Tear down barriers stopping private capital benefiting public good
Philanthropy is lagging behind in Scotland, writes Mark McKeown
The UK government has, over the past year, taken a notably more deliberate approach to mobilising private capital and philanthropy for social good.
From a Scottish perspective, however, it exposes a familiar fault line in UK policy. Devolution means that, in its current form, the approach largely stops at Hadrian’s Wall. As a result, those of us seeking to elevate awareness around philanthropy in Scotland, with the ultimate goal of generating greater levels of charitable giving, may look on with some envy.
What do the elements of this new approach in England include? The first is the creation of the Office for the Impact Economy (the “OIE”) and the second is the launch of a national strategy to grow place-based giving across England. Together, they signal an attempt to move from fragmented initiatives towards a more systemic, partnership-driven model of social investment.
The OIE, established in late 2025, is intended to act as a coordinating “front door” between government and actors involved in social impact, mainly philanthropists, investors, businesses and civil society organisations. Rather than creating new funding streams in isolation, the OIE is designed to align existing efforts, drive cross-government strategy and build partnerships.
Beneath this, the concept of an “impact economy” is key. It seeks to blur the traditional boundaries between public spending, private investment and charitable giving, bringing them together in pursuit of shared social goals.
Running in parallel is the new place-based giving strategy, set out in the April 2026 publication Our Place to Give. This initiative responds to a clear problem, that although figures from the Charities Aid Foundation UK Giving Report indicate that around £14 billion is donated to charity annually in the UK, that funding is heavily concentrated in urban areas, particularly in the south. The strategy aims to redirect philanthropic capital towards neglected communities.
This approach is intended to connect donors more effectively with local organisations, building stronger partnerships between philanthropy and public bodies and unlocking additional investment through mechanisms such as match-funding.
For Scotland this creates a challenge. Scottish institutions such as community foundations, social enterprises and local authorities are already deeply engaged in place-based approaches and social impact. They are, however, largely outside the scope of a new, high-profile UK policy architecture
Scotland faces many of the same structural challenges as England; such as persistent regional inequality, pressure on public services and the need to unlock new forms of capital to support inclusive growth. Indeed, Scotland’s strong traditions of community action and social enterprise arguably make it an ideal environment for an ambitious impact economy agenda.
The case, then, is not for simple replication but for deliberate adaptation. A Scottish equivalent to the OIE could provide a focal point for aligning government, philanthropy and investment.
More broadly, there is an opportunity for Scotland to position itself at the forefront of this agenda within a devolved context, demonstrating how impact-led approaches can be integrated with distinct policy priorities and institutional arrangements. There is already a groundswell of support for such a move within the part of Scottish civic society which has a focus on elevating the profile of charitable giving.
For Scotland, the question is not whether these developments apply direct, but whether to respond with equal ambition. The challenge for the new government at Holyrood, should be to build a more connected, better-resourced framework capable of tackling deep-rooted social challenges at scale, one of which Scotland can be proud.
Mark McKeown is Philanthropy Legal Director, Turcan Connell