I find it striking how rarely corporate philanthropy is talked about within the wider funding community. In discussions about funders working together – whether this is collaboration, co-funding or knowledge-sharing – companies are hardly mentioned. Corporate philanthropy representatives are few and far between at funding events, and many are unaware of the available funding literature and resources.

In some ways this is not surprising. In my experience most people’s first response to working together is to find someone who ‘looks like me and thinks like me’. But in other areas traditional divides between groups of funders are being crossed: government is engaging with trusts and foundations; trusts and foundations are considering how they can work with philanthropists (see NPC’s report on this).