Macdonald-Buchanan Charitable Trust

The Macdonald-Buchanan Charitable Trust, established by trust deed in 1952, is a family-led UK charitable trust chaired by Alastair Reginald Macdonald-Buchanan, with trustees drawn from Macdonald-Buchanan and Lascelles family connections. Its core mission is to apply income and capital at trustees' discretion for broad charitable purposes, supporting UK and potentially international charities through a generalist, flexible approach. Emphasising integrity, prudent stewardship, robust risk management, and independent investment oversight, the trust prioritises impactful grants to fewer, well-governed organisations at higher levels, maintaining financial sustainability amid a deliberately unrestricted mandate unchanged since inception.

It funds diverse causes without thematic limits, including medical research (e.g., Bipolar UK, Cure Parkinson’s, Oracle Cancer Trust), health and wellbeing (Red Cross Ukraine Appeal), education (Stowe School, Mary Hare Foundation), food poverty (Country Food Trust), heritage (National Horse Racing Museum), and charitable infrastructure. Beneficiaries encompass young people, those with health conditions, and communities in need, with unrestricted support for core costs, projects, or capital via one-off grants to established charities demonstrating strong governance.

Exclusively for UK-registered charities operating UK-wide (rare international grants), it prefers medium-to-large organisations over grassroots or small entities, with no income thresholds but a clear aversion to unsolicited applications. Grants, typically £10,000–£75,000 (mostly £25,000–£50,000), are awarded discretionarily at ad hoc trustee meetings without deadlines, forms, or open processes—approaches must come via trustee invitation. Distinctive for its longstanding family control, sizeable assets, and aversion to multi-year pledges, it suits reputable charities seeking strategic, unrestricted lump sums aligned with traditional philanthropy.