Who wants to be a secret millionaire?

There is a long-held cultural belief that anonymous giving is good:

“When you give to the needy,

do not announce it with trumpets”

Matthew 6:2

An anonymous donation means someone wants to give money to a cause and doesn’t want or need any recognition for their generosity. Sounds very altruistic, however, there are a mixture of reasons for either staying anonymous or making your donation public and they don’t fall neatly into good or bad.


Giving anonymously keeps the attention on the cause and not the donor. It means the individual avoids getting swamped with further requests for money and may help reduce the risk to their personal safety. But it does mean that they escape public scrutiny of their giving. This may be a significant factor in their decision, especially if they are funding something controversial or something that falls outside of their associated public profile.


For those who ‘trumpet’ their giving, going public may bring recognition and status. Donors declaring their charitable gifts are taking a risk when they make this public expression of their personal values – literally putting their money where their mouth is. Their open support can lend credibility to a cause and inspire others to give. This is certainly the case with the ‘giving pledge’ for the super-rich but also works for other philanthropists. I recently met with one who said they give openly because they want to be a role model and encourage others like them to give.


But what about the charities getting these gifts? Getting a no-strings attached cheque in the post has a certain appeal, but actually it can put charities in a difficult position. First of all, they miss out on building a relationship with the donor and benefiting from the other help they could bring: credibility, leverage, expertise. And truly anonymous gifts, trigger an ethical discussion. In the Institute of Fundraising’s ‘Donation Acceptance & Refusal’ guidance it states that gifts over £25k must be reported to the Charity Commission because of the issues of money laundering and other criminal activity. A quick Google search brings up several examples of organisations having policies refusing anonymous gifts as “the risks of accepting a gift with no idea of its provenance are too great” (see link below).


So whilst there may be a strong cultural pressure to be humble and shun the spotlight, there are a number of good reasons for donors to be open that may actually benefit your cause more.


http://alumni.reading.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=912

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