The history of Nonprofits - from 12th-century almshouses to what we recognise today....
- gillianjones48
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
This week, I’m taking a look at the history of nonprofits. I think it’s helpful to look at the origins of the nonprofits/charities and see how far they’ve come. Not just out of interest, but because it helps us to see how fundamentally important their role still is, and that over the centuries, nonprofits serve the same purpose. It’s only their structure that’s changed.
The history of nonprofits goes back a long way.
In fact, we can trace their origins back to Greek and Roman times, with philanthropic endowments. For those with a religious background, both Christian and Islamic institutions date back to the 7th century, with charitable trusts and guilds. These were to give aid and protection to the vulnerable. It is to the 17th century that we see the Statute of Charitable Uses established, created to help give charities a more structured format, and in 1853, the Charity Commissioners were set up.
I want to focus now on two particular charities, the first one being The Foundling Hospital. Thomas Coram started The Foundling in 1739 after many years campaigning for its creation. Its mission? To care for babies who were at risk of abandonment.
He would eventually receive a Royal Charter from King George II. The word “Foundling,” as many of you will already know, is the word used for an abandoned baby. Abandonment was common around this time due to the absence of state intervention or social service assistance. Parents were either on very low incomes or impoverished due to unemployment and/or illness.
At one point, London saw a thousand babies a year abandoned due to poverty and illness. Today, the Foundling Hospital is Coram, still a children’s charity working with the country’s most vulnerable children. It’s changed in structure, but its aims are more or less the same.
In its time, the hospital saw artists and musicians play a part in its development, helping to turn Coram’s vision into a reality. Artists such as William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel were a major part of this. They helped turn the hospital into the first public art gallery. And Hogarth even persuaded other artists to donate some of their work, while Handel held concerts in aid of the hospital’s chapel.
During that time, it was a working hospital, helping around 25,000 children over a period of two centuries. Today, the Coram Museum has taken the place of the hospital that once stood there, and was built in the 1930s. It still has many of the features of the old 18th-century hospital. The Coram Charity (not the museum, which is in Bloomsbury) is in Brunswick Square and its mission is to “change lives, laws and systems to create better chances for children, now and forever.”
They also provide adoption support and services, and are an Ofsted independent adoption agency with 40 years experience. They also offer therapeutic support. It’s come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 18th century.
The oldest charity in British history is the beautifully named “The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty in Winchester.”
The charity was started by Henry of Blois, who, despite his youth, was known as a knight, a politician, and a monk. He was appointed a Bishop in 1129 for Winchester, and before the age of thirty had founded the Hospital of St Cross in the 12th century. It’s known as England’s oldest charity.
St Cross was a secular foundation despite Henry’s job title, but the hospital was given land, farms, and mills, which would in time provide food and drink for its inhabitants. Later, in the 15th century, Cardinal Beaufort would create the Order of Noble Poverty and add it to the existing hospital.
Today, The Hospital of St Cross is now a popular venue for weddings, and other events, including film locations. There is still an Almshouse here, modelled on a prototype that has existed for the past 1000 years. This particular one is part of 1600 Almshouse charities across the UK, once known as Bede houses or hospitals, offering shelter and housing.
As you can see, charities and nonprofits have a long history, and although their structure has changed over the course of a thousand years, their mission is still the same - to help those who need it most.
You can find out more about these two charities by following the links below:
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