The Research Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CCGP) was launched in London on 1st October.

Phil Hope, as Minister for the Third Sector, said the centre “couldn’t have come at a more important time” in the light of worries about the economy. “Charitable giving is an important part of building stronger and cohesive communities, and there is still a lot of untapped potential to increase giving. What we want to understand is how we can make giving even more of a part of people’s lives.”

The centre will: provide independent research; create knowledge exchange between philanthropy practitioners and academics; develop and disseminate the evidence to influence policy; and advance the scholarship of giving.

The Centre operates as a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model, with three focus areas, or ‘spokes’, and a central hub, which is “dedicated specifically to sharing knowledge and research findings”:

• Individual and corporate giving: based at University of Strathclyde
• Social justice: based at the Universities of Southampton and of Kent
• Institutions of giving and philanthropy: based at Cass Business School and the University of Edinburgh
• Central hub: based at Cass Business School, University of Edinburgh and NCVO

Professor Cathy Pharoah, co-director of the Centre, said, “Along with co-director Professor Jenny Harrow, I am determined to use our expertise to raise awareness of the importance of giving and philanthropy in society today, and to help build a field of knowledge which will support practitioners, promote philanthropy and attract researchers.”

The centre is funded by the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Scottish Government and Carnegie UK Trust.