The Voltaire Review

By mid-2025, the UN's $47.4 billion global humanitarian appeal had achieved just 16.8% of its target. This is not just a bad funding year. It is a collapse that demands a fundamental shift in how we approach humanitarian giving.

Declining enrolment, growing operating costs, and donor fatigue are putting independent schools at risk. The fundraising model that once quietly underwrote scholarships, music departments, SEND provision and essential capital works is no longer sufficient.

With climate change now the defining challenge of our time, environmental matched giving is emerging as a practical and measurable way for companies to demonstrate leadership. It is not simply about donating to good causes, it is about aligning corporate giving with credible environmental outcomes.

A quick thought on why we fund ideas and not just objects. Real patronage is about ideas. The Medici were not paying for Michelangelo's marble, they were investing in Renaissance humanism.