Donor Q&A

Q. How do I stop funding a charity?

A. Getting hooked into funding a charity is easy. Walk down any high street these days and you can sign up to a cause that is close to your heart. But extracting yourself gracefully from funding a charity can be more difficult.

Stopping small donations is unlikely to make a direct impact on a charity’s activities. If you feel it’s appropriate, you might want to let the charity know why you have decided to leave it.

However, if the charity relies on your donation to fund a particular project or parts of the organisation, more caution is needed. Withdrawing this funding might lead the charity to scale back or shut down some of its activities. In a situation like this, it is wise to plan in advance for your exit to minimise the effect it has on the charity.

It is key to warn the charity some months in advance that you are going to withdraw support, so they have the opportunity to look for other funders or to look at scaling back their work. You may want to help the charity find replacement funding, for example, by putting them in touch with other funders who might be interested.

Providing forewarning can help to limit the impact, but the right time to think about your exit strategy is before you even start funding.

From the outset, it is good to consider how long you would like to commit to supporting a charity so that it can achieve what it aims to, and how the charity will continue its work after you are gone. For example, if you support a charity in developing its fundraising income, it is likely to take up to three years for it to hire staff, develop relationships and build a solid stream of donations. Withdrawing support too early could mean that the initiative might fail.

Of course, you may be so pleased with the impact your charity is making that you decide to continue your support. But being clear with the charity about your intentions from the outset will help you to build a good relationship, avoid unexpected surprises and help you and the charity make the difference you both want.

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