Greetings! 

The high street banks that are giving £200m to the Big Society Bank as part of Project Merlin are not making a donation, as might be first assumed, but merely lending the money on a commercial basis. So the big banks will earn interest on the money they lend to the Big Society Bank, which will presumably earn interest on the money it lends to the retail banks, who will presumably earn interest on the money that they lend to civil society organisations.  Sounds like a win-win-win...for almost everyone, anyway.
 

Banking sector to profit from £200m Big Society Bank contribution
  

The £200m pledged to the Big Society Bank by the UK's high street banks as part of Project Merlin will be provided on a normal commercial lending basis, meaning the banks will earn a profit on it. 

Impact Coalition 'under review' by Acevo
  

Acevo is struggling to put the Impact Coalition on a sustainable financial footing and is planning to review its patronage of the project.

Heritage Lottery Fund consults on future priorities
  

The Heritage Lottery Fund is opening a public consultation on its funding priorities for the future as it looks forward to annual awards budgets of around £300m.

Gap exists between theory and practice in impact reporting, CFDG research finds
  

A report commissioned by the Charity Finance Directors' Group has highlighted the gap between the theory and practice of impact reporting in the UK charity sector.

NSPCC appoints four legal firms on a pro-bono basis
  

The NSPCC will benefit from free legal advice for a year following a tender invitation to 21 legal firms to provide the charity with pro-bono support.

National demonstration against cuts scheduled for 26 March
  

The Trades Union Congress is urging representatives from civil society to take part in its national demonstration against the government's spending cuts to be held in central London on 26 March.

CFDG tackles tax office over iXBRL small charities exemption
  

The Charity Finance Directors' Group has asked HMRC to extend the small charities exemption from iXBRL to trading subsidiaries of these groups.

Donating via cheque, tills and by electronic transfer are included in the Institute of Fundraising's revised Handling of Cash Donations Code of Fundraising Practice.

Charity Technology Survey 2011 - win a £100 Amazon voucher

 

The Charity Technology Survey, is your chance to input into the most comprehensive analysis of IT, accounting and CRM software in the charity sector, and win £100 in the process.  

Budgeting in times of uncertainty
  

Tim Smith lists his top tips for devising budgets in an economic slump.

Endowment plan for Communitybuilders would create 'evergreen boon to community groups'
  

The Department for Communities and Local Government is considering turning the £70m Communitybuilders Fund, run by Social Investment Business into an endowment. Sir Stephen Bubb, chair of the Adventure Capital Fund, which runs Social Investment Business, welcomes the news.

"An old gnarled and very tired local union leader in his sixties towards the end of the miners strike quietly remarked to a group of local electricians who would not strike "aye the tories will have you working for nothing in years to come, running the services the state doesn't want, and they will tell you that they are doing you a favour, that they are giving you 'real power',you will cheer them on whilst they are doing it to, mark my words." we laughed at him at the time, I'm not laughing now."

"It is interesting to read the Acevo explanation of the fact that they automatically put cookies on members' websites to track their activity and the whole lengthy screed about their use of information, that I suspect most members haven't read."

"More people who think they have the right to tell the voluntary sector how to organise itself. The day that managerialism rears its ugly head in the community sector is the day that I quit."

They said it...

Phillip Blond, director, ResPublica