During the pandemic, I am proud to have been the Chair of Trustees of the Smallwood Trust as we decided to address the twin challenges of growing poverty among women and falling income for women-led community groups by accelerating our Community Grant Partnerships.
These combine block funding including 20% for overheads with strategic support for organisations, which then distribute direct grants of up to £700 to individuals as well as providing advice around services.
By April this year we had expanded the model to 29 partnerships across England. 27%of which are BAME-led groups. Since 2018 £2m has been devolved to Community Grant Partnerships and in 2020 Smallwood’s funding supported 19,000 women to pay their rent and buy essential items, a 600% increase on 2019.
We were shortlisted for our Community Grant Partnership programme at this year’s Charity Awards and won the award in the Grantmaking and Funding category.
Matt Nolan, CEO of Civil Society Media which organises the Charity Awards, congratulated Smallwood Trust on winning the award. He said: “The standard of entries this year was as high as ever, despite the challenges that the sector has faced during the pandemic – so Smallwood Trust should be very proud to have won their category. Their programme has delivered great results.”
On receiving the award Paul Carbury, our CEO, said: “I’d like to thank our Board for their foresight in devolving around 30% of the grants budget to local women’s groups who know best to spend that money. Most importantly, we want to share this award with our Community Grant Partners who are enabling women to be financially resilient, keeping women safe from harm and violence and supporting them on a range of issues from housing to employability skills, in the face of so many challenges through COVID and the cost of living crisis.”
Covid and the cashless society from the perspective of small charities
An conversation with Neil Oliver on his Saturday program on GBNews about covid, the cashless society and charities.
When I was approached to be on Neil Oliver’s Saturday evening program on GBNews to talk about the pandemic and the cashless society from the perspective of small charities my first thought was to ask some the charities I know what it has meant to them.
Although I heard this sentiment time and again one military charity summed it up very succinctly “Covid has been savage for us from a staff morale point of view.”
For smaller organisations a move to cashless has been all about maintaining the interpersonal relationship. Their reliance on volunteers and on informal networks to support the ongoing operation is generally vital. Some charities will take advantage of the opportunities of digital and have also geared up for a return to "normal operation". However, some will be slow to open up. The disruption in viability, or growth, plans, and the need to re-establish or build new relationships with funders, and in a new working environment, will be a challenge for all particularly, perhaps, for those without deep pockets or significant in-house skills.
Some of the recommendations I heard were for small charities set up Facebook Fundraising (if they haven't already) and encourage their supporters to create event themselves, such as Walk 50 miles in May or Swim 20k in June. These challenge events work well on Facebook and a lot of people who take part, don't have a connection to the cause - they just want to take on the challenge. Facebook doesn't charge a platform or processing fee either.
Regarding the cashless society, one residential charity I spoke with told me that there has been minimal impact to how they work other than a positive one resulting from asking their residents during the pandemic to pay their service charge electronically rather than in cash. This obviously reduced the need for personal contact or cash handling during the worst of the pandemic. They also found that the switch from cash to electronic has significantly reduced arrears of service charge payments. They said that this is very important to their clients' ultimate wellbeing, as in order to move on into independent accommodation in the community, they need to demonstrate their ability to handle their money and not rack up service charge arrears.
Covid has meant that many charities have had to adapt services quickly during the early lockdown stages, which for some has had an ongoing positive impact. For example, the development of a webchat system to enable the charity to continue to support their clients remotely rather than face-to-face when they needed to reduce personal contact. Changes like this have, of course, been a challenge in obtaining additional funding to purchase technology such as smartphones and tablets or laptops whether that be for clients or staff who have had to work remotely.
For some other charities the impact has been less positive and has particularly affected small charities championing less mainstream causes or causes that have been particularly excluded from emergency funding during the pandemic, animal welfare charities for example - who might traditionally rely on in-person fundraising - such as events.
It is worth noting that many volunteer-led small charities don’t have a dedicated fundraising person, or a finance person, or even someone qualified to investigate collecting cashless payments for example. One person I spoke with told me that lots of small charities have had issues with registering on online platforms
To sum up. Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has stimulated a large and sustained increase in cashless giving which is likely to stay. This is likely to include:
· More digital and hybrid fundraising events.
· Continued growth of social media fundraising.
· Giving through websites and apps, including crowdfunding sites. QR codes have become the norm for many during the pandemic.
· Increased availability and use of contactless card donation points.
Benefits for charities:
· Online giving encourages Gift Aid.
· Higher donation amounts.
· Data capture to enable stewardship through website and platform donations.
· Donors are getting younger so opportunity to engage Gen Z.
· Contactless can provide charities a uniquely powerful ask – e.g. tap to donate points on charity shop windows.
· Less resource heavy (processing of donations).
Barriers, particularly for small charities:
· Skilling up of staff and volunteers.
· Financial resources needed for set up costs – for example cashless collection boxes, contactless donation points, GivePanel for Facebook data.
· Initial ROI if not investing at scale.
· Contactless donations are anonymous so the challenge of anonymity.
· The move away from face-to-face events and giving limiting the charites ability to engage with donors.
An introduction on how video can help tell your not-for-profit story.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that video is becoming more used in the third sector. If you’re a communications officer or in charge of marketing for a charity or nonprofit, you’re likely aware that nonprofits of all shapes and sizes are now utilizing video formats more regularly than ever before and receiving great results. So what are some concrete ways you can benefit from using video in nonprofit communications?
Recently I met Emily Kay Stoker: ex-digital marketer and current founder of a video production company with 10+ years of experience. Emily has been helping to tell stories through video for nonprofits and brands promoting social good alongside her team of female filmmakers since 2018.
Emily has kindly written the following article. It will to help give you video ideas for your nonprofit to improve their communication efforts. Whether you have limited experience with video and tapping into the format seems overwhelming, or you’re looking for ways to spice up your nonprofit communication efforts, this article has you covered.
How can video help your nonprofit’s communications?
Video is a powerful storytelling tool that connects the viewer in a way other content types struggle with. Unlike written content, visuals and audio immerse and engage your desired audience. The internet agrees - according to digital marketing industry leader Sprout Social, video is shared twice as much as any other content. It’s no wonder algorithms on social media platforms and search engines are favouring video.
Additionally, consider video’s ability to communicate the story that you are trying to tell. Research shows that our brains are made to retain stories rather than facts and figures, as outlined in this article from the Guardian about the science of storytelling in digital marketing. Whether it’s a personal profile that shows the impact of your charity’s work, or a fun animation that explains the significance of some of the numbers behind your work. Video’s power to engage you in a narrative that adds meaning to a stream of facts or numbers is undeniable.
1 Nonprofit Social Media Video Content
Film based on our research on how working conditions and cultures are affecting junior doctors’ mental health. Follow participant Charlotte’s experience with depression as a junior doctor.
A simple starting point for your nonprofit video ideas is social media content. Open up your social media platform of choice and start to scroll. How long did it take you to come across a video? That’s no accident. Most platforms are pushing their creators to publish more video content, because it’s more likely to keep users on their platform.
This is useful to know for nonprofit communication officers to know in order to better engage your audience and compete with other organisations for your audience’s attention. Perhaps you’re communicating an important campaign or maintaining trust with your audience as an authority on your subject. Whatever the occasion, video is currently the best way to increase your reach and engagement on most social media platforms.
The tweet above shows social media video content commissioned by a research team at the University of Birmingham. This short film about the mental health of junior doctors used Twitter to gain shares and mentions on social media. It organically gained dedicated press coverage, and thousands of views within 24 hours of publication. The link on the tweet drove viewers to a longer version of the video on the university website. Video production courtesy of Emily Kay Stoker.
2 Fundraising Campaign Video for your nonprofit
Algorithms aside, charity fundraising video campaigns can have some very real benefits. What better way to connect with a potential donor and actually show them the problem you’re solving through your nonprofit’s video? Video can be an elegant tool to demonstrate what an incredible impact your solution has had so far by showing it to them in action. It leaves less up to the imagination and can help people connect on a very human level.
Plus, let’s not forget the research linking storytelling to an audience’s improved memory of important facts and figures as stated earlier. When you keep this in mind, the video ideas for your nonprofit really are endless.
Godmanchester Baptist Church and Community Centre commissioned this short documentary from Emily Kay Stoker to highlight stories of those benefiting from their services. It accompanied their fundraising applications for renovations including fixing their roof. The fundraising campaign film successfully helped to raise nearly six figures.
3 Nonprofit Video Case Studies
You don’t need me to tell you the power of sharing case studies for end of project reports, new fundraising campaigns, and sustained donor or audience engagement. So imagine how their impact could improve if your intended audience can hear the emotion in the voice of someone your project has helped, or see the stark before and after of a construction your nonprofit facilitated. Arguably it’s the next best thing to showing it to them in person and letting your audience speak to the people who benefit from your nonprofit’s work directly.
4 Introduction Video for Nonprofits
Let’s go back to basics. Is it already clear what your charity or nonprofit does for a new person who comes across it? Are you sure? Whether it’s a member of the public, a potential high ticket donor, or even an industry stakeholder - you need your main activities and purpose to be clear from the start. A nonprofit introduction video is a clear, efficient solution to communicate the core mission and activities of your organisation.
Sometimes simple messages like this are the most challenging to communicate. We can become so entrenched in the work of our nonprofit that it’s easy to lose sight of what newcomers might understand if they stumble across our work. While many actors in the third sector choose to communicate this through copy, it could be a smart investment to explain your nonprofit’s story so far through a short film that can be embedded on all of your important platforms and used at events.
The above example from the Esmee Fairburn Foundation successfully encapsulates so much of the work the foundation does and holds a prominent position on their website’s homepage. Six minutes is quite long for online attention spans, but questions like video length can also depend on your association’s objectives.
Nonprofit annual report videos could help the age-old challenge of making end of year results as engaging as possible. Rather than needing to read through pages of numbers and facts, complex concepts and lists of numbers can be made visual and easier to digest and remember. Storytelling aside, seeing visual representations of statistics is an innovative way to turn them into something an audience can comprehend.
The above Emily Kay Stoker annual highlight charity video commissioned by Little Angel Theatre is a sneak peek into the potential of this format.
Key takeaways
As you can see, tapping into the power of video for your nonprofit is about more than viral cat memes. Here are some of the key things covered in this article:
It’s proven that humans are better at remembering key facts when delivered through stories. Video can be an elegant solution for this.
If you’re utilising social media, you should be using video when appropriate to optimise your reach and engagement.
Video can gaze right into the eyes of your potential donors. If you can touch their hearts, they’re more likely to reach into their pocket and contribute.
Consider using video to help your audience conceptualise numbers and complex ideas on your reports.
Case studies can be elevated with video because of the format’s power to communicate emotion and impact.
Simple, efficient messaging can be achieved through video, particularly for fundamental communications like what your nonprofit does.
Now you have a wealth of video ideas for your nonprofit, you might be asking yourself how you can get started. My video production website blog might address some of your questions, or visit the contact page via that link to say hello. I’m happy to see what questions you have directly.
This year my personal New Year’s resolution is not to buy any new clothes, with the exception of pants, and to make do with what I have or find it in a charity shop. I've made this decision as one of the biggest contributors to global warming is the manufacturing and transportation of clothing.
According to figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it takes 3,781 liters of water to make a pair of jeans, from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the final product to the shop. That equates to the emission of around 33.4 kilograms of carbon equivalent.
If that is for just one pair of jeans, imagine the environmental cost for everything in our wardrobes. The following statistics, published by the UNEP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, give us an idea:
Every year the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water — enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people.
Around 20 % of wastewater worldwide comes from fabric dyeing and treatment.
Of the total fibre input used for clothing, 87 % is incinerated or disposed of in a landfill.
The fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030.
If demographic and lifestyle patterns continue as they are now, global consumption of apparel will rise from 62 million metric tons in 2019 to 102 million tons in 10 years.
Every year a half a million tons of plastic microfibers are dumped into the ocean, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles. The danger? Microfibers cannot be extracted from the water and can spread throughout the food chain.
From a work perspective, I have sometimes become wasteful of time. As we normalise working remotely we have adapted to Zoom etiquette and sat still from one meeting to the next. Not ignoring the damage this might be doing to our health both physically and mentally have we become more efficient in those meetings? I suspect not so my New Year's resolution for work is to have more effective meetings. I have created, with the help of Meetings for Dummies this infographic.
The Panasonic Trust is a charitable trust formed in 1984 to mark 10 years of successful manufacturing in the UK. The Trust is the responsibility of the Trustees who are proposed either from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) or from Panasonic, however the day-to-day operation of the trust and its activities are managed by the RAEng. While the Trust bears Panasonic’s name, it is a fully independent charitable trust with some of the trustees being nominated by the company.
The stated objective of the Trust is ‘the advancement of education and training in engineering’, and it is the responsibility of the Trust’s trustees to ensure this objective is met.
In their endeavours to meet this objective, the trust has undertaken a project which encourages school children to take the qualifications that would enable them to take up engineering as a future career. Using links already being nurtured by the Panasonic nominated trustees the location chosen for this was the Welsh Valleys. As a relatively deprived area and with a history of traditional engineering, the Welsh Valleys was also seen as an ideal area to focus on by the RAEng building on the model of previous schemes set up successfully in other deprived areas.
The Welsh Valleys Engineering Project (WVEP) was set up and launched in 2018. The Trust committed to funding it for a minimum of 5 years.
The Trust currently wants to recruit a trustee to undertake the role of the treasurer to monitor the financial administration of the charity and report to the board of trustees at regular intervals on its state of financial health, in line with best practice, and in compliance with the governing document and legal requirements.
Trustees meet twice a year via Zoom.
The Trustee does not have a website so I am happy to support them. If you would like to know more please email me directly.
The Getting On Board Festival of Trusteeship was stuffed with useful tips for trustees and aspiring trustees. I am proud to be a trainer for Getting On Board. We have rounded up a few of our favourites to share with you here.
8 ways to correct an imbalance of power on your board of trustees
Those who are already on boards have more power than those who don’t. So power-sharing is bringing people on boards who aren’t currently there.
Use your position: reflect on the imbalance and acknowledge it.
Don’t create a differential between the value of lived experience and learned experience. They’re not binary.
Check who holds the balance of power. Two-tier boards are toxic!
Conduct board evaluations to see how the dynamic and culture is working.
The chair should make sure that the quieter voices are being brought to the fore.
Who speaks first has a big impact on the direction of the debate. Make sure it’s not always the same people.
For those experiencing a deficit of power, draw your confidence from your passion for the mission – it’s your yard, own it!
11 ways trustees can support their CEO
Be an ambassador for the charity - that’s invaluable.
Be committed. Hold the beneficiaries of the charity in mind.
Open your networks. You don’t have to be rich to be generous.
Don’t micromanage your CEO!
Be a strategic thought partner.
Know the difference between governance, strategy and operations.
Make time to have in-person conversations with your CEO – as them what they need from you.
As a chair you have a responsibility to indicate to the other trustees how and where they can help the CEO.
If you need to challenge, take it offline (Side note, a good challenge phrase is: ‘Do you think we’re on track for …’).
Roll your sleeves up and get stuck in.
Be a sponge, learn as much as you can!
The above power tips came from the panel discussion Generating discussion: power-sharing and participation on boards an illuminating discussion which threw up myriad thoughts and opinions, some of which didn't always see eye to eye!
The CEO support tips came from panel discussion CEO and Board - the critical relationship and what it means for you.
Rosa and Smallwood Trust announce 70 new grants through the Women Thrive Fund
As Chair of Trustees at the Smallwood Trust we are delighted to announce 70 new grants worth £1.9 million, which we made through the Women Thrive Fund in partnership with Rosa. Together, we’re resourcing 70 specialist women’s and girls’ organisations that support women and girls with their mental health and financial resilience across the UK.
The work of these organisations is varied and reflects the many inequalities the pandemic is bringing to light – from combating social exclusion for deaf women, to supporting migrant women across the West Midlands.
“As the pandemic continues to push back the cause for gender equality, we’re so pleased to be funding so many incredible specialist organisations that improve the lives of some of the UK’s most marginalised women and girls. These organisations, and many more, told us that declining mental health, increased risk of emotional trauma and increased poverty levels were their biggest concerns among women and girls across the UK.
The Women Thrive Fund is a direct response to those needs. We prioritised organisations led by and for women and girls where the need is greatest, particularly those led by and for Black and minoritised women. We’re incredibly proud to be able to fund this vital work at a time when funding to the women and girls sector is limited, yet the need is more urgent than ever.”
Rebecca Gill, Executive Director at Rosa, and Paul Carbury, Chief Executive at Smallwood Trust.
The Women Thrive Fund is the result of a successful joint bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports’ Tampon Tax fund, from which we jointly received a £1.79 million grant. Smallwood Trust contributed an additional £200,000 and both organisations contributed to the running of this fund from their reserves.
The fund received 665 applications requesting over £17m. Of the awarded oranisations, more than 66% were led by and for Black and minoritised women and more than 40,000 women and girls will be supported through the 70 grants. Successful organisations will be able to spend the grant over the next 15 months.
Examples of the organisations funded by the Women Thrive Fund include the Lesbian Immigration Support Group, which will use its £15,917 grant to give bi-monthly vouchers each worth £100 to women who would otherwise be destitute. The funding will alleviate immediate hardship and connect women with longer term support.
Another funded organisation, RISE, will use its grant of £49,081 to fund a Black and Minoritised Wellbeing Practitioner to disseminate skills and knowledge to survivors of domestic abuse. The aim of this work is to support mental health and create a supportive, healing environment for women and encourage them to foster positive relationships with others.
Rosa and Smallwood Trust are looking forward to working with specialist women and girls organisations across the UK as they respond to the needs of their beneficiaries and wider community.
For Blume I wrote the following article about coping with excessive workload based on my own experiences and on conversations with other chief executives.
Running a charity has never been easy, during the COVID19 crisis it has become even harder. How do hard pressed charity CEOs cope with the heavy workload and support their team? I have had some fascinating discussions with the CEOs of a dozen charities with teams ranging from 180 staff to a handful.
Managing your time
First I asked them how they managed their own time and what techniques they had to let them know when there was just too much work.
As you can image their approaches are varied but the overwhelming theme was the need to take time to plan and reflect, whether that was going for a walk, which almost all of them do, or using very structured management practices, like using a block diary system: when something new doesn’t fit in the diary, there is too much work!
“I look at new pieces of work and then either delegate it to one of the team or I will just pop it into the diary. If it's a funding application or about social impact it takes priority. If it's a team inquiry, it normally comes through on my WhatsApp and if it is urgent they call me. So, we have set patterns within the staff team and trustees so that I know how urgent something is by the method through which they contact me.” Sam Everard - SAMEE
“Every Monday morning, I start by looking at the following week ahead, especially at the moment because of remote working and zoom. I look two weeks ahead because I find that changing things in the current week makes me feel like I'm letting people down. Doing it a little bit further in advance so that people have got notice and I'm not relying on things at the last minute feels better. I try to make sure that I'm not on Zoom for more than four hours a day. I find that being on the phone is easier than staring at myself on the screen all day, especially for a one-to-one conversation where you don't actually need to be on video.” Fiona Spellman – Shine
Tom Lawson from Turn2Us impressed me with his self-discipline, something I need to work on, in having a system to capture and control work, ideas and tasks straight away. “Identify critical goals and a regular assessment of risks. Delegate tasks according to a Trust and Verify system with clear measurable and timed outcomes. Personal prioritisation is a balance of operational need, time requirement, strategic importance and risk management. I use the Eisenhower matrix if things get overwhelming. I also have a things to remember list where I list people and keep a list of things I need to tell them, discuss with them etc. I write only actions down in my notebook and transfer them regularly to my planner. For email management - 3,2,1 zero from Happy Henry is really helpful.”
I was interested to hear how they not only prioritise but also reconcile themselves to not working on everything. As the size of organisations varied the opportunity to delegate also varied but I was particularly taken by the comment from Nicola Sharp of ‘Surviving Economic Abuse’: “For me there is an element of feeling comfortable in not always getting everything I want done. Of holding onto the most important things and trusting that the other things will come together.”
There is a danger of taking on too much and becoming exhausted. Interestingly many of the CEOs have missed the daily commute. Having a long train journey gave them the time to prepare for the day ahead and on the way home they could digest and think about what their next steps would be.
Practising a little bit of self-care and a bit of self-acceptance that you can't be in five different places at once is critical. It is better to have fewer higher quality meetings.
It is also helpful to set up protected time slots of two to three hours, a couple of times a week and ensure there is time to reflect.
Supporting their teams during lockdown
During the lockdown we have all been remote working. For some of us it has been a welcome working style, for others it has been isolating and difficult. I asked how people deal with this challenge not just in terms of getting the work done but also in taking care of their teams.
“It has become more difficult with remote working because you don't get the same informal signals that you get when you're interacting in person. So I have a weekly or fortnightly catch up with all my direct reports and they do the same thing with their teams. If I receive an email that's substantially outside of working hours that's something which will trigger a conversation about what's going on. I am also very conscious of the effect my behaviour has on others. I don't send people things outside working hours and use the delayed delivery function in Outlook. From my point of view it's dealt with and they are not logging in to find five emails from me that they're then thinking oh gosh I should be working those hours too or I need to respond straight away.” Fiona Spellman – Shine
“We have always had monthly line management meetings. Moving to remote working we have increased that to biweekly with a Monday priorities meeting and Wednesday check-in” Mary-Ann Stephenson – Women’s Budget Group
“Well-being and social capital are directly related. We've set up a Google Map, and everyone has popped in where they live, and if they live closely they've been meeting up for lunchtime walks or walking meetings. So we have been building that social capital between people that normally builds in an office environment such as “Oh that's a nice picture” “I heard you got a new dog” “Do you want fancy beer”. At the moment no one's doing any of that, they're only having meetings without social capital. People have become minded to not give each other the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong.” Tom Lawson – Turn2Us
Supporting themselves during lockdown
Chief Executives are often very bad at looking after themselves. They sometimes feel as if they need to be doing everything all the time and that they alone are responsible. There is a particular pressure on leaders at the moment.
Not only is there the increased demand because of the circumstances but there is also the sense that now is the time to #buildbackbetter and engage with key decision makers and drive change.
So how are they stopping themselves from being spread too thinly?
“It's all the stuff that your Mum told you; get outside, get some fresh air and have a proper meal. I have a walk with my husband every lunchtime, partly to get some exercise and fresh air, but also because we are both so exhausted at the end of the day that we weren't having proper conversations. Whereas before we sat over our dinner and chatted, at the moment we are staring into the middle distance, all our focus has been on work and the kids, and not on ourselves or each other. So our lunchtime walks – when we have both got some energy – have been really helpful. I'm also part of a couple of WhatsApp groups of women leaders of other women's organisations, so we chat and we moan and share experiences.” Mary-Ann Stephenson – Women’s Budget Group
“Simple things, I've made sure to go for a walk before work every day and at lunchtime, even if it's just around the block. At the end of the working day it need to reset my mind to being at home so I turn everything off, go for a walk then I'm coming back home, even though it's the same space. I'm not someone who finds working from home at all easy it's not my preferred working style I like being around other people. I try practising the art of self-acceptance because we all struggle at times, not just at work but in our wider lives. I've tried very consciously to change what I expect from myself and to be more accepting of the fact that sometimes things are more challenging and one of my key responsibilities as a CEO is to take care of myself because I can't take care of my team or, or be a support to them, if I'm in a sort of depleted state. You can't really give your full self.” Fiona Spellman – Shine
“I love reading and then taking that thinking back into my one to ones with my directors or into management or leadership team meetings. It is digesting emerging thinking from others that is a really helpful way to think about how to continually evolve the operation. I've never had a revolutionary thought in my mind and I like classic cars. So what I think about is that you can't drive the car fast until the engine is tuned. So, for me is always about understanding the language and thinking about how to get the most psychologically safe culture, how to excite people about their role, all of that thinking is how I know how to make an organisation work.” Tom Lawson – Turn2Us
Having a sounding board
As I said in the beginning being the leader of an organisation can be tough anywhere, but it is especially true in the not-for-profit sector. The CEO may not feel comfortable sharing all their concerns with the board, although the majority of the CEO’s talked about their supportive Chair of Trustees. The CEO cannot really share personal concerns or anxieties with staff members who are employees, who want to see their leader as being able to solve all the problems.
Ten of the twelve CEO’s talked about the benefits they got from having the experience, skills and support of an experienced mentor to help them navigate through the current difficulties. They emphasised the value of having someone who can ask questions that clarify the situation and can help relieve the anxiety that builds when there is nowhere to articulate the doubts that they may be feeling.
I have always liked the acronym that Mentoring brings MAGIC
Making better decisions through seasoned and supportive input and lateral thinking.
Accountability, provided in a positive and helpful way, to those who often have no one to hold them responsible.
Growth, both personal and professional, through challenge.
Isolation is relieved. It is lonely at the top. “Discussing the undiscussable” in absolute confidence makes the meetings something that you can look forward to.
Change is risky and uncomfortable. An independent but pro-active sounding board helps to improve both the thinking and the implementing.
“I have certain groups that I'm part of which is incredibly helpful. I have a coach who helps keep me focused. I also have a couple of people that I'm mentoring at the moment and I feel like I learned as much from those as I do when I'm being mentored” Joseph Howes - Buttle UK
“I'm on an action learning set which I've been on for 10 years, with horribly experienced people who are really good at asking blinding brilliant questions. I have a coach who I use when I feel like I need a coach and I've had the same coach for nine years. I've also got a very good relationship with my Chair – we invested a lot of time in it at the beginning. We know how to have conflict, how to challenge one another, and also basically how to be vulnerable.” Tom Lawton – Turn2Us
Top Tips
I found it difficult to end the conversations as it was both fascinating and inspirational talking to such caring and dedicated leaders. I rounded off by asking them for their top tips on how you stay current and relevant?
“Read... read widely and regularly.”
“Be a Reader: Read widely both old and new and within and outside your current industry. Be Present: Make sure you surround yourself with a variety of thinkers, ideas, fresh thinking and then practice the discipline of listening, note taking and observing the world, constantly asking the question 'Why?'”
“Look outside your traditional networks for information and knowledge and be open to new ideas and thoughts from others”
“First is to look at your vision and mission from where you are - what is the biggest step you can take right now towards that future vision? Don't try and road map the whole journey - rather have a sat nav approach where you can make small adjustments to keep moving in the direction of that future vision. Second is to listen to understand and not to reply. If you already think you know the answer then you cannot make adjustments which maintain relevance and currency. Truly understanding others enables you to flex and adapt. Thinking you know what's best for them doesn't.”
“Talking to lots of different people, having lots of networks. Talking to people from different backgrounds, different interests, different ages. Taking seriously the views and inputs of junior staff, Not just talking to the management team, but actually having conversations with other staff to find out what they are thinking about and talking about.” Mary-Ann Stephenson – Women’s Budget Group
“It's absurd to think that I've got any more than a fraction of the answers that I'm facing. It's an increasingly fast changing world, so with that very comforting belief, it's great to say to yourself ‘I don't know. Where can I find the answer?’ The answer can be someone, it can be in work, reading and going to conferences and training courses. So, the belief of knowing that I don't know very much means that I'm equipped to go and find out without any sense of defensiveness.” Tom Lawson – Turn2Us
Contributors
A huge thank you to the Chief Executives who contributed to this piece.
They included:
• Phil Kerry, New Horizon
• Fiona Spellman, SHINE
• Tom Lawson, T2U
• Joe Howes, Buttle
• Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, Surviving Economic Abuse
• Red Godfrey Sagoo, Sophie Hayes Foundation
• Penny Thomas, Halo
• Sam Everard, SAMEE
• Mary-Ann Stephenson, WBG
About Blume
Blume finds experienced freelancers for interim, part-time and project work with charities. We have worked with more than a hundred charities helping with Charity Finance, HR, Marketing, Leadership, Coaching and Fundraising. To find out more please visit the site.
We are all disappointed by yet another lockdown but with the role out of the vaccine, there is hope for a better 2021.
However, for many people, there have been devastating changes.
Working in the charity sector I have seen the impact the pandemic has had on both the people who depend on the support of charities and the wonderful people who work in those charities.
During the first lockdown, I set up a CIC ( Third Sector Worker Coalition ) to help people who work or have worked in the charity sector. The initial approach is to offer support and guidance with financial assistance to follow.
I am asking for your help to bring this support to the people who need it.
If you can volunteer time to help develop the CIC or to be a friend on the end of the line that would be great.
Of course, a little help with the cost would be great too.
Please share this with as many people as possible.
The Smallwood Trust is committed to exploring new ways to help bring equality, diversity and inclusion into all of our work to support our goal of ending gendered poverty.
Having recently increased the skills, perspective and diversity of the Board by appointing two new members (read more here), the Trust would now like to offer the opportunity for two individuals to shadow Ambreen Shah, one of our new recruits, as she embarks upon her first Board role.
Ambreen has said the following about this opportunity: “Smallwood awards grants to support women who are living in poverty, suffer mental ill health, are in abusive relationships, are digitally excluded or all of the above (and this list is far from exhaustive). I think if you have personally been affected by these issues, you will bring a perspective to decision making that others, who have not, just cannot; but I am also aware that the opportunity, confidence and headspace to be a trustee can be really limited. This is why I wanted to provide an opportunity for someone to shadow me as I embark on my first Trustee position; to provide an opportunity to gain confidence, and for us to learn the ropes together. Experience that I hope we will both benefit from and will provide you with a springboard to further opportunities.”
The first shadowing opportunity would run April to September 2021 and the second, October 2021 to March 2022*. The position would suit someone who would like to learn more about the role of a Board member (read about our board here) and the work of a grant-making trust. No prior experience of a Board or trustee role is required and we encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds and with lived experience of poverty to apply.
Opportunities would include:
Regular briefings, conversations and insights with Ambreen
Chance to meet the CEO and the team to learn more about the grant-making process
Access to briefings and discussions
Opportunities to contribute ideas and thoughts to discussions
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email our CEO, Paul Carbury (paulcarbury@smallwoodtrust.org.uk) to briefly tell us about yourself and why you would like to take this opportunity. Deadline: 26th February 2021.
The Trust would reimburse any out-of-pocket expenses and a small training/personal development budget would be available.
We will also accept nominations from women’s sector organisations but please speak to the nominee to ask their agreement first. Ambreen and Paul would also be happy to talk to anyone in advance who might be interested, please email in the first instance.
*Depending on coronavirus restrictions shadowing will take place online and we will review this as and when restrictions are lifted.
