Contributions round-up Web search engine MSN Search launched Click Counts on March 21, a campaign to raise funds for the NSPCC by donating money for every search carried out through a special site, www.clickscount.co.uk. Contact Natalie Mead, MSN UK 0870 6010 100 www.msn.co.uk
Lloyds TSB’s four foundations have been allocated a total of £34,450,000 worth of grants to dispense to UK charities over 2006. Scotland will receive £6.7m, England and Wales will receive £24.8m, Northern Ireland £1.8m and the Channel Islands £1.1m. Contact Catriona McMillan, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland 0131 444 4023 www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk
Unilever brand Dove is calling on the public to donate to its Self-Esteem Fund, which gives to charities that work to improve body image. Contact Unilever www.unilever.com
ING Direct has announced the winners of its Make Dreams Come True awards. The awards, launched to celebrate the bank recruiting its millionth saver, invited customers to nominate a charity, which helped to make dreams come true. Each of the five winning charities received awards of £10,000. Contact Martin Rutland, ING Direct 0118 938 1969 www.ingdirect.com
The National Library Trust has used funding from Argos to help it develop websites for children whose vision is impaired. Blind and partially sighted children provided the NLB with insights into the sort of websites they would like to use. The aim to is to construct accessible online resources that both visually impaired and sighted children can enjoy using together. Contact Kate Smith, Argos 01908 296 863 www.argos.co.uk
Global philanthropy Corporations, foundations, religious organisations and individuals in the US give three and a half times the amount of money to foreign charities as the US government, according to the inaugural Index of Global Philanthropy, compiled by policy research organisation the Hudson Institute and launched on April 19. However corporations only account for $4.9bn of the $71.2bn worth of private giving in 2004, with pharmaceutical companies ranked as the highest givers, and the highest growth in giving to healthcare and microfinance.
The inaugural index only covers giving in the US, but Hudson says future editions will include data from other countries, eventually providing “a truly global account of private giving.” Contact Grace Terzian, Hudson 00 1 202 974 2417 www.hudson.org
Something more meaningful The Disasters Emergency Committee has published a web-based guide to help companies improve their contribution to disaster relief efforts.
The Corporate DEC Guidance was developed by Business in the Community with the support of partner organisations the International Business Leaders Forum and the DEC’s 13 member agencies. GlaxoSmithKline, Sky, Cadbury Schweppes, Serco, Citigroup, Marks & Spencer and Linklaters contributed their experiences to help develop tools for businesses wishing to engage with communities in the disaster recovery process.
The website includes:
– best practice guidance on creating internal disaster relief policies
– guidelines on how to forge strategic partnerships with aid agencies
– links to over 25 key humanitarian/disaster relief partner organisations
– a series of best practice case studies from companies. Contact Tim Bishop, BITC 020 7566 8693 www.bitc.org.uk
Home and away The Vodafone Group Foundation announced on March 17 funding worth more than £1.5m over three years for three charities Common Purpose International (£1m), Home Start International (£150,000) and Students Partnership Worldwide (£300,000). The grant to Common Purpose will support the extension of leadership programmes into six new countries, Home Start will use its grant to strengthen its capacity to develop and expand its programmes, and SPW will use its funding to build its central capability, strengthening the management of existing programmes and their ability to expand into new countries. Contact Nigel Thorpe, Vodafone Group Foundation 01635 33251 www.vodafonefoundation.org
Hi-tech effort Microsoft is to contribute $41m in software and cash to enhance disaster relief efforts, it announced on March 22. The funds will go towards the implementation of systems that enable efficient and rapid communication between non-governmental organisations in emergencies. The company said that it is working in partnership with NetHope and Interagency Working Group on Emergency Capacity Building Project “to drive further adoption of technology that can speed information when it is most critical”. Contact Demelza Fryer-Saxby, Microsoft 0870 207 7377 www.microsoft.co.uk
Drinks on me Starbucks is contributing $1.12m to WaterAid to help fund a three-year programme to bring water and sanitation to around 38,500 people in Western Ethiopia. A second $1m grant made through The Starbucks Foundation’s Ethos Water Fund will expand the reach of a school programme to improve health and nutrition for 170,000 children in Sumatra, Indonesia. Contact Kelly Sheppard, Starbucks 00 1 206 318 8169 www.starbucks.com
Water bearers Nestlé is to provide funding for the International Federation’s Global Water and Sanitation Initiative (GWSI) following its commitment to a new 3-year partnership with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, announced on March 29. Initial GWSI projects supported by Nestlé will include ensuring the supply of safe water to villages in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as community training and hygiene promotion. Contact François-Xavier Perroud, Nestlé 00 41 21 924 2596 www.nestle.com In brief
Scottish charities working overseas to apply for grants worth a total of £400,000, as The Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland launched its fourth overseas programme on February 24. Contact Catriona McMillan, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland 0131 444 4023 www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk
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