We work with 20 programme partners in over 60 countries, as well as in the ocean. We empower our partners to reach over 500,000 beneficiaries each year. In our previous financial year for every £1 donated to us, we secured and directed £9 to outstanding charitable programmes around the world.
We believe that social change arises as a result of the application of good ideas by passionate people. We act as a hub for those people, and centre of excellence for charities. We provide expert, accessible and bespoke support to charity pioneers, enabling them to convert their vision into mission and execution. Our work is centred in the UK and regulated under British charitable law. Without us, many charities would simply not exist and their beneficiaries would not receive the support they so urgently require.
We run a tight ship. But we do have costs. This year, we need to generate £112,000 to continue our work. We have secured £72,000 and have a further £10,000 pledged. But we have a shortfall. We would be enormously grateful for your support. A donation of any size will make a very positive difference.
DONATE £500
A donation of £500 could support the annual cost of our communication subscriptions, including website hosting, communication and design software and our annual Zoom subscription. Communication is crucial to what we do. It allows us to grow our relationships, support and nurture our partners and share our research with the public. In short, it is the tool that enables us to fulfil our charitable mission. These tools enable us to educate the public, remain in regular contact with our partners even in war zones, so that we can support them and champion their work, and it enables to present tangible solutions to complex issues. And the means by which we make the call to action.
DONATE £5,000
A donation of £5,000 could enable us to provide up to nearly 150 hours of pro bono, bespoke mentoring to outstanding, charitable start-ups who are trying to learn how to register and manage a charity from scratch. Each pro-bono session is tailored to the specific needs of an organisation. Our pro bono work has included creating campaigns, drafting copy, helping organisations to register as a charity, advising on alternative company structures if a charity structure is not right for them, organising events, and training workshops (including secret Excel one-to-one sessions for a founder who was too embarrassed to profess Excel illiteracy to her team, did not have the money to pay for a course, but also could not budget for her organisation. So we helped her and prepared her organisation’s annual budget at the same time!)
Our work falls broadly into three areas.
Pro Bono Advice to Non-Partner Charities
We provide pro-bono advice to changemakers, organisations in their start-up phase, and registered charities, on a pro bono basis. Our most frequently requested advice, related to how best to structure charitable entities (Registered Charity, CIC, CIO or Ltd Companies), cross-border giving, and administration, particularly in regard to HMRC, and Gift Aid.
We commit to providing 60 hours of pro bono advice each month. We estimate that we provide pro bono advice to 50 charities per year. Anybody is welcome to contact us, using our publicly available emails or the chat function on our website. In short, we function as a charity helpline.
Donor Education and Enablement
Donors should be confident that their investment in a charity will have a real and direct impact, as well as offer long-term, sustainable benefits. Prospero World was established in 2007 to provide that confidence.
We encourage creative philanthropy and provide expert advice to philanthropists to inform their giving. Today, in addition to curating giving portfolios, we offer donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts as well as StartRight, our bespoke training academy for new philanthropists.
We work with other foundations, sharing our existing research, for free, to enable and accelerate their decision-making processes. Foundations to which we have recommended projects include The Broadwall Foundation, The Queen Anne’s Gate Foundation, The Eagle Foundation, The Herrod Foundation, Wise Philanthropy, The Phoenix Foundation, The Belvedere Trust, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Lady Michelam Foundation
We do not charge donors, but we do encourage them to donate to our work.
Programme Implementation and Emergency Relief
We are able to respond quickly and nimbly. We have worked with our network of NGOs and our donors to incubate and provide emergency work to address emergency situations:
· Covid 19
· Refugee Crisis 2015 - to date
· Myanmar (cyclone Nargis)
· Ukraine