It's a question we're asked often, usually with a note of surprise: why doesn't a foundation set up to do good simply open a donations page and let the public give? The honest answer is that we thought about it carefully, and decided against it. Not because public fundraising is wrong, but because it isn't the model that lets us do our best work.
A different starting point
New Capital Link Foundation exists because New Capital Link, a boutique alternative investment introducer, chose to commit a portion of its own resources and expertise to charitable work. That starting point matters. It means the Foundation isn't built to collect and redistribute public money — it's built to apply the same discipline the business uses every day to a much smaller, much more deliberate set of charitable relationships.
Public donation platforms are designed to maximise reach: as many donors as possible, giving as often as possible, to as many causes as possible. That's a perfectly valid model for many charities. It is simply not ours. Once you're collecting from the public, a meaningful share of effort, cost and attention has to go into the mechanics of fundraising itself — campaigns, compliance, payment processing, donor communications — rather than into the causes those funds are meant to serve.
Depth over breadth
We would rather go deep with a handful of partners than spread thinly across many. That means:
- Researching a candidate charity properly before committing, including looking closely at its leadership and how it operates on the ground.
- Setting clear, specific metrics so we — and our partners — can see what impact actually looks like, not just what it feels like.
- Staying involved for the long haul, rather than making a single gift and moving on.
This is only realistic with a small number of relationships. Take on too many, and evaluation becomes superficial, metrics become generic, and involvement becomes a cheque rather than a partnership.
"We apply the same analytical rigour to our charitable work that guides our investment decisions."
— Rachel Buscall, CEO
More than money
Not accepting public donations also changes what we're able to offer. Because our resources aren't spread across thousands of small gifts, we can commit funding alongside things that money alone can't buy: essential donations of goods and equipment, hands-on volunteering from our own staff, and professional expertise in financial planning, operational improvement, strategic development, technology implementation and networking. Our work with CHESS Homeless in Chelmsford, Homeless Street Angels in Leeds, and an educational technology programme in India has drawn on all of these at different points, not just a transfer of funds.
A public fundraising model doesn't really allow for that kind of tailored, expertise-led support. It's built around volume, not depth.
Control, accountability and focus
Keeping the Foundation's funding within New Capital Link also means we retain full control over where resources go. There's no obligation to spread donations across whatever causes happen to attract public attention in a given year, and no pressure to keep a fundraising machine running to justify its own existence. We can focus entirely on our three areas — homelessness, education and access, and community development — and on the partners we've already chosen to back, for as long as that partnership continues to make sense.
That focus is, in a real sense, the whole point of the model. Our aim was never to be the biggest charitable fundraiser we could be. It was to bring the same rigour, patience and expertise that guides investment decisions to a small number of relationships where that approach genuinely changes outcomes.
How you can still help
None of this means we're closed to the outside world — quite the opposite. While we don't accept public donations, we actively welcome recommendations for causes worth our attention. If you know an organisation doing meaningful work in homelessness, education or community development, we want to hear about it. Every recommendation is reviewed with the same care we bring to our existing partnerships.