Press release

Government announces over £1 million to encourage people to support good causes

Two new projects to make it easier for people to give time and money to causes they care about have been launched.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

CAB 029-12 

The Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd has launched two new projects to make it easier for people to give time and money to causes they care about.

One project will match every pound given to local charities up to a total of £500,000 match funding. This will be run through Localgiving.com, a website specifically designed to support small, local charities and community groups. This latest match follows a very successful “March Match” of £375,000 which was matched in 72 hours by donations to small charities.

The second initiative, the Challenge Prizes, is a call-out for new ideas to inspire more people to get involved in tackling two specific social challenges. One prize will be given to the best idea for involving lots of people in giving better support to older people in their area. The second prize will go to the best idea for mobilising people to reduce waste in their communities. Volunteers can have a particularly powerful effect in these areas, for example, through helping to overcome the social isolation faced by some older people or by motivating people in the community to change their behaviour when it comes to waste management and making the most of community assets.

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society said:

We want to make it easier and more compelling for people to get involved in their communities. This includes working with business and charities to develop new models that will inspire more people.  Localgiving.com is a great platform that connects people with good causes on their doorstep.

The Challenge Prizes are an exciting opportunity to tap into the great creative energy in this country that wants to bring people together to make a difference. These new projects will complement the Innovation in Giving Fund and the Social Action Fund, already set up to encourage giving.

The Challenge Prizes will be run in partnership with Nesta, the innovation foundation. They will support the group of finalists selected following an open applications process to test their ideas over six months. The winner, judged as having the greatest impact over the following months, will receive a financial prize.

The Challenge Prize was first proposed in the Giving White Paper as part of the government’s commitment to developing new ways to make it easier for people to give time and money to good causes.

Notes to Editors

1. NESTA is the UK’s foremost independent expert on how innovation can solve some of the country’s major economic and social challenges. Its work is enabled by an endowment funded by the National Lottery and it operates at no cost to the government or taxpayer. NESTA is a world leader in its field and carries out its work through a blend of experimental programmes, analytical research and investment in early stage companies.

2. Localgiving.com is a website specifically designed to support small, local charities and community groups by providing easy to use online marketing and donation tools. The site helps local groups to promote themselves to donors by creating their own webpage highlighting their work and fundraising activities. Localgiving.com is the only website to enable those charities that are too small to register with the Charity Commission or OSCR to claim Gift Aid, boosting donations by 25%. Localgiving.com works in partnership with Community Foundations across the country ensuring charities on the website are checked and vetted.  This process brings peace of mind to donors who can be sure their money is going to a good cause and is mandatory if a charity wants to claim Gift Aid.

Published 8 May 2012