Fashioned for failure?  when philanthropy goes wrong

Written By Lucy Macnamara

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Last month, I was horrified to see the story of financial misconduct and poor governance unfold regarding Naomi Campbell’s charity, Fashion for Relief.

The headlines were shocking:

  • despite raising almost £4.8 million, the charity only gave out £389k in charitable grants. That’s only 8% of income going to beneficiaries that the charity was supposed to be helping.

  • charitable money was spent on extravagant hotel stays, spa treatments, room service and cigarettes.

  • a trustee received hundreds of thousands of pounds in consultancy fees.

  • they named a charity beneficiary for an event without agreement or giving them a penny.

We know the importance of excellent philanthropy advice to get things right. And being in the public eye, the stakes are even higher. That’s exactly where we come in. So, what does this mean for business for Do Good. Well?

While I’m passionate about focussed, impactful, innovative and joyful philanthropy advice, I care deeply about the bigger picture.

Examples like Naomi Campbell’s involvement with Fashion for Relief, while few and far between, undermine public trust in talent’s philanthropic initiatives. It also makes talent think twice before getting involved – a subject that can feel overwhelming and risky just got worse.

Yet the work I’m doing with some of my high profile clients in setting up their own Charitable Foundations is strategic, collaborative, transformational and hugely exciting. A really smart use of their time, talent, platform and profile to create the change they wish to see in the world, with a clear, supported, path to do just that. Learning as we go. Getting it right.

So, we need to allay these fears. To support and encourage would-be philanthropists to do more, not less. People struggle so much, every day. How devastating that so much money, given in good faith to help change lives, was apparently wasted by Fashion for Relief so callously. How devastating that examples like this might put people off doing good.

Did the trustees get a warning before this? Yes. Did they have a chance to sort it out before it got to a statutory enquiry? Yes.

The action from the Charity Commission(1) – to ban Naomi Campbell and her fellow trustees from acting in this role for some time – demonstrates how serious this is. The Commission highlighted deeply serious issues around financial controls, conflicts of interest and trustee compliance, concluding that there had been serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity by its trustees since it was established.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s celebrate trusted, bespoke philanthropy advice that incorporates due diligence and reputational risk. Let’s build a community of changemakers to make a better world. Let’s Do Good. Well.

(1) - you can read the full Charity Commission report here.

Lucy Macnamara