Episode 13: Philanthropy – Behind The Scenes

In our last episode, we looked at some of the principles behind Philanthropy. Today, we delve further into the world of giving by examining how Charities apply these principles practically. We are joined by two respective experts: Edward Thomas of Oxfam and Julian Withers of Jessie May. Need a quick reminder of the principles discussed in the last episode? You’ll find just that at 1:45 into this episode. At 2:46, you’ll hear Chris and David’s views on ‘Chugging’, and David’s well-honed script for such instances. At 4:15 we have our Tweets from Financial Planners, with thanks this time to @davidpenney10, @philbillingham and @nicksdd1 – the last of whom gave us the wonderful line “It’s only a bargain if you really need it.”.

At 6:20, we have our first interview. Edward Thomas of Oxfam works in the Fundraising Department, with a specific focus on Philanthropy in Partnerships. This means he works with Businesses, Trusts and High Net Worth Individuals. He describes how the job requires both thick skin and a soft approach, as he often finds himself dealing with intermediaries – in his words, “wealthy individuals will employ people on a rather high salary to keep fundraisers away from them!” Learn more about how Oxfam operates behind-the-scenes, and how Impact Investing is the buzz word as of late. The two also discuss LiveAid at 10:45, and Edward gives his opinion on Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to rid the world of disease at 12:23. Finally, Edward tells of the different attitude toward Philanthropy around the world – comparing China, the USA and the UK at 14:29.

At 18:05, we have our second interview. Julian Withers works for Jessie May, a local hospice which works with terminally unwell children and their families. Julian explains how Jessie May employ the principles we spoke about in the last episode, specifically how they make it personal for their investors at 19.25. At 22:50, Chris brings up a video which Julian had played at a recent Ovation event. The video, available here, tells the story of a young boy named Joe and his Jessie May Nurse, Andy. It featured on Children In Need and achieved a tremendous number of donations, which Julian believes is due to the fundamentally positive nature of the video. There’s also a lovely story about a lucky 2p coin at 27:00, and Chris reveals the work Ovation do with Jessie May at 29:45 – before reminding all our listeners that all proceeds of the Financial Wellbeing Book go to Penny Brohn UK, another wonderful charity.