In 2018, GlobalGiving crossed $370M cumulative donations from more than 870,000 donors to 22,000+ projects in 170 +countries around the world. The year also marked the 10-year anniversary of its United Kingdom office, with over 82,000 UK-based donors having given more than £9.6 M in the past decade, including over £300,000 claimed in Gift Aid.
GlobalGiving’s UK-based team have been at the forefront of influencing a more transparent and bottom-up approach to aid and philanthropy. Having a continuous presence in the United Kingdom for a decade has enabled GlobalGiving to establish itself as the largest crowdfunding community for nonprofits, donors, and companies in the world. GlobalGiving UK has been supported by DFID, Nominet Trust, and National Lottery Community Fund. It has also established close relations with UK and European companies delivering successful grantmaking, skilled volunteering, disaster relief ,and company giving programmes, benefiting hundreds of nonprofits around the world. GlobalGiving’s UK charitable status has allowed UK taxpayers to add 25% to their donation through the Gift Aid scheme.
“Ten years ago, when we set up GlobalGiving UK, crowdfunding wasn’t even a term anyone was using in relation to fundraising. The landscape for digital fundraising has changed enormously over that time,” said co-founder and GlobalGiving UK Executive Director Rachel Smith.
“What hasn’t changed is our focus on decentralising philanthropy and aid to ensure the needs and priorities of the community are front and centre. I’m excited by GlobalGiving’s continued desire to innovate our model, to seek evidence on how and why the community-led approach is powerful, and to share our learning so we can transform how philanthropists, funders, and social changemakers work to put people first,” Smith said.
On March 13, GlobalGiving UK held an event, “Philanthropy Must Change: Putting People at the Centre of Giving,” at Goodwin Procter London office to mark their 10-year anniversary. Partner charities, donors, corporate partners, and the third sector all joined to mark the special occasion. A vibrant panel addressed the need for funders to be more accountable to community needs, and whether they should take more risks to better respond to these needs.
