donors for support from professional advisors, only 33% of respondents reported that a financial advisor had broached the topic with them, and only 23% said their relationship manager with their bank initiated the conversation. According to the professional advisors we interviewed, these trends are likely driven by a lack of understanding of philanthropy as well as a reticence to engage in conversations about charitable giving.  

The charities we spoke to recognised that more work needs to be done to build relationships with professional advisors. They felt that there were more lessons to be learnt from legacy giving, where charitable prompting from solicitors and Will-writers has become commonplace thanks to shared-valued partnerships. However, it was challenging to identify a similar product or structure that could apply to lifetime giving, although some charities have found success by organising events where professional advisors can bring their clients. As we move forward with this project, we will explore additional opportunities to build shared-value partnerships between charities and professional advisors that could support lifetime giving.  

Equally, there have been calls to mandate philanthropy training through the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) so all professional advisors have the tools and knowledge to engage in values-based conversations with their clients and highlight the fiscal benefits of charitable giving. Achieving this, however, will require significant legislative change. Whilst this is in progress, it is therefore crucial we look at how to raise awareness amongst professional advisors about the benefits of talking about philanthropy with their clients.  

When we discussed how to go about doing this with interviewees, many highlighted the need to re-address the dynamic between charities and professional advisors. Interestingly, both groups thought that the other was putting their own interests first, or that they did not understand the challenges and pressures they face. As such, it is essential that we look at initiatives that build empathy and understanding, so charities and professional advisors are aware of the challenges the other face and can work together to provide philanthropists with a stronger experience.  

Working with Donor-Advised-Funds

Donor-Advised-Funds (DAFs) have become increasingly popular giving vehicles that offer philanthropists a range of benefits including immediate tax deductions, flexible gifting options and the opportunity to invest and grow their philanthropic capital. In fact, it is estimated that in 2023, contributions to DAFs totaled £856.2m.  

Whilst many of the charities we interviewed recognised that DAFs are an important and effective way for philanthropists to structure their giving, they also faced several challenges when receiving gifts from them. Firstly, the anonymity DAFs provide donors can make it challenging for charities to carry out the appropriate due diligence in line with their gift acceptance policies. Secondly, they felt more capital from DAFs could be mobilised to support good causes and there is a need to review options such as minimum annual payouts. This is something we will explore further in future phases of research.  

Creating a national culture that celebrates and encourages philanthropy

Many interviewees believed that negative stories about philanthropy in the media were holding many HNWIs from becoming philanthropists. The impact of such stories is twofold - firstly, HNWIs are reticent to give for fear of ‘getting it wrong’ and attracting criticism. Secondly, it discourages current philanthropists from talking about their giving publicly, meaning the sector loses out on the opportunity to promote philanthropy to a wider group of people.  

It is therefore essential that we consider how to curate and promote positive stories about philanthropy in the media. To explore how to achieve this, we looked at two contrasting stories about philanthropy in the media, one negative and one positive.  

Negative philanthropy story: Emmys’ charity stunt slammed as ‘vile’ by outraged viewers

This article talks about the public backlash to comedian Nate Bargatze’s stunt at the 2025 Emmys, where he announced that he would donate $100,000 (£73,626) to the Boys & Girls Club of America, however, the total amount donated would drop if winners spoke for longer than their allotted time during their acceptance speech. 

Although some may consider this simply dark humour or argue that the charity still benefited from the publicity, it does reinforce some of the negative perceptions around philanthropy. By gamifying the total amount given to charity, it diminished both the importance of the cause in question, and the impact such large gifts can have on tackling social issues. 

Positive philanthropy story: School visits to UK museums hit by ‘shortage of means’, philanthropist says

The article focuses on the work French philanthropist Frédéric Jousset has done to improve access to museum for children. Alongside the projects he has funded, which include supporting 100,000 museum visits, including school transport costs, for children around the UK, the article focuses on the decline of statutory arts funding and the challenges creating by the rising costs of travel. It also shines a light on Jousset’s motivations to give: his mother, who was a chief curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. 

This story is an excellent example of the key messages interviewees want to see promoted in the media. It shows that philanthropy is not a simple financial transaction, but a driver for social change fueled by a HNWI’s generosity and personal values.  

As we move forward, it is identifying and promoting more stories that highlight these messages will raise awareness of the social benefits philanthropy has to offer and ultimately encourage more HNWIs to become philanthropists themselves. Fortunately, there are countless examples of how philanthropy has shaped our society, from donations to fund AI research to building hospices for local communities. The next step is therefore to source these stories from charities and identify the appropriate channels and opportunities to promote them.  

Staying up to date with the latest developments in philanthropy

There are currently a range of initiatives aimed at growing philanthropy, some of these include:  

  • The Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) is developing a local giving strategy to tackle regional inequality; 
  • The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has created a National Philanthropy and Giving Strategy; 
  • The Charity Commission is working to promote philanthropy nationally by publishing more impact-driven data and sharing stories about the impact of philanthropy; 
  • Several groups are lobbying the FCA to make philanthropy training mandatory for professional advisors; 
  • Remember A Charity is building stronger relationships between philanthropists and professional advisors to grow legacy giving.  

These projects all have the potential to create step-change that makes philanthropic giving more accessible and fulfilling, however, awareness of these projects and their progress was low amongst interviewees. Turning this around would mean charities could use their knowledge and networks to drive the initiatives forward, whilst also ensuring charities have the relevant knowledge and insight to plan for the future.   

The five actions

Many of the challenges we identified will require long-term cultural change both within the philanthropic market and at a wider national level. Although this will take time and is only possible with buy-in from all stakeholders, we recognise that as the professional membership body for fundraisers, we can play a key role in bringing the relevant players together to build empathy and understanding that will ultimately strengthen new and existing initiatives to grow philanthropy.  

We have therefore identified five actions we can take in the next 12-18 months that will lay the foundations for a growing, impactful and sustainable philanthropic market:  

Calling for cross party support for philanthropy

The creation of a dedicated philanthropy team within DCMS and more recently an Office for the Impact economy within the Cabinet Office have the potential to create a real step-change in how government enables and encourages philanthropy. Alongside developing targeted initiatives to encourage more HNWIs to give, such as the soon to be announced place-based giving strategy led by DCMS, they can help government departments take a more joined-up approach to philanthropy.  

To ensure these initiatives maintain momentum, it is essential that all political parties understand the value of philanthropy to society, the role it can play in achieving their policy objectives, and make a commitment to work with the sector to sustain and build a strong infrastructure that makes HNW giving accessible and fulfilling.  

With this in mind, we will be working with our members to grow support for philanthropy across all political parties. 

Educating charity leaders on relationship-based fundraising

Buy-in from trustees and charity senior leadership teams is a crucial next step towards ensuring organisations are set up to build and steward HNW relationships. Doing so will open up opportunities to strengthen major donors’ overall philanthropic journey, such as presenting them with blended giving proposals, or improving impact reporting.  

Of course it is not only major giving programmes that will benefit from greater support from leadership. From discussions with our members, all areas of fundraising would be significantly enhanced if they were able to build more collaborative relationships with teams in their organisation. As such, our newly created ‘Championing Fundraising Advisory Panel’, will be tasked with developing new ways to raise awareness about the importance of investing in fundraising amongst boards and senior leadership teams so charities of all sizes can become more financially resilient.  

Working with the Major Donor Special Interest Group to build stronger relationships between charities and professional advisors

The Major Donor Special Interest Group have unparalleled insight into the challenges fundraisers are facing and have been very successful in organising events that highlight best practice. There is now an opportunity to build on their knowledge and network to improve relationships between charities and professional advisors.  

The Chartered Institute’s policy team will therefore work more closely with the group to develop resources and forums that help charities and professional advisors understand each other's pressures and priorities, with the aim of identifying new ways of working that give philanthropists a more robust experience. Such collaboration has already proven effective with other volunteer groups. In particular, this year we co-created a guide to help business adopt Payroll Giving and use the scheme to strengthen their social impact. Similar resources aimed at professional advisors could be created to help them talk about charitable giving with their clients.  

Promoting positive stories about philanthropy

There are countless examples – past and present – that showcase how philanthropy improves society. In the past, we have explored how to promote these stories through a dedicated philanthropy campaign, however, we were unsure if this would reach the right audiences and generate the impact we wanted.  

Instead, we are looking to develop an ‘always on’ approach, where we identify key moments in the national calendar, such as sporting events or religious celebrations and connect them to stories about philanthropy. This would then be an iterative process, working with our members to source the relevant examples and identifying the appropriate channels and media outlets to promote them.  

We would then share our learnings with other groups who share our goal of growing philanthropy (such as the Charity Commission and Remember A Charity) so together we can identify new and exciting ways to influence societal views about giving. It would also open the door to promoting other forms of giving, such as regular giving programmes or volunteering.  

Launching a Philanthropy 2035 hub

With so much change happening across the philanthropic market, it is vital that fundraisers and charity leaders can stay up to date with key trends shaping philanthropy, and how existing policy initiatives are progressing. They can then use this information to adjust their major giving programmes and plan for the future.  

To facilitate this, we will be launching a Philanthropy 2035 hub that will include:  

  • Outputs from our research; 
  • The latest data and trends shaping philanthropy; 
  • Thought leadership pieces about how to encourage best practice within major giving;  
  • A philanthropy policy tracker that explains how long-term projects are progressing. 

What next?

We will keep members up to date with how these actions develop through our Philanthropy 2035 hub and member-only newsletters.  

In the meantime, we will be connecting with members and sector experts to identify new actions and recommendations that will grow an impactful and sustainable philanthropic market over the next 10 years. We invite all our members to get involved by signing up to one of our workshops.  

On top of this, anyone who shares our goal to grow philanthropy is invited to have a 121 call with our policy team. To get in touch please email policy@ciof.org.uk.

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