As the world grows increasingly complex and, for many, more challenging, a parallel movement is taking root — one driven by individuals determined to make a meaningful, positive impact on society and the planet. Increasingly, (U)HNWs are placing philanthropy at the heart of their financial strategies. Their motivations are varied: some are driven by a desire to leave a lasting legacy, while others focus their efforts on combating global crises such as climate change.
The philanthropic landscape is rich with opportunity. As Morag Gillespie of Stewardship tells Spear’s ‘there is no ‘best way’ to give; there’s no ‘best change’ to leave in the world.’ What matters most is that those with the means to contribute are choosing to act.
But this openness brings its own challenges. Thoughtful, impactful giving rarely involves simply writing a cheque. Effective philanthropy demands more than financial capacity; it requires an understanding of the causes being supported, the organisations involved and how contributions are structured within a charity’s long-term financial planning.
For this reason, many UHNWs work closely with philanthropy advisers, professionals who guide them through the process and help identify where their contributions can ‘sweat the most,’ in the words of Derek Bardowell of Ten Years’ Time.
‘When we’re speaking to clients who have a lot of wealth, we help them be the best stewards of that wealth they can be,’ says Isabelle Hayhoe of Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management. ‘They have an immense opportunity to do something impactful.’
This year, Spear’s has brought together a diverse group of leaders from across the philanthropic advisory space – from The Twentieth, which supports the arts and culture to research-driven consultancies like NPC and Stewardship.
These advisers play a crucial role in helping clients define their philanthropic philosophy – understanding not just how to give but why. They ask foundational questions: What values matter to the family? Which causes resonate most deeply? Do they want to support causes during their lifetime or create a lasting legacy through vehicles like Warren and Gates’ Giving Pledge?
Philanthropy in 2025
During this year’s research cycle, advisers noted several shifts in the philanthropic landscape. One key trend is a growing appetite for collective philanthropy, where individuals or families pool resources to amplify impact. This comes alongside a stronger desire among donors to track the tangible outcomes of their giving. As Alex Day of Big Give notes: ‘More and more, I’m seeing that people really value being able to say exactly where their funds are going and seeing the journey from what they’ve given to the end beneficiary.’
Another notable emerging trend is the influence of generational perspectives on philanthropic priorities. Younger donors increasingly direct their giving toward broad, systemic challenges (such as climate change, global inequality and food insecurity) often seeking to address issues that extend beyond their immediate environments. In contrast, older generations tend to focus on causes shaped by personal experience, including healthcare, education or community-based initiatives.
Advisers are seeing a stronger focus on understanding the ‘why’ behind giving. Clarifying motivations – whether to leave a legacy, to drive social change or to engage the next generation – has become a crucial first step in shaping a bespoke giving plan.
Selecting the right giving vehicle has also been a major area of discussion. For some, establishing a family foundation is the preferred route, offering control and longevity. For others, donor-advised funds offer a more streamlined, flexible option. Advisers featured in our index are well equipped to guide clients through these decisions, often helping to implement the giving structures themselves. Organisations like Prism the Gift Fund and Greenwood Place provide administration and governance services that help ensure philanthropic plans remain effective and compliant long after funds are distributed.
Taken together, these trends reflect a more intentional and strategic approach to philanthropy — one where advice, insight and planning are central to impact. From major private banks to specialist consultancies and research-led think tanks, every Spear’s-recognised adviser brings a unique set of skills and experiences to the table. They have helped build the giving strategies of influential institutions such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Harry Kane Foundation and the Julius Baer Foundation.
What unites them is a passion for purposeful giving and a commitment to philanthropy grounded in meaning – where their role isn’t simply to shape wealth strategies as much as it is to shape legacies.
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- Methodology
- The best philanthropy advisers: some names to know
- The best philanthropy advisers: the complete list
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Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best philanthropy advisers: some names to know
Alex Day
- Focus: Match funding
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Big Give
Big Give was launched by Sir Alec Reed in 2007 as an online portal to help philanthropists discover charities and promote intelligent giving. Fast forward to 2025, the Big Give has raised over £350 million for over 17,500 charity projects.
Managing director Alex Day attributes Big Give’s success to its match-funding model, which allows donors, trusts and foundations to match donations made by the public.
He reports that funders appreciate Big Give’s ability to multiply impact, as well as the fact that the firm carries out due diligence on the causes it supports. It’s also about the opportunity to be part of something bigger. ‘Big Give is a great example of the sum being greater than the individual parts,’ enthuses Day. ‘Everything we do is about bringing charities, philanthropists [and] the public together at a moment in time.
Read Alex Day’s full profile on Spears500.com
Isabelle Hayhoe
- Focus: Strategic philanthropy and grant-making
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management
Isabelle Hayhoe, a senior philanthropy adviser at Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management, sees three core reasons as to why clients are drawn to the bank’s philanthropy service.
She says that in the first instance, clients – who tend to be multigenerational families and successful entrepreneurs and business leaders – are looking to better understand philanthropy. In the second, they are seeking to understand what others are doing in terms of the opportunities available. And in the third, they are navigating a transfer of wealth and want to ensure that they ‘are not just passing wealth, but also values’.
It is then up to Hayhoe and her team, who have decades of collective experience, to help clients think through strategies, vehicles and ways to give, in order to meet clients’ expectations and enact real change.
Read Isabelle Hayhoe’s full profile on Spears500.com
Morag Gillespie
- Focus: Grant-making and inspiring the next generation
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Stewardship
Morag Gillespie heads up Stewardship’s philanthropy fund offering, which provides a bespoke service for individuals who are looking to establish a charitable fund with £500,000 or more.
While some of her clients have already set up a charitable trust and want to simplify towards a donor-advised fund structure, others are just beginning their conversations about philanthropy and impact.
‘There are some families where their circumstances are particularly bespoke or complex; that frequently correlates with the size of their wealth, but not always. That’s the space we sit in,’ Gillespie tells Spear’s.
Read Morag Gillespie’s full profile on Spears500.com
Mark Greer
- Focus: Establishing philanthropic vehicles
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Charities Aid Foundation
Mark Greer is managing director of giving and impact at the Charities Aid Foundation, where he works with ‘wealth managers, family offices and professional advisers to provide world-class philanthropy services to UHNW clients and their families’.
Greer enables clients to set up their own foundations by taking on the administrative, governance and compliance tasks to make giving as seamless as possible. ‘We take away the hassle,’ he says.
Greer joined the firm in 2016 from UK Community Foundations and is adept at understanding a client’s objectives and turning them into concrete impact.
Read Mark Greer’s full profile on Spears500.com
Leslie Ramos
- Focus: Arts and culture funding
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: The Twentieth
Leslie Ramos and Aurelie Cauchy co-founded The Twentieth in order to facilitate philanthropic funding for the arts and culture sector.
Ramos, based in the UK, and Cauchy, based in the US, serve an UHNW clientele who have a passion for the arts and who want to make a meaningful impact on a sector often overlooked by donors.
The pair bring a vast knowledge of the sector, gained through work with major cultural organisations, museums and auction houses. This informs their advice for clients, whether they are looking to set up a foundation, offer unrestricted funding to an organisation, build museums or give an art collection to the public.
Read Leslie Ramos’ full profile on Spears500.com
Nicola Johnson
- Focus: Christian philanthropy
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Stewardship
Nicola Johnson is chief customer officer at Stewardship, a philanthropy advisory firm with a Christian ethos.
An innovative and collaborative thinker and leader, Johnson has publicly called for greater use of vehicles such as donor advised funds, a wrapper for individual giving with less of an administrative burden than a trust or foundation, and which simplifies the process of supporting good causes. She seeks to guide philanthropists with ‘expertise and authenticity’.
Johnson is a member of Philanthropy Impact, an organisation dedicated to making giving more effective. She was a recent speaker at Spear’s 500 Live 2025, where she appeared on a panel alongside other leading philanthropy advisers.
Read Nicola Johnson’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best philanthropy advisers: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
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