In 1990 a small group of friends set up a charity. At the time they didn’t know much about the world of philanthropy, but the charity they founded, Whizz-Kidz is now the largest supplier of children’s wheelchairs in the UK. Mike Dickson was the drive and inspiration behind Whizz-Kidz, and in the mid 90s became it’s CEO. Under his leadership companies including Argos, Woolworth, HSBC, Easyjet set up and ran hugely effective corporate philanthropy programmes and literally thousands of individuals were inspired to climb mountains, run marathons and more. He established The More You Give as an advisory service in 2006, having written a book of the same name.
What we do
- Set up corporate philanthropy programmes : the business case is proven: you just need to get it right first time!
- Offer small group Intelligent Philanthropy Days to encourage more effective personal giving.
- Advise individuals, helping them to establish effective long-term giving strategies
- Work with charities. We've established The Charity Paradigm Programme in response to numerous requests from charity trustees and founders. The emphasis is on creative, practical management and fundraising solutions, lifting expectations and showing how to leverage funding against the odds.
- Provide conferences speakers.
- Offer personal introductions between like-minded philanthropists so increasing the impact of combined giving.
To avoid conflict of interest private philanthropists enjoy total confidentiality and we restrict our charity client portfolio.
The People and the Network
Mike Dickson:
Co-founder and later CEO of Whizz-Kidz (link). Since 1990 Whizz – Kidz has raised over £40 million and provided equipment for approx 4,500 children and young people. Mike has over 15 years hands-on experience and knowledge of the challenges involved in raising money and the difficulties of distributing the funds sensibly, combined with a practical understanding of the management challenges that face charities in today's environment.
He has also experienced first hand the blessings of giving, and watched many times the hugely positive effect that giving has both on the donor and the recipient. As an encouragement to others he’s written two books: What Charity? and The More You Give.
Mike also writes regular columns about philanthropy for the Business Spectator and Hedge magazine.
He is a trustee of Shivia (link www.shivia.com), a micro-finance NGO working in India, church warden of St Peter’s Church, Notting Hill Gate, London, and a trustee of the St Peter’s Hall charity.
Shuna Kennedy:
Co-founder of Whizz-Kidz and chair of trustees for 5 years, Shuna is a marketing professional with many years of experience marketing household name and international brands. She became formally involved in the charity world following her experience with Whizz-Kidz, first as Marketing and Communications Director at The Children’s Society then as CEO with the specialist IT/disability charity AbilityNet.
She is a trustee of The Funding Network.
The More You Give Network:
The More You Give works with a network of senior people from all walks of charity life – grant making trusts, recruitment specialists, senior corporate managers, individual philanthropists and specialists in charity ‘sectors’. All the people working with The More You Give have two things in common. A passion to help others combined with the pragmatism that comes with years of experience and knowledge - they get under the skin of the charity world at a variety of levels, so analysis is combined with being able to take a wider perspective. Their judgment often provides a steer to where extra digging needs to be done, or where extra support will be most effective.
Our clients
In 2006 we delivered an employee engagement programme for HSBC Private Bank and have since been working with the Bank to deliver an Effective Philanthropy Service for their clients. We also advise individuals. This service is discreet and totally confidential. We help people to focus their individual giving for greater personal satisfaction and involvement in causes they care about, whether they are giving individually, or as a family or wish to develop their giving through a family business.
