Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Antonia Swinson
17/12/18
It is a bitterly cold winter’s afternoon, but luckily for me, I am at a roundtable in the City of London’s warm Guild Hall, courtesy of City Bridge Trust. A senior group of guests are discussing the findings of the first London Charity Property Survey which my organisation, the Ethical Property Foundation, recently published in partnership with the Charity Finance Group. It wasn’t a large-scale study – just 138 CEOs and finance directors – but covered every London borough and social mission.
Some issues were expected. Namely, the difficulty in sourcing funding for property and the challenge of finding suitable premises now the full-on retreat of London’s local authorities as charity landlords is underway. However, the big difference between London and the rest of England and Wales is the shift to renting from commercial landlords – 40% compared to 33% of charities we surveyed in England and Wales as a whole.
How are commercial landlords responding to the complex needs of this sector? We share experiences of flexible home working and how Cloud technology is creating big changes in charity management. The issue of course, is that the vulnerable people we serve require appropriate premises. And what if charities are community bases, serving costly areas such as Soho or Victoria? They can’t move out to cheaper neighbourhoods. How could the planning system and the London Mayor’s office address the desperate need for social workspaces?
As you might expect, property costs are a big issue for London charities, accounting for over 20% of total expenditure for 16.5% of respondents. Of those we surveyed, 28% of charities consider property as a barrier to delivering their charitable objectives, with 20% citing a lack of affordable premises and 8% a lack of space.
Too few charities realise that property management is part of financial management. This should not be surprising given so many finance directors have responsibility for premises. Every charity undertakes financial planning, so why is property often seen as an optional extra?
Yet despite this, 68% of the London charities we surveyed do not have a strategic property plan. Just over half (51%) say no-one with appropriate expertise is specifically responsible for property within their organisation – 9% higher than the rest of England and Wales. Unsurprisingly therefore, 24% have experienced and 19% anticipate they will experience unforeseen property costs. But it was a shock for our roundtable guests to see that 53% of London charities surveyed do not report regularly on property to trustees, compared to 44% across the whole of England and Wales. Why not? Are trustees not interested?
More than half of London charities (51%) do not carry out regular risk assessments on their property, a significant 10% difference, compared to the 61% of charities in the whole of England and Wales that do. And staggeringly, 36% of London charities do not keep complete records of the property they own or rent. One solicitor present said he was asked, on average, every 18 months for copies of the lease – by the same charity.
Our survey indicates that there are vast numbers of worried and stressed out Londoners in the voluntary sector, working to change the world for the better, in property that may or may support them.
Outside, the dusk is falling and the City of London’s tall buildings begin to wink, as lights are turned on in office floors, which crawl up into the sky. Except they don’t. Most floors of most of the office tower blocks are a dark void. No one’s there. They’re empty properties, but not for the likes of us. Instead, it’s a visual representation of market economics and how our sector is now really going to have to wise up and fight for space in our capital.
A foodbank in Braintree hit by heartless thieves who made off with their van and equipment, has been rescued just before Christmas by a £12,000 grant from funds managed by Essex Community Foundation (ECF).
The break-in took place at Lakes Industrial Park, in October and the devastating blow left the charity struggling to collect donated food and deliver it to their four distribution centres in Braintree district.
A replacement van had to be hired to keep up their vital work of supplying food to people in financial crisis.
Last year, the foodbank distributed almost 40 tonnes of food to 3,268 people, including nearly 1,300 children.
Faced with the task of buying a replacement van, Dorothy Lodge, funding co-ordinator at the foodbank, phoned ECF for help.
The independent grantmaking trust manages 154 charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families and businesses. The Foundation awards grants from these funds to support the work of local charities and community organisations throughout Essex.
Dorothy said: “We rely on the van to pick-up donated food from local businesses and collection points and then getting it to our centres to help people who need our support. It has been tough without it.
Having a local funder like ECF to turn to has been a lifesaver. The grant has helped us to buy a replacement van and we are so grateful”.
Caroline Taylor, chief executive of ECF said: “We were shocked to hear about the break-in at the foodbank and were pleased to be able to respond so quickly to their request for help. They do sterling work and are coping with a growing need. The much-needed grant has come from pooling money from the RSM Community Fund, the Jean and Peter Davey Charitable Fund and the Yellow Car Charitable Fund.”
RSM, a tax and accounting firm based in Chelmsford, set up their corporate fund with ECF in 2008.
Jennifer Collins, manager, said: “The work of the foodbank is commendable and without it, people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families would go hungry. When the Foundation brought the foodbank’s terrible situation to our attention, we knew we had to help. We are so pleased to award them a grant from our fund with ECF to help to contribute to the cost of their new van.”
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Lauren Weymouth
13/12/18
In the elephant kingdom, the female matriarch becomes the leader of her herd, not because she is the strongest, most aggressive or assertive in personality, but because she has earned the respect of other elephants. The matriarch asserts her leadership through her wisdom, strength and her skills in social intelligence, problem solving, patience, confidence and compassion.
Like many great leaders – human and otherwise – the matriarch uses her excellent social awareness to understand the elephants in her herd and provide them with a space to grow as individuals. More importantly, she shows moments of stillness, whereby she stops to assess her surroundings. In these moments, she uses her senses to the fullest to become more aware of the direction and activities of the herd.
In a position of authority, stopping to seek stillness isn’t easy. Many charity leaders would struggle to remember the last time they stopped at all. But the public’s perception and expectations of charities has changed dramatically over the past year and it has become essential to ensure your organisation is adapting to the needs of both donors and beneficiaries.
Protecting the herd
Charity leaders are now faced with two choices: embrace change or fail. With over 160,000 charities registered in the UK, competition is tough and leaders need to be quick if they want to snap up new opportunities as and when they arise.
But unfortunately, competition isn’t the only issue to contend with. Thanks to the unearthed Oxfam scandal, which was quickly followed by news of similar troubles at Save the Children, charities are under more scrutiny than ever from the public, corporate donors and regulators.
Following the raft of media reports surrounding the sector’s safeguarding issues; trust in charities plateaued down to levels unseen since 2005 and the Charity Commission quickly began to tighten its regulation around charity safeguarding, placing greater pressure on leaders to put strict measures in place to keep their organisations from external harm.
Since the Oxfam allegations, the regulator has released numerous warnings, urging charity leaders to strengthen their safeguarding policies, but has received little reassurance in return. A report released by the Charity Commission’s interim taskforce on safeguarding, found just 0.9% of charities have reported a safeguarding incident since 2014. Over the same period, only 1.5% of charities submitted any kind of serious incident report.
“We accept that there may be a significant proportion of charities that do not experience safeguarding incidents, or only experience such incidents very rarely, due to the nature of their work,” the taskforce said at the time, “however, it seems unlikely that 99.1% of charities did not experience any reportable safeguarding issues over a 4 year period.”
“The public rightly expect charities to demonstrate the highest standards of ethical behaviour and attitude,” Charity Commission director of policy, planning and communications Sarah Atkinson says. “That includes taking action when something has gone badly wrong, or when there’s been a near miss. Making a serious incident report to the Commission is not in itself an admission of wrongdoing or failure. Quite the reverse: it demonstrates that a charity is responding properly to incident or concern.”
All eyes and ears
Raising and reporting concerns requires careful observation, and a good understanding of the people working within the organisation. Much like the matriarch elephant, this is where it becomes crucial to seek those moments of stillness to spot any potential danger signs.
Unfortunately, a high proportion of the risks facing charities come from within the organisation itself. This year alone, countless numbers of charities became victims of internal fraud, often by unassuming members of staff looking to take advantage of their position of power.
In a warning issued to charity leaders, the regulator claimed almost 75% of insider frauds at charities are facilitated by “excessive trust” and a “lack of challenge” from people working from within the organisation.
The watchdog’s findings highlighted a number of ‘cultural factors’ that contribute to insider fraud, including giving employees excessive responsibility, or failing to challenge individuals properly. As a result, the regulator has been encouraging leaders to try and adopt a culture whereby staff, trustees and volunteers are all reminded they need to flag any concerning behaviour happening internally, rather than ‘turning a blind eye when internal processes aren’t followed’, as is often the case.
“The crucial lesson for charities isn’t about introducing lengthy counter-fraud policies. It’s about changing people’s behaviours and encouraging staff and all those involved in charities to be vigilant and speak out when things don’t seem right. This must be demonstrated by everyone in an organisation to be truly effective,” Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement at the Charity Commission explains.
“A dangerous combination of a lack of accountability and controls not being consistently applied can make any charity – big or small – vulnerable, and create opportunities for fraudsters that will have devastating effects.”
Significance leadership
So what can leaders do to prevent such instances from happening? In the case of the matriarch elephant, strong leadership and successful teamwork comes from careful career planning and on-the-job training to ensure there is at least one experienced leader who respects the matriarch, and is ready to take on the role when something goes wrong.
Environmentalists call this ‘elephant significant leadership’, which the matriarch will demonstrate by showing respect to each member of her team by analysing and valuing the skills they can individually bring to the group.
This method of leadership is often transferred into business, as it encourages leaders to gain a better understanding of what skills each employee can bring to the organisation, and to inspire them to thrive. Leadership expert, Simon Sinek articulates this well: “Every company, organisation or group with the ability to inspire starts with a person or small group of people who were inspired to do something bigger than themselves,” he says.
But for best results, leaders will always benefit from a more diverse team that can offer a multitude of different skills and experiences in the first place.
Despite this, diverse leadership teams are still scarce among the charity sector. In fact, according to a study published by recruitment company Green Park this summer, a third of the UK’s largest charities have no non-white people on their senior leadership teams or boards.
The study used a sophisticated classification system to assess the ethnic background of people holding more than 1,800 positions at the top 100 charities, and found that only 8.1% of senior positions were held by people from ethnic minorities. Worryingly, the figure fell to 6.2% when narrowed down to include only the top three positions of chair, chief executive or chief finance officer.
Leadership body ACEVO, together with the Institute of Fundraising, has subsequently released a list of principles for leaders to abide by to help plug the diversity ‘deficit’. These, ACEVO claims, will help leaders to prevent groupthink, generate more income, operate more creatively and attract best talent.
The bodies propose leaders should do the following:
1. Acknowledge that there is a problem with racial diversity in the charity sector and
commit to working to change that.
2. Recognise the important role leaders have in creating change by modelling positive behaviour and taking action.
3. Learn about racial bias and how it impacts leadership decisions.
4. Commit to setting permanent and minimum targets for diversity that reflects the participants, donors, beneficiaries and the population of the area that my charity operates in.
5. Commit to action and invest resources, where necessary, in order to improve racial diversity in my charity.
6. View staff as the sum of many parts rather than a single entity and recruit to build a diverse group of talented people collectively working towards a shared vision.
7. Recruit for potential, not perfection.
8. Value lived experience, the ability to draw from one’s lived experience and to bring insights to an organisation that can develop its work.
“No-one is getting it all right: we all have to be better,” Vicky Browning, chief executive of ACEVO says. “However if leaders do get it right then they will create stronger, more resilient and creative charities.”
Bridging the skills gap
Moving into the year ahead, the expectations placed on charity leaders will continue to increase. Volunteers and employees of charities of all sizes are now looking to CEOs, directors and managers to lead the way – and not just on the issue of diversity. They are looking to their leaders to embrace digital and to be able to showcase good examples of using digital effectively.
The Charity Digital Skills report published by Zoe Amar Communications earlier in the year revealed 63% of charities expect their leaders to be able to provide guidance around digital, and a further 53% said they want leaders to have some experience or understanding of digital tools – a demand that has grown year on year.
“If there is one thing I would like people to remember about this year’s Charity Digital Skills report, it’s this: charities want their leaders to drive digital. They cannot put digital in a black box and pass it to another team,” Zoe Amar explains.
“If your leadership team aren’t on board with digital, it’s time to discuss the benefits of how digital could help your charity and the risks if your charity doesn’t change. Often the best way to do this is to show how similar organisations are using digital to raise money, reach more people or create competitive advantage.”
Lessons from a matriarch
Matriarch elephants are trusted and respected because of their ability to make wise decisions. Whilst other members of the herd might offer suggestions or contribute to the overall decision, the matriarch uses its wisdom to reach an overall decision and to protect its herd from any danger.
But much of this is down to its careful observation; a skill that is essential for learning and development. This year alone, charity chief executives have had to contend with political volatility from Brexit; heightened safeguarding regulation; a fall in levels of public trust; a number of new governance frameworks; increased fundraising regulation; disruptive technology and much more.
Jennifer Smith, a biology professor and co-author of a report into leadership in mammalian societies, studied leadership among animals, and found that in troublesome environments, leaders can learn a thing or two from the way elephants and other animals lead their teams. “What we found here is that, time and again, the most successful leaders are actually those that take all of the demands from the society into account,” she explains.
“[They] don’t necessarily know to negotiate or navigate through their worlds,” she adds, “but through the leadership of the more experienced individuals, they can [learn] new insights.”
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Lauren Weymouth
12/12/18
The Big Lottery Fund and the government have teamed up to provide safeguarding training to charities across the UK.
The announcement comes as part of the wider government strategy to improve safeguarding practice across the voluntary sector in England.
Together, the DCMS and Big Lottery Fund will invest £1.14m to improve access to training, support and advice. The funding will come over two phases until 2022.
As part of phase one, The Safeguarding Training Fund will be seeking an organisation or partnership of organisations with the track record and knowledge to develop high quality resources, which will be freely available to the voluntary sector to improve safeguarding practice.
Charities are invited to express their interest up until 13 January at 11.59pm. In mid-January, up to three organisations will be asked to submit a full application for funding.
The deadline for full applications will be 17 February and phase one will commence at the end of March 2019.
Phase two will commence in spring/summer 2019 and will provide funding to a small number of organisations or partnerships.
The funding will allow these charities to share the resources developed during phase one and support grassroots charities and community organisations to improve their safeguarding practice.
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Mark Evans
03/12/2018
For the last two years, the Weston Charity Awards Small Charity Leaders survey has provided a barometer of the confidence and concerns of small charities.
This year, despite general political unrest and uncertainty, the sound of cautious optimism is emerging from the sector. The survey does also highlight concerns the role of central and local government on whose support they rely and even the sector’s own ability to work effectively with larger organisations, particularly in the private sector.
Nearly two out of five (38 per cent) small charities expect their income to rise over the next year and a half (46 per cent) expect to maintain current income levels. Optimism is on the rise, with only one in eight (16 per cent) small charity leaders forecasting a drop in income in 2019 compared to a third expecting a fall at this point last year.
Growing confidence for the future is also reflected in small charities’ impressive ambitions to expand their services next year. There is a significant increase in the number of charities saying they plan to help more people in the next 12 months – nearly four in five (78 per cent) in 2019 compared to nearly three in five at the end of 2017.
However, there is unease at the operating environment that charities will find themselves in. Over two thirds (69 per cent) of leaders say there is more uncertainty in their operating environment than in previous years. In the last year, a quarter had to deal with the impact of the withdrawal of a major funding source and more than one in 10 has closed services.
On top of this, the advent of increased regulation, including GDPR, leaves two thirds (71 per cent) of leaders saying they had struggled to meet the challenge. Other challenges were in recruiting for a key role (37 per cent) and setting up a new partnership was a challenge.
Indeed, building partnerships with the commercial sector was the skill most charities lacked. This year, over half (51 per cent) of small charities are seeking this skill, only second in priority to fundraising (57 per cent). Around two out of five (38 per cent) said both IT & digital skills and branding and communication expertise were top priorities for their charities.
For Charity Times advice on partnerships click here.
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Lauren Weymouth
21/11/18
The government has announced it will issue grants worth £1 million to fund support programmes that will help charities improve their digital skills.
The funding, launched by Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, follows the government’s launch of its new Civil Society Strategy, which set out plans to help charities in growing their digital confidence.
Wright said training provided through the Digital Leadership Fund, will help charities to better develop an understanding of how technology can make it easier for them to achieve their goals.
The fund will give industry leaders free access to training or heavily subsidised courses to boost their digital skills and develop a wider understanding of how technology can help them to fulfil their mission.
Training will include learning how to maximise online fundraising tools, build a social media presence or modernise their operational delivery by embedding updated IT systems.
It is also likely to include learning how to harness emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to achieve their charitable objectives.
“We want charitable organisations to thrive in the digital age and are committed to helping them get the most out of technology, which can act as an enormous force for good,” Wright said.
“Through this programme, charity leaders will have more opportunities to enhance skills and boost employee confidence while creating a greater and more positive impact on people and their communities.”
The Digital Leadership Fund is designed for organisations that are currently providing training to improve charities’ digital skills.
The UK is the sixth most generous country in the world when it comes to charitable giving, a new report by the Charities Aid Foundation has revealed.
According to the latest CAF World Giving Index, the UK has climbed back into the top 10 this year, up from 11th position in 2017.
The report, which is based on a survey of 150,000 people from 146 countries around the world, measured how many people have donated to or volunteered for a charity, or helped a stranger in the past month.
This year’s report revealed Indonesia as the most generous country in the world, while Australia, New Zealand and the US fell shortly behind. Ireland and the UK were the only two European countries to make it into the top 10.
Myanmar, which had previously held the top spot since 2015, fell down to ninth place in this year’s rankings. All three of the country’s scores decreased from last year (donating money fell from 91% to 88%; helping a stranger fell from 53% to 40%; and volunteering time is down from 51% to 34%).
The scores for helping a stranger and volunteering are the lowest ever recorded for Myanmar by the CAF World Giving Index, which CAF said was likely to be a result of Myanmar’s people being “less willing or able to give” after the Rohingya crisis peaked in 2017.
The UK score was set back by its volunteer time. According to the survey, 33 per cent had volunteered in the last month. This compares to the 63 per cent that had helped a stranger and 68 per cent that had donated money to charity.
“The levels of generosity we see in countries is truly humbling, particularly when it shows huge support for others in countries which have suffered years of conflict, war or instability. That really demonstrates our shared human values shining through,” said CAF chief executive, Sir John Low.
“This year it is heartening that millions more people helped others and volunteered their time. The global fall in the numbers giving money is a concern, however, as the cumulative effect of the money people give can have an amazing effect.
“Some countries do show some sharp declines in levels of giving, and we will have to look carefully to analyse the possible reasons and determine whether we are seeing short term volatility in the data or the start of a longer term trend. As always, what is important is to take the long view, look beyond the annual peaks and troughs and work towards the upward trend in giving which can make such a difference to the lives of us all.”
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Caron Bradshaw
26/10/18
Back in August last year, hot on the heels of the CFG report A Brexit that works for everyone, I wrote a piece for Charity Times, urging charities to be vocal on the issue. And as we hurtle towards the end date for negotiations I am taking the opportunity to do the same again as I fear we are still being far too quiet.
I also urge you to consider, based on what you now know, how Brexit is going to impact you and your beneficiaries. Are you preparing for what might come? First, a brief canter through the story so far.
Last year we were of the view that a well-managed Brexit negotiation could offer the sector a rare opportunity to resolve issues that have long impeded our performance – much like the rules around state aid and the burden of irrecoverable VAT.
Since then, we have been engaging and closely monitoring how negotiations have progressed as well as what developments might mean for charities. Having not taken a position before the referendum, we took the view that doing so after the outcome would have been improper and unhelpful.
At CFG, we pride ourselves on our objectivity. We seek to consider the changing evidence base and the wider interests of the sector. Consequently, we have been able to use language and highlight areas that have opened, hitherto closed, doors for the sector. We have been able to engage with those influencing Brexit so that they might think beyond the interests of business alone and include in their deliberations the impact on charities and society.
In our first report, we examined the impact for charities of leaving the EU and considered issues beyond the loss of EU funding, considerable though that is. We examined questions about workers, state aid, procurement and the need for coordination – particularly regarding the delivery of international aid.
Earlier this year, we commissioned research leading to a second report looking at work force issues. This was helpful in pressing politicians to think about Brexit from the impact on social change in the event of EU workers no longer being available to us. In our latest report, a cost benefit analysis, we have concluded that, as negotiations are currently progressing, the sector stands to have all the costs and none of the benefits of Brexit.
Over the twelve months since our first report, we’re pleased that we’ve had some success in getting the charity perspective to the table. But the voice needs amplifying and sadly the negotiations appear to have achieved very little for us as a sector. We need to change that.
Wherever you are on the politics of this, there is one thing we must all do now – speak up for our beneficiaries. If you haven’t already done so, make representations to your MPs. Your voice is critical and we are fast running out of time for consideration to be given to the issues of most importance to our sector.
My second plea to you all is to think about what Brexit means for you as an organisation. Have you given consideration to how it might impact your charity, from the perspective of the economy, the tax regime, workforce skills or changes in public spending and regulation? Map out your risks or the opportunities that might flow to your charity. Put Brexit on the agenda for your board of trustees. Consider whether a working group which cuts across your organisation might be helpful (depending on your size) and make sure you speak with your stakeholders and understand how they might be impacted.
Brexit – unless it is halted – is not a two year process, but is likely to be a decade (at least) long event. So creating the structures to monitor the impact over the longer term, right now, will save you pain in the long run and set you up to be able to capitalise on any opportunities that might arise. Above all, don’t watch from the side lines – you might think this will have little bearing on your charity, but this is such a significant event that it is hard to think of charities that won’t be exposed to some change either directly or indirectly.
Caron Bradshaw is the CEO of the Charity Finance Group
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Lauren Weymouth
26/10/18
A number of senior executives from across the charity sector have been named as LGBT+ plus role models in a new list designed to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
A list compiled by membership group OUTstanding, in conjunction with the Financial Times, revealed Antonio Zappulla, chief operating officer of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, as the number one LGBT+ senior executive in the charity and public sector.
Among the 30 LGBT+ public sector executive role models, seven charity sector individuals were named, with Zappulla topping the list.
Zappulla is an outspoken supporter of the business case for LGBT+ inclusion and ranked fourth in Outstanding’s 2017 LGBT executive role model list. He co-chairs Pride at Work, the LGBT network at Thomson Reuters and sits on the boards of All Out and Out in Business at the London Business School.
Lee Marshall, who is the co-founder of UK LGBT charity Stonewall landed in at number five. He is currently chief of staff at the Church of England Pensions Board and chair of anti-bullying charity The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation.
Seventh place was awarded to Carole Anderson, head of strategy and performance at hospital charity Golden Jubilee Foundation. Anderson helped to organise the “largest ever” group of NHS staff to march for Pride Glasgow 2018.
Tony Lloyd, CEO of charity ADHD Foundation fell in at number 11 for his work as a consultant for the Merseyside police on the inclusion and recruitment of more LGBT+ officers.
In 22nd place was Gemma Bull, funding strategy director at the Big Lottery Fund; Ian Green, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust was 24th, while Polly Shuttle, executive fundraising director at Together for Short Lives, was 27th.
The list features a number of executives from across both charity and public sectors and recognises the work done across the globe to promote diversity and inclusivity.
Suki Sandhu, founder and CEO, INvolve, said: “Our sixth OUTstanding lists are our most international and diverse ever. They feature executives representing 21 countries around the world – from Ghana to Germany and from India to Israel.
“We’re so proud to see so many senior and future leaders recognised as role models for their work driving cultural change and creating environments where everyone can succeed. Everyone – regardless of gender, sexuality or ethnicity – benefits from a level playing field where people feel able to bring their whole selves to work.”
The full list of LGBT+ public sector executive role models can be viewed here.
Originally published by charitytimes: www.charitytimes.com
Written by Peter Lewis
25/10/18
Our sector is strongest when we are together. As a membership organisation with over 6,000 individuals across the UK and over 600 charity members, I see every day the difference that is made when fundraisers share, support, and collaborate with each other. It is one of the things that always gives me pride and hope for the future – that whatever the individual cause is of the organisation we work for, we understand that we are unlikely to get there just on our own. As Helen Keller, author and campaigner, once said; “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
‘Collaboration’ is also the ubiquitous rallying call that is often heard from government, think tanks, and the sector itself. It was heard once again at the recent Conservative Party conference fringe event with Philip Dunne, the MP for Ludlow, urging charities to “speak with one voice” to have the most impact. With a cynical hat on you could say this makes it easier for parliamentarians, and with around 160,000 registered charities in the UK the idea we could ever ‘have one voice’ might leave a few people with raised eyebrows. But we cannot deny that there is value in having a common voice and purpose, especially when, given the current political climate, anything other than Brexit finds it hard to get cut through. It also is a reminder for us working at membership and infrastructure organisations that we also need to continue to work together too.
Yet working together isn’t always easy. Sometimes there can be fears about a potential loss of your individual’s charity identity, dilution of your independence and voice, or disagreement with others over precise policy calls and responses. But recently I’ve been reminded again about how much more we have to gain through collaboration. I’ve been lucky to have been involved with sector leaders in working groups and conversations to tackle the things that will benefit us all; diversity in the fundraising community, a strong and united call for the £2bn funding from dormant assets to be designated for strategic, long-term investment in civil society organisations, and substantive work on improving safeguarding across the sector.
And when I look at what’s happening more widely across our sector, there are some really excellent examples of collaboration– people and organisations coming together to amplify their voice.
For example, the Tesco partnership with Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK is a prime example of shared knowledge unlocking progress. It focuses on their shared charitable objectives and, over the next five years, their campaign will bring together their skills and expertise to lower health risks across the UK. Last year a coalition of eighteen London homelessness charities came together for a joint campaign with the Mayor of London to help rough sleepers in the capital. And the IoF’s own long term project to increase gifts in wills, Remember A Charity goes from strength to strength, with now over 200 charities working collectively to make legacy giving the social norm.
One of my favourite collaborative campaigns was a group of 26 hospices across the North West who came together in 2017 to launch a TV advertising campaign that busted myths and broke down barriers that prevented people from accessing hospice care across the region. The hospices worked together to share the cost of airing the ads during prime time Granada TV and enabled them to all reach a wider audience than ever before – in an affordable way that benefited them all.
We can rarely achieve transformational without the help and support those around us. Whether that’s working with the charities nearest to us geographically, on similar causes, or as membership bodies supporting a wider range of charities, we all gain through collaboration. At the IoF, we believe in excellent fundraising for a better world – and fundraising is at its best when we learn from others, support our peers and colleagues, and work together for the benefit of all.
Peter Lewis is the chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising