Charities are deeply concerned about their future. Faced with a web of intersecting crises, many are looking at their five-year plans and asking whether they’ll even still be here.
Rising operational costs, shrinking public donations and increased demand for frontline services mean that they are being asked to do more with less. The sector is stretched. But it’s clear to us that the organisations we work with make Milton Keynes a place we want to live in.
The population of Milton Keynes is set to grow to 500,000 by 2050. We must continue to grow and sustain funding for community groups and charities in our fast- expanding city.
Milton Keynes Community Foundation’s funding provides a lifeline in times of crisis, supporting organisations across every facet of life in the community; from neonatal care, mental health support, protecting the environment and help for our homeless population. Its grants help charities grow, strengthen their foundations, and build lasting infrastructure. Behind every grant is a better life for people in our city.
To ensure our shared future, we primarily support the sector through grants from our invested endowment funds. We invest endowment donations with the churches, charities and Local Authorities Investment Fund. We use the interest to fund meaningful projects in the city without ever touching the original sum. These funds are built to last.
Our aim is to provide sustainable support to the Milton Keynes community, ensuring a thriving and vibrant community for decades to come.
One of our newest funds, the Rainbow Fund, is dedicated to projects and organisations that centre equity, inclusion, visibility, safety and wellbeing for the LGBTQ+ community in Milton Keynes. It prioritises groups led by and for LGBTQ+ communities, especially those supporting people who face multiple forms of discrimination or marginalisation.
If our national values are ever tested and the commu- nity needs us in a way we can’t predict, MK Community Foundation will still have the means to help. We don’t know how the community will need us in the future. But we know we need to be there.
In 2022, we launched a £1m Match Fund programme to grow our endowment and secure long-term support for our communities. We’re inviting businesses and philanthropists to set up a named fund for a cause that matters to them, with every pound they give matched by MK Community Foundation.
The minimum to establish an endowment fund is usually £25,000. But with our match, you can create a lasting legacy from just £12,500 and we’ll contribute the rest.
Altogether, the £1m match pot has the potential to un- lock around £80,000 in additional grants every year, helping to strengthen Milton Keynes for the next generation.
Each fund, each act of giving, is a step towards a stronger, kinder city where support doesn’t run out when the issues we face are no longer in the spotlight.
By investing in an endowment fund through your business, you can be a part of shaping the kind of place we all want our children – and theirs – to grow up in.
For more information visit their website.
