The concept is simple: put a bunch of small charities and conscientious philanthropists in the same room, let them share their stories, and the result will be purposeful, rather than impersonal, giving from the heart.
“[Our] twin objectives are to encourage generous hearted people to be intuitive and communal in their approach to giving and to help funds reach Christian social change projects, particularly small charities who may lack the time and know how to extend their income,” says Matt Bird of Make It Happen, who came up with the idea for Cross Pollinate together with Ian Wilkins of Alvor Charitable Trust,
Crucially, Cross Pollinate gives small-scale projects the platform they deserve but don’t often receive.
“Our hope is to encourage a new wave of Christian philanthropy and to see hundreds of amazing community based Christian charities resourced with more funding,” adds Wilkins.
The inaugural Cross Pollinate in central London earlier this week proved that the concept works.
More than 60 philanthropists packed the offices of Coutts to hear Christian charities Romance Academy, CORD, The Trussell Trust, Crossroads Christian Counselling Service, The Lighthouse Group and Savannah Education Trust sum up what they would do with £5,000 – and in just six minutes each.
An additional six minutes after each presentation gave the potential donors the opportunity to ask project representatives more detailed questions about their work before deciding whether or not they wanted to make an anonymous pledge.
Bird and Wilkins had aimed to raise £50,000 for the six charities they had handpicked for the evening. In the end they almost doubled that amount, with the combined total of pledges exceeding £100,000.
Bird stresses, however, that it’s not just about the money. The evening opened and closed with prayer and the time in between was punctuated with regular pauses to allow donors time to tune in to God’s presence.
“We gave people the opportunity not only to give money but also to give in kind,” he said.
