Great British Philanthropy: Growing a fellowship of donors to support local communities

This report documents the result of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s decision to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2011 by making a significant investment in UK Community Foundations. The funding enabled community foundations in nine parts of Britain1 to focus additional time and resources on philanthropy development work. By building a unique network of established and emerging donors, ‘The Philanthropy Fellowship’ had the twin goals of encouraging a stronger culture of philanthropy, whilst strengthening local communities. Over 200 people seized the opportunity to become ‘Philanthropy Fellows’, and a further 1,500 engaged as ‘friends’, by joining in aspects of the stimulating programme that appealed to them. As a result of this three-year investment, community foundation staff were able to work more closely with their donors to help them become more generous and more effective philanthropists; it is estimated that over £25 million of new funding was subsequently unlocked to benefit local communities across Britain.