This is nothing new. The article refers to donations in 2003, 2004 and 2005, but I know that in fact the Trust has been giving significant support to Lib Dem local election campaigns since 1990.

Much of this money has historically been channelled through the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors, and then targeted into individual wards and Council campaigns,usually linked to a commitment to required levels of community campaigning.

Presumably all of this will be at risk if there is a cap on donations, with significant implications for their funding streams.

The Lib Dem comment on Sir Hayden Phillips' proposals says,

"There needs to be proper capping of individual contributions, strong procedures to prevent the abuse of spending in constituencies outside of elections, and proper transparency."

You can view some information about grants from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust on their website - http://www.jrrt.org.uk/. It is only fair to point out that they do not exclusively fund the Liberal Democrats and have given important funding to anti-racist campaigns and other causes, and have occasionally funded activities in Labour and other political parties. However, the amounts involved generally seem to have been small compared to their very significant funding of the Liberal Democrats.