Charity grants documentation

AprilKid

Hello everyone, 

We're wanting to set up a small grant making charity and I've been doing research, but now need some help please. Our intention is to make small donations to charities and worthy causes.
However, recently I've been "led to believe" that a grant making charity has to first receive/ask for a written request from a charity soliciting for funding before it can give a donation. And that thereafter, the recipient charity has to provide a follow up evaluation report of progress.  Is such a thing true?

I can understand the need for such documentation where large sums are involved, but we're only looking at making donations in the hundreds, not tens of thousands. Realistically, one can't expect nor ask a nationwide charity to submit such paperwork for a donation of say two hundred pounds. 

I've searched online, but can't find any answer to this and was hoping someone with charity experience would be able to shed some light. 

Many thanks.

Savvy_Sue

I can't quote chapter and verse but I can confirm that the charity I work for does receive unsolicited gifts / donations from grant making charities. 

We provide follow up evaluations and reports if requested. That's usually for larger donations for specific parts of our work, where you might expect progress to be monitored. 

For other donations we'd send a receipt and ask if our regular newsletters and annual reports would be welcomed. 

Who led you to believe this? 

Richard1212

O/P's aims seem wholly legitimate and I have not heard any statutory hurdles to what is being proposed. But perhaps check with the charities concerned in advance. The whole idea seems admirable.

Savvy_Sue

Richard1212 said:

O/P's aims seem wholly legitimate and I have not heard any statutory hurdles to what is being proposed. But perhaps check with the charities concerned in advance. The whole idea seems admirable.

Checking in advance is certainly necessary if you are using the charity's name in order to raise funds. And there are circumstances in which an unsolicited donation could be refused, but not very likely if you're talking low hundreds.

Unsure if the OP will come back, but there are other questions which could be asked: setting up a charity is not a simple undertaking, and it's always worth considering whether the aims can be achieved in other ways. Who's setting up the charity? and where are the funds coming from? are the two starters ... 

AprilKid

Thank you Savvy_Sue and Richard1212. My apologies for not replying any earlier, but I was in hospital.
To answer your questions; I was "led to believe" by a charity employee. He was well meaning and offered some good advice, but I gather he was misinformed on this particular issue.
The charity will be a family endowment and not raise funds from the general public. 
We did examine other means to achieving our aims, but non give the freedom, choice and flexibility we required in contributing to a wide range of different charities and causes over the long-term. 
Once again thank you to you both.