Anna Wallace
Marketing and Communications Manager
CASE Europe
+44 (0)207 448 9955
awallace@case.org

Pam Russell
Director of Communications
CASE
+1-202-478-5680
russell@case.org

For Immediate Release
May 31, 2012

UK Fundraisers and Education Sector Applaud Government for Shelving Charity Tax Plans

LONDON—UK fundraisers and donors are celebrating the decision by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to abandon his plans to cap income tax relief on charitable donations. The reversal of the March budget proposal comes in the wake of three months of sustained lobbying from across the charitable sector and high-level dialogue with government officials that was led by a consortium of organisations, including CASE Europe and Universities UK.

CASE worked closely with organisations across the charitable, education and arts sectors to campaign against Chancellor Osborne's proposals to restrict the amount of relief donors could receive on their giving. Passage of any limitation would have had an adverse effect on charitable income in the future.  

"We have had fantastic support from a range of educational institutions and individuals, including philanthropists, academic leaders and fundraisers, who have been involved in making the case against this cap to the government and the public," said Kate Hunter, executive director of CASE Europe.

"We are delighted that this proposal has been abandoned. Education's wider societal and economic benefits have always been supported by generous and far-sighted individuals and organisations—this will and must continue," said Hunter. "We are in the middle of bringing about a culture change where increased philanthropic support has a vital role to play in the life and work of educational institutions, students and research. The cap threatened to undermine this and undo the good works of philanthropy and the generosity of many donors."

Since the 2004 Thomas Report, subsequent capacity building initiatives and the Matched Funding for Voluntary Giving scheme, the higher education sector and CASE Europe have focused on increasing the professionalization of fundraising as a way to help enable institutions to grow independent income sources, engage alumni, businesses and the local community.

As evidenced by the 2010-11 Ross-CASE Survey, charitable donations to UK higher education have progressively increased during the past three years. The sector generates the largest proportion of million pound gifts in this country.  

About CASE

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.

CASE was founded in 1974 and maintains headquarters in Washington, D.C., with offices in London (CASE Europe, 1994), Singapore (CASE Asia-Pacific, 2007) and Mexico City (CASE América Latina, 2011).

Today, CASE’s membership includes more than 3,600 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and nonprofit organizations in 76 countries around the globe. This makes CASE one of the world’s largest nonprofit educational associations in terms of institutional membership. CASE serves more than 70,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of its member institutions and has more than 17,000 professional members on its roster.

To fulfill their missions and to meet both individual and societal needs, colleges, universities and independent schools rely on—and therefore must foster—the good will, active involvement, informed advocacy and enduring support of alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders, corporate executives, foundation officers and other external constituencies.

CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with all of these constituencies by providing relevant research, supporting growth in the profession and fostering support of education. CASE also offers a variety of advancement products and services, provides standards and an ethical framework for the profession and works with other organizations to respond to public issues of concern while promoting the importance of education worldwide.

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