The story of ShareGift

But when she hit upon a madcap idea to turn unwanted company shares into a lucrative revenue stream for charities across the world, even her closest friends doubted it could succeed.

“Everybody was telling me it couldn’t be done which was just like a red rag to a bull,” she recalls. “I knew it could be one of the biggest sources of revenue for charities as it would be a completely new flow of money.”

For Claire – whose official title is the Viscountess Mackintosh of Halifax, following her marriage to Lord Mackintosh - it was simply a business problem in need of a solution.

During this time she recognised millions of pounds were tied up in unwanted shares - often received from privatisations - which would cost more to sell through traditional channels than they were worth.

Her vision was to enable individuals to donate these tiny holdings without incurring expensive fees. All individual shares would be aggregated until there were enough to sell, with donations to charities chosen by the scheme’s trustees from the generated pool of funds.

Today – six years on – ShareGift is a roaring success which has given a total of £4m to over 500 charities, including Shelter, Save the Children, the Breast Cancer Campaign and the Cats Protection League.

The scheme, to which you can donate unwanted holdings through HSBC, also has the backing of quoted companies looking to save money.

Every shareholder, whether they own one share or ten thousand, has to be sent all company reports and dividend cheques.

Companies who can offload those with unwanted holdings from their shareholder registers will substantially reduce their costs, while donors themselves can claim income tax relief.

ShareGift, however, is no overnight success. Claire originally had the idea almost 20 years ago, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s - after her marriage - that she had the financial freedom to pursue the dream.

“My husband and I decided that if we both continued with our demanding and fulfilling careers we wouldn’t get to see much of each other,” she recalls.

Teaming up with Matthew Orr – the co-founder of Killik & Co private client stockbrokers who provides office space and sells the shares – she gave the scheme three years to prove itself.

“It was a case of whether it could be made to work,” explains Claire. “If I was working flat out to raise £25,000 each year for charity there wouldn’t be any point as I’d have been better off just handing over my salary.”

For months Claire, who is now 44 years old, toiled away on the paperwork. She set up a charity – constructing it as a company limited by guarantee – and endured seemingly endless meetings and discussions.

The initial responses, however, were not favourable. It soon became clear the idea had to be shown to work before major firms – whose interest was essential for the big money to start rolling in – took it seriously.

“I wanted companies to include ShareGift in their communication to shareholders, but I knew I had to create something they wanted first,” says Claire. “We took the decision to accept everything – regardless of the size – and that’s how we established credibility.”

The major breakthrough came when the British Airports Authority referred to ShareGift in its annual report. Doors had begun opening.

Since then ShareGift has worked with a host of major FTSE names, including Vodafone, Barclays, Imperial Tobacco, Marks and Spencer, Hanson and Debenhams.

Its annual donations have risen from a respectable £16,000 in its first year to £1.5m – a phenomenal achievement by any measure – with the largest single gift worth £300,000.

The scheme even picked up an award for the Most Effective Corporate Fundraising Campaign, from the Institute of Fundraising, after receiving £700,000 worth of donations working with BT during its restructuring.

“I had a nice feeling after four years when I realised ShareGift would be able to continue if something happened to me,” says Claire. “We have now become the charity share donation experts.”

There’s even talk of international versions of ShareGift.

“Various people have approached me for help to set up in Australia and the United States,” admits Claire. But while happy to hand out the advice, she won’t entertain the prospect of getting heavily involved again.

With just a handful of staff – and a target of raising £1m-a-year – Claire’s time is already a precious commodity and all her efforts are channelled into the current scheme.