Many people want to put something back into the community in which they live and work, but can be uncertain of how best to do this. Perhaps you’ve been thinking for a while about giving back to your local community but aren’t sure what route to take. Perhaps your family, business or charitable trust is passionate about helping others and is ready to take a more strategic approach. Or you might have come into some money through an inheritance or selling an asset and want to make sure it’s used in a way that will have a positive impact on the county you call home.

Making your charitable aims a reality

There are many ways we can work together to make Sussex a fairer and more equal place. We can also work with your professional advisor to offer the right solution for your philanthropic, tax, family or business needs.

Start a Donor Advised Fund

This is a great way to get involved in local philanthropy, without the cost and hassle of setting up your own charity. Your fund is ring-fenced and makes grants to causes you care about. There are tax advantages, and we’ll provide personalised philanthropy advice. There are two main types:

A flow-through fund spends your donation as grants, usually within a year. You can start from £25,000 and a commitment to future giving. The typical contribution to the Foundation is 10% of each donation.

You can also consider an endowment fund, which is invested and grows for long-term benefit. You can start with a donation from £25,000 or £100,000 if you would like to be involved in selecting grants. The typical contribution to us is 3% of donations and 1.5% of the capital value per annum after one year.

Become a Friend

Our Friends support the development of our work and quite simply enable us to do what we do. Friends make a gift from £40 a month or £500 a year.

Give to one of our funding priorities

If you want to know that your giving is being directed towards particular areas of work, consider giving to one of our four funding priorities. Donations are pooled with others in the community to enable impactful grant making to a priority of your choice. You can make donations of any size.

Read more about our four funding priorities here.

Leave a lasting legacy

You might want to consider leaving a gift in your Will to Sussex. Once your family and loved ones are taken care of, we can work with you and your professional advisor to ensure your charitable wishes are fulfilled. Every gift in a Will to a charity is exempt from inheritance tax (IHT). The current IHT rate of 40% also reduces to 36% if at least 10% of an estate is donated to charity.