Caroline Fiennes
@carolinefiennes.bsky.social
Director of Giving Evidence: helping donors make decisions based on sound evidence. (www.giving-evidence.com)
"Charmingly disruptive" - Nobel laureate Richard Thaler.
U.Cambridge visiting fellow. Former FT columnist.
Irrationally exuberant.
Church nerd.
"Charmingly disruptive" - Nobel laureate Richard Thaler.
U.Cambridge visiting fellow. Former FT columnist.
Irrationally exuberant.
Church nerd.
Pinned
Hello! I'm Caroline & I run Giving Evidence which supports donors & funders to be more effective by basing their giving on sound evidence: of where & why a need is, who's doing what about it, what works, & the intended beneficiaries' views.
Effective philanthropy.
And I'm doing a Masters right now😧
Effective philanthropy.
And I'm doing a Masters right now😧
The new album from the awesome Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson is apparently diaphanous and pellucid.
And will augment your vocabulary! - we had to get the dictionary out... 🤷🏽♀️
And will augment your vocabulary! - we had to get the dictionary out... 🤷🏽♀️
December 6, 2025 at 12:09 PM
The new album from the awesome Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson is apparently diaphanous and pellucid.
And will augment your vocabulary! - we had to get the dictionary out... 🤷🏽♀️
And will augment your vocabulary! - we had to get the dictionary out... 🤷🏽♀️
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
6th December is the feast of St Nicholas who is depicted here putting gold pieces through the window of a poor man as a dowry for his three daughters.
BL Royal 20 D VI; Wauchier de Denain, Lives of the Saints; 13th century; France, Central (Paris); f.144r
BL Royal 20 D VI; Wauchier de Denain, Lives of the Saints; 13th century; France, Central (Paris); f.144r
December 6, 2025 at 9:16 AM
6th December is the feast of St Nicholas who is depicted here putting gold pieces through the window of a poor man as a dowry for his three daughters.
BL Royal 20 D VI; Wauchier de Denain, Lives of the Saints; 13th century; France, Central (Paris); f.144r
BL Royal 20 D VI; Wauchier de Denain, Lives of the Saints; 13th century; France, Central (Paris); f.144r
Behold the value of diversity: this maths team only found The Thing bc it had experts & a non-expert:
“I don’t think we would have found it without him [an undergrad]…bc experts traditionally [do a thing] But he didn’t …so the [results] were big and visible.”
www.quantamagazine.org/elliptic-cur...
“I don’t think we would have found it without him [an undergrad]…bc experts traditionally [do a thing] But he didn’t …so the [results] were big and visible.”
www.quantamagazine.org/elliptic-cur...
Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight | Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians are working to fully explain unusual behaviors uncovered using artificial intelligence.
www.quantamagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Behold the value of diversity: this maths team only found The Thing bc it had experts & a non-expert:
“I don’t think we would have found it without him [an undergrad]…bc experts traditionally [do a thing] But he didn’t …so the [results] were big and visible.”
www.quantamagazine.org/elliptic-cur...
“I don’t think we would have found it without him [an undergrad]…bc experts traditionally [do a thing] But he didn’t …so the [results] were big and visible.”
www.quantamagazine.org/elliptic-cur...
Studying at UCL:
"Today's lecture is cancelled but students should attend anyway to comply with UCL's attendance policy" 🤔
I don't think so, sweetheart...
"Today's lecture is cancelled but students should attend anyway to comply with UCL's attendance policy" 🤔
I don't think so, sweetheart...
December 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Studying at UCL:
"Today's lecture is cancelled but students should attend anyway to comply with UCL's attendance policy" 🤔
I don't think so, sweetheart...
"Today's lecture is cancelled but students should attend anyway to comply with UCL's attendance policy" 🤔
I don't think so, sweetheart...
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
April 22, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Have any of you charities ever had any *drawbacks* of citing publicly that you are a charity?
eg. people thinking that the org is less classy or credible?
I'd assume not - the regulator exists precisely to increase credibility & trustworthiness - but am asking b/c this has come up.
Genuine Q. Thx.
eg. people thinking that the org is less classy or credible?
I'd assume not - the regulator exists precisely to increase credibility & trustworthiness - but am asking b/c this has come up.
Genuine Q. Thx.
December 4, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Have any of you charities ever had any *drawbacks* of citing publicly that you are a charity?
eg. people thinking that the org is less classy or credible?
I'd assume not - the regulator exists precisely to increase credibility & trustworthiness - but am asking b/c this has come up.
Genuine Q. Thx.
eg. people thinking that the org is less classy or credible?
I'd assume not - the regulator exists precisely to increase credibility & trustworthiness - but am asking b/c this has come up.
Genuine Q. Thx.
Excellent news 🥳🥳
- the charity regulator will be run by someone who really really understands charities - and isn't a party stoodge.
- the charity regulator will be run by someone who really really understands charities - and isn't a party stoodge.
The government’s choice for next Charity Commission chair has been confirmed
Julia Unwin confirmed as next Charity Commission chair
www.civilsociety.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Excellent news 🥳🥳
- the charity regulator will be run by someone who really really understands charities - and isn't a party stoodge.
- the charity regulator will be run by someone who really really understands charities - and isn't a party stoodge.
In one of the weirder "charity visits" I've ever done, we cracked out some maths last week! Bonus point/s if you know what's going on in these calcs*
Notice that the mathmos there are technically "charity workers", a dopey phrase sometimes used by journos to cover the vast diversity of this sector…
Notice that the mathmos there are technically "charity workers", a dopey phrase sometimes used by journos to cover the vast diversity of this sector…
December 3, 2025 at 8:47 AM
In one of the weirder "charity visits" I've ever done, we cracked out some maths last week! Bonus point/s if you know what's going on in these calcs*
Notice that the mathmos there are technically "charity workers", a dopey phrase sometimes used by journos to cover the vast diversity of this sector…
Notice that the mathmos there are technically "charity workers", a dopey phrase sometimes used by journos to cover the vast diversity of this sector…
A friend who is a historian had a still-born child. Obv terrible. She said that it re-framed & thereby explains a LOT of historical behaviour: at any given time, loads and loads of people were traumatised, grieving, and/or (before a child was born, or was ill) terrified.
My grandmother (on the German side) survived two out of her eight kids. I can’t even imagine how much that must have hurt.
December 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
A friend who is a historian had a still-born child. Obv terrible. She said that it re-framed & thereby explains a LOT of historical behaviour: at any given time, loads and loads of people were traumatised, grieving, and/or (before a child was born, or was ill) terrified.
Larry Summers - former Harvard president & advisor to the US president - is banned for life from the American Economics Association: it cites the "trust in mentors", after he was clearly trying to (re?)seduce a woman he was mentoring. (& seeking advice on it from an already convicted sex offender 🤦🏽♀️)
December 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Larry Summers - former Harvard president & advisor to the US president - is banned for life from the American Economics Association: it cites the "trust in mentors", after he was clearly trying to (re?)seduce a woman he was mentoring. (& seeking advice on it from an already convicted sex offender 🤦🏽♀️)
I really hope that someone HAD written to Tom Stoppard to tell him this, so that he knew while he was alive.
We can probably all do better at telling people about the difference that their work (& they themselves) have made.
We can probably all do better at telling people about the difference that their work (& they themselves) have made.
December 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I really hope that someone HAD written to Tom Stoppard to tell him this, so that he knew while he was alive.
We can probably all do better at telling people about the difference that their work (& they themselves) have made.
We can probably all do better at telling people about the difference that their work (& they themselves) have made.
Also, save this for next time someone tells you that the arts have nothing to add to science:
This letter to @thetimes.com mourning Tom Stoppard's passing is a stunner.
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Also, save this for next time someone tells you that the arts have nothing to add to science:
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
This letter to @thetimes.com mourning Tom Stoppard's passing is a stunner.
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This letter to @thetimes.com mourning Tom Stoppard's passing is a stunner.
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
What the sciences owe to the humanities cannot be quantified, predicted, or planned.
www.thetimes.com/comment/lett... HT @paulnightingale.bsky.social @harrywallop.co.uk
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
If you're in church this Christmas season, you can send me pictures of the church & I will try to tell you what is interesting about its architecture!
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
December 1, 2025 at 10:15 PM
If you're in church this Christmas season, you can send me pictures of the church & I will try to tell you what is interesting about its architecture!
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
Funding & bursaries for classical musicians & creative projects:
- £16,000 per academic year for postgraduate instrumentalists
- £3,500 for independent promoters
- £1,000 to for people of colour looking to make a leap with their creative practice
www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/classical-mu...
- £16,000 per academic year for postgraduate instrumentalists
- £3,500 for independent promoters
- £1,000 to for people of colour looking to make a leap with their creative practice
www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/classical-mu...
December 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Funding & bursaries for classical musicians & creative projects:
- £16,000 per academic year for postgraduate instrumentalists
- £3,500 for independent promoters
- £1,000 to for people of colour looking to make a leap with their creative practice
www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/classical-mu...
- £16,000 per academic year for postgraduate instrumentalists
- £3,500 for independent promoters
- £1,000 to for people of colour looking to make a leap with their creative practice
www.alternativeclassical.co.uk/classical-mu...
Oooh: there's some fabulous flint-knapping on the outside of there!
December 2, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Oooh: there's some fabulous flint-knapping on the outside of there!
If you're in church this Christmas season, you can send me pictures of the church & I will try to tell you what is interesting about its architecture!
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
December 1, 2025 at 10:15 PM
If you're in church this Christmas season, you can send me pictures of the church & I will try to tell you what is interesting about its architecture!
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
If you do it while you're in the church, I may even be able to do it in real time.
This is my church service* to you!
(*See what I did there...)
@zabong69.bsky.social
Ah look: here's our friend...
Ah look: here's our friend...
December 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM
@zabong69.bsky.social
Ah look: here's our friend...
Ah look: here's our friend...
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
"Hidden well in cathedral crypt shines blue after mosaic transformation"
Having recently completed the archaeological excavation and evaluation of a long-covered well in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral a new artwork has now been installed inside it.
Read more here 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Having recently completed the archaeological excavation and evaluation of a long-covered well in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral a new artwork has now been installed inside it.
Read more here 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 9:27 AM
"Hidden well in cathedral crypt shines blue after mosaic transformation"
Having recently completed the archaeological excavation and evaluation of a long-covered well in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral a new artwork has now been installed inside it.
Read more here 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Having recently completed the archaeological excavation and evaluation of a long-covered well in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral a new artwork has now been installed inside it.
Read more here 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
That ceiling shows James I - who asserted the Divine Right of Kings - being received by the gods. It was commissioned by his son, Charles I who also claimed that right- and had to walk under it to the scaffold to be beheaded bc the nation, er, didn't appreciate the arrogance.
Btw the scaffold was...
Btw the scaffold was...
#LondonPics 33
Another ceiling - but what an awesome ceiling it is! The Banqueting House on Whitehall - the only large surviving component of the Palace of Whitehall. The photo doesn't do justice to the amazing Rubens panels. Worth a visit.
Another ceiling - but what an awesome ceiling it is! The Banqueting House on Whitehall - the only large surviving component of the Palace of Whitehall. The photo doesn't do justice to the amazing Rubens panels. Worth a visit.
November 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
That ceiling shows James I - who asserted the Divine Right of Kings - being received by the gods. It was commissioned by his son, Charles I who also claimed that right- and had to walk under it to the scaffold to be beheaded bc the nation, er, didn't appreciate the arrogance.
Btw the scaffold was...
Btw the scaffold was...
Happy Advent!
The broadcast Advent Service today is from St John's College, Cambridge....as always... because, in the worst deal ever, King's College ALWAYS does the Christmas Eve service, and John's & Trinity ALWAYS do the Advent & Epiphany services (respectively) which have much tinier audiences 😢
The broadcast Advent Service today is from St John's College, Cambridge....as always... because, in the worst deal ever, King's College ALWAYS does the Christmas Eve service, and John's & Trinity ALWAYS do the Advent & Epiphany services (respectively) which have much tinier audiences 😢
November 30, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Happy Advent!
The broadcast Advent Service today is from St John's College, Cambridge....as always... because, in the worst deal ever, King's College ALWAYS does the Christmas Eve service, and John's & Trinity ALWAYS do the Advent & Epiphany services (respectively) which have much tinier audiences 😢
The broadcast Advent Service today is from St John's College, Cambridge....as always... because, in the worst deal ever, King's College ALWAYS does the Christmas Eve service, and John's & Trinity ALWAYS do the Advent & Epiphany services (respectively) which have much tinier audiences 😢
Tom Stoppard has died. His giant playwriting career kick-started by a Ford Foundation grant early on, when he had no track record.
Maybe we talk too much about predictable outcomes (looking at you, Effective Philanthropy) & "measurable" effects:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...
Maybe we talk too much about predictable outcomes (looking at you, Effective Philanthropy) & "measurable" effects:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...
Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88
A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Tom Stoppard has died. His giant playwriting career kick-started by a Ford Foundation grant early on, when he had no track record.
Maybe we talk too much about predictable outcomes (looking at you, Effective Philanthropy) & "measurable" effects:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...
Maybe we talk too much about predictable outcomes (looking at you, Effective Philanthropy) & "measurable" effects:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...
Reposted by Caroline Fiennes
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
This is really true. I get messages from strangers saying that my writing helped them / that they liked it: it's FABULOUS.
I once tried to contact an author to say that; couldn't find contact details; went on hols; returned to find a note from an old contact saying that she had just married him!!! 🤣
I once tried to contact an author to say that; couldn't find contact details; went on hols; returned to find a note from an old contact saying that she had just married him!!! 🤣
If you like a writer's work, tell them! Email, LinkedIn message, DM, even in person at an event. It can make a huge difference in their lives, especially right now with declining freelance budgets, layoffs, stagnant salaries, the threat of AI, and dwindling book advances.
November 28, 2025 at 8:08 AM
This is really true. I get messages from strangers saying that my writing helped them / that they liked it: it's FABULOUS.
I once tried to contact an author to say that; couldn't find contact details; went on hols; returned to find a note from an old contact saying that she had just married him!!! 🤣
I once tried to contact an author to say that; couldn't find contact details; went on hols; returned to find a note from an old contact saying that she had just married him!!! 🤣
The other 18 countries should just not turn up.
And one of them should arrange to host the MTG instead, including all the members.
And one of them should arrange to host the MTG instead, including all the members.
The US president says the African nation will not be invited to the Miami meeting following the latest diplomatic spat on.ft.com/49CJIHU
November 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The other 18 countries should just not turn up.
And one of them should arrange to host the MTG instead, including all the members.
And one of them should arrange to host the MTG instead, including all the members.