For Charity Bank's inaugural UK Social Sector Health Check report, they polled 182 social sector leaders to understand the challenges they face and to assess the impact of the current climate on the sectors ability to respond to the needs of people and communities.
They invited guest contributors to share insights on the state of the sector, how political and Brexit uncertainty are impacting, as well as commenting on the latest on funding, regulation, technology and governance.
To find out what social sector leaders think, read the full findings by downloading report.
There’s no doubt that the last few years have proved challenging for the social sector. A decade of austerity has seen local authorities forced to slash their services, with charities and social enterprises having to plug the gap, often on significantly reduced budgets.
The results make for stark reading. Charity Bank found that 85% of charities expect demand for their services to grow over the next two years. 86% are concerned about future grant funding and 82% don’t think they’ll be able to sustain donations over that period.
However, the social sector is resilient and well versed in responding to challenging situations. In the words of one respondent, “Challenging times often generate the most innovation”.
Expert contributors:
Elizabeth Chamberlain
Head of Policy & Public Services, NCVO
The introduction of the Charity Governance Code (July 2017) was welcomed by the sector and endorsed and supported by the Charity Commission (the ‘Regulator’).
In April 2018 a story broke revealing Save the Children mired in allegations that it had failed to investigate sexual abuse and inappropriate behaviour by staff and was to be formally investigated by the Regulator.
In September 2018 reports emerged that embroiled Oxfam in a scandal that prompted the Regulator to tell the charity to: ‘review its culture, management and governance arrangements in the wake of the reports of the charity’s handling of sexual misconduct claims’.
Both charities suffered intense media coverage and harm to their reputation and finances. The controversy around these charities tainted the whole sector and that was both unfortunate and unfair for those charities that had a clean bill of health. What it brought to attention is the need for all charities to conduct their business in a way that causes no harm to their charity or the sector.
Safeguarding – is it all bad?
The Charity Commission Report ‘Dealing with wrongdoing and harm’ recorded received 2,819 reports of serious incidents (up from 2,181 in 2016-17) – 1580 (55%) were about safeguarding, 291 (10%) about governance. At the time of the report there were 168,010 charities on the Commission’s register. The report however stated that it considered there was under-reporting of serious incidents and in particular safeguarding.
Funders and Corporate supporters of charities are increasingly concerned about the potential risk to their reputation. The BBC was prominent both as reporter and reported during the Kids Co crisis now under investigation by the Insolvency Service. The Chair of Kids Co, Alan Yentob, a senior exec at the BBC, faces possible disqualification as a Trustee and Director.
This raises the question about the safeguarding of trustees and those supporters of charities – that is often overlooked – unless you were a member of the Kids Co board of trustees.
It is not all bad. However, it is apparent that there is much work needed to improve safeguarding and that responsibility sits with trustees. How do you know if trustees are cognisant of their responsibility? There is no mandatory reporting required of charities, as the Charity Governance Code is voluntary. Should reporting be mandatory for charities to turn the tide on declining public trust and confidence and demonstrate their commitment to the Charity Governance Code ‘Open and Accountable’ principle?
Time for mandatory reporting?
The Charity Commission’s annual report ((January 2019) on its regulatory work reported the CEO Helen Stephenson saying the Commission was working on: “becoming more preventative”, which means “developing the risk-based element to its work so that it can spot potential problems before they occur”.
That is a major task given they regulate 168,010 charities. It raises many questions:
What risks? If the charity is unaware of its risks then that is a hazard.
How are they exposed? ‘Decision-making Risk and Control’ is one of the principles of the Charity Governance Code yet there is no mandatory reporting of risks.
Do all charities experience difficulty with governance in general or just specific aspects governance, e.g. safeguarding, fundraising? How would that be exposed?
Benchmarking of governance sector-wide is now possible with digital technology if the Commission decided to take the lead. That would inform the Commission to spot potential problems and become more preventative.
The Republic of Ireland Charities Regulator has mandated a standard for governance in Irish charities. All charities in Ireland are expected to comply with the Code in 2020 and report their compliance with the Code in 2021.
Is it time to open the debate on mandatory reporting for UK charities?
The future of the Charity Governance Code
The Charity Governance Code has seven principles that does not currently include safeguarding. The Code’s steering group has announced a light refresh of the Code and is out to consultation until 28th February 2020. Will safeguarding be included? You can comment through a survey when you click here.
The Code is voluntary and there is no data to confirm its adoption. The Chair of the Steering Group is making rallying calls for more adoption and there is good evidence why charities should adopt the Code. Research by RSM in 2019 into the adoption of the Charity Governance Code revealed: "One of the more interesting findings in our research was that those charities that have adopted the latest Charity Governance Code scored higher governance ratings than those that hadn't.”
Summary
Is the evidence gathering for a debate for the introduction of mandatory reporting?
Will the refresh of the Charity Governance Code specifically include safeguarding as one of its principles and what reporting will be required?
As a Trustee or the CEO of a charity, there are lots of demands on your time and resources. Being confident that all aspects of the charity are functioning as they should means constant monitoring and adjustment. Conducting a charity health check is an easy way of examining all the key areas and developing an action plan to address issues. Not forgetting taking the opportunity to celebrate the successes.
A charity health check should look at the following;
Veteran brand consultants Ollie Leggett and David Crichton have distilled their 40+ years of combined branding experience into a practical, accessible guide to why, when, and how to successfully refresh, reposition or rearticulate your brand. Originally published in three parts, it's now been revised, restructured and redesigned into a single volume. Read on to find out more and request your copy.
Thier branding white paper explains the fundamental questions not-for-profit organisations should consider before embarking on a rebrand project, and how to translate your thinking into a living, breathing brand.
Many of IE’s clients come to us during a period of organisational change, and they’ve usually been tasked with urgently communicating these changes to the world – in order to deepen engagement, to drive up giving, to encourage volunteering, to attract more trust and grant funding, to improve talent attraction and retention, or all of the above!
Brand is rightly recognised as a tremendous asset – or a horrible liability – in these endeavours. And, whether it’s their first time, or they’re a seasoned pro, they’ve been appointed to lead a significant project that will demand every ounce of their time, their energy, and their resolve. It’s a journey that will be full of many highlights, and much anxiety.
And if that’s you – welcome. We’ve written this paper with you in mind.
It’s a story of why, when, and how to refresh, reposition or rearticulate your brand, written in plain English. It’s a story of brand victories, and brand disasters – and it’s a thoroughly honest account of what’s involved. We’ll outline every step of the project and list the potential perils and pitfalls.
Written with a primary focus on charities and the not-for-profit sector, the white paper is equally relevant to other values driven sectors like Education, Health and the Arts.
The Basics
What is a brand?
Why rebrand?
When to rebrand?
Should we change our name?
What about Vision, Mission, and Values?
Who should I involve?
Engaging the experts
Where do I start?
What does success look like?
How do I write a good brief? *
How much research is enough?
What about our website? **
Translating the brand
What’s Brand Architecture?
What messages should we be using?
Does it really matter what my brand looks like?
What’s the difference between a logo and a visual identity?
A great article in Third Sector by Sophie Livingstone, Managing Director of Trustees Unlimited
06 November 2019
People are civil society's most important asset, and it is vital that charity boards are open to new ideas and perspectives
Sophie Livingstone
Up and down the country volunteers from all walks of life are giving up their time and energy to support causes they care about. But sadly, when it comes to board level, all the statistics show a lack of diversity that does not reflect the experience of volunteers or beneficiaries.
The volunteers who serve on our country’s charity boards are the leaders of our sector, yet we’re still not tapping into the full power of this country’s diversity to help it be as great as it could be. This must change, and trustees have a responsibility to get involved.
There’s a growing body of evidence that a lack of diversity in teams leads, at best, to underperformance. Trustees therefore face not just a moral challenge when it comes to improving diversity and inclusion, but also a performance one in which the people most affected are the communities we are set up to work with and support.
So what can we do? Charities need to tackle diversity on their boards holistically, and the most successful are doing this in two ways. First, by stepping up, improving their processes and laying the groundwork for open recruitment. Second, by stepping back, creating the space for new people and perspectives in their boardrooms.
But what does stepping up look like in practical terms? When it comes to hiring, clarity is key. As a board, you need to know what you are looking for. That means finding out where your gaps are by running a skills and diversity audit.
Be open about the journey you are on. For example, you could consider stating what under-representation you have in your advert and saying you would particularly welcome applications from a particular background or skillset.
Closed recruitment is diversity’s death knell. The only way to bring in fresh ideas and thinking is by reaching out beyond our immediate spheres and avoiding the temptation of recruiting like-minded people through existing networks.
But don’t just post an advert and sit back. Be proactive in your availability for conversations and reach out as broadly as you can, if necessary by bringing in expert assistance.
When it comes to the interview process, think about how it could be improved. Consider, for example, how intimidating your panel might be to an outsider. How would a 20-something feel going into a panel interview with a team of older, experienced and opinionated board members? Give them an opportunity to build a relationship with you. After all, you’re asking them to make a big commitment as a volunteer too.
Stepping up means being open to different perspectives and investing in people who don’t necessarily have all the experience required – yet. Life experience can be just as valuable to have in the mix as a long-standing career. And believe me, some 20-somethings have more life experience than your average retiree.
As well as stepping up, the second part of tackling a lack of diversity is being prepared to step back. This means creating space for other people and perspectives. Around the boardroom table as well as during recruitment, trustees need to become allies by giving up power, space and seats at the table to new perspectives and experiences.
We all live in bubbles, and the challenge for our sector’s trustees is to break out of them and expand our networks to include people who aren’t like us in the governance conversation.
This isn’t easy work and it won’t happen overnight. That’s why it’s critical to set the right strategy for the individual organisation. It all comes down to culture and behaviour – good governance isn’t just about structures, regulation and compliance. And we know organisations that do this well see tangible benefits.
At an event I spoke at recently, the chief executive of Central YMCA, Arvinda Gohil, challenged the audience on this issue. She said she’d been talking about this for years and nothing had changed, and she asked: "What will be different in five years?"
No doubt the world around us will be very different. In the face of financial pressures, higher demand from beneficiaries, partners and funders, it would be easy to put our heads in the sand and plough ahead as usual.
But if we don’t harness the skills, experiences and perspectives of a broader set of people, we risk charities being left behind by more fluid movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Climate Strike, and seen as an irrelevance by young people, even though they’re the most socially engaged.
We know some of the ways to tackle this problem, and will learn more along the way. But the sector can’t afford to ignore this challenge, and it’s vital that trustees lead by example. Too many people depend on us getting this right.
As an Interim CEO I have come across boards telling me that their charity managers are not performing. My first thought is; who manages the managers, because without strong leadership you cannot expect effective managers. You get engaged managers and employees when your organisations’ leadership promotes effective communication, a culture of transparency, and policies that support the health and wellbeing at every level.If you answered “no” to more than one of the questions below, or are unsure, you may want to explore your approach to manager engagement:
Do we effectively communicate decisions, and our company strategy and vision, to managers?
Do we show our managers that you respect their work and leadership?
Do we empower managers to make decisions?
Do we give managers enough time or resources to do their jobs?
Are our managers’ abilities and skills being put to good use?
Are there opportunities for reward and recognition?
Are there opportunities for managers to learn new skills or to advance?
I can help you assess your challenges and guide you in creating an action plan using strategies proven to increase engagement.
In this technology-driven world where almost everyone owns an internet-enabled device, the percentage of social media users has increased tremendously. It has opened new doors for image building and #network #marketing which most brands are taking advantage of today.
The need to create a unique #brand that is thriving in a field teeming with several competitors is enough reason to improve your social media presence. When trying to reach your target audience, it is important to build a large following on the popular online platforms to ensure that your message has a wider reach.
As social media continues to play an important role in online marketing, having an active account would boost your credibility as well as the customer value for your product.
#1 Set Clear Goals
#2 Be More Human-like
#3 Develop a Good Strategy
#4 Create High-quality Content
#5 Embrace Hashtag Marketing
I was asked about how a small charity could improve the success of its' Facebook fundraising and I remembered reading some great tips.
1) Cross-promote via multiple channels
Another way to work around limited organic reach on Facebook is to promote Fundraisers via your other communication channels (this approach also has the benefit of being free). Add a reminder to your content calendar to publish regular posts on social platforms beyond Facebook, be sure to include frequent reminders in your email newsletters, and don’t be afraid to send an email every now and then dedicated to social fundraising, like the example below.
2) Send direct invitations to past creators
As any good fundraiser knows, the most effective way to get something you want is usually to ask for it directly. Take advantage of the data Facebook collects to contact people who have run successful Fundraisers in the past. For starters, look at your highest-revenue fundraisers from 12 months ago, contact anyone who was celebrating a yearly event (birthday, anniversary, etc.), and make a gentle ask about whether they’re ready to fundraise again this year. Even if your outreach only results in one or two extra Fundraisers per month, the additional revenue will add up over time.
To export your fundraising data from Facebook so you can analyse it, go to Settings, click the Donations tab, and download a Multi-Day Transaction Report for the time period you want to look at. Hint: If you have some Excel skills, you can store all of your donation data in one sheet and use PivotTables to create a really helpful data dashboard.
3) Promote using targeted audiences
Organic reach for organisations on Facebook has been reduced to fairly bland levels, so paid promotion is an essential way to get your message in front of more followers. For Fundraiser promotion, in particular, consider targeting your followers based on their birthdays since it’s such a popular tie-in.
When you create a new Ads audience, search the Detailed Targeting field for either “upcoming birthdays,” which will target users who have a birthday within one week, or look for the specific birthday month you’re interested in targeting. Also, be sure to restrict your audience to countries where people can create Fundraisers for charities. You can reach your birthday-based audiences by boosting your organic Fundraiser promotion posts or by creating ads with a more direct ask to create a Fundraiser, using the Reach ads objective. Either way, be sure to include the setup link that you’ll find on your charity’s Fundraisers page.
4) Create urgency with deadline marketing
Use your charity’s account to set up an “official” Facebook Fundraiser at the start of your campaign that runs for its entirety. Plan to share this Fundraiser periodically along with reminders that highlight the approaching end-of-campaign deadline. Start slowly and increase the frequency of your reminders as the campaign goes on. The exact cadence will depend on the length of your campaign, but as an example, you might want to highlight “two weeks left,” “one week left,” “two days left,” and “last day to give!” If you reach your initial goal early, you can always raise it to a higher figure.
As with any organic posts, you can boost these deadline reminders to be sure they reach a significant portion of your audience. If you have a smaller Facebook audience, you may want to boost them to all of your followers; if your following is large or your budget is limited, consider boosting to a higher affinity group such as a Custom Audience of past donors, or followers who have recently engaged with your Facebook Page.
5) Take advantage of the matching donation feature
Another effective way to create a sense of urgency is by adding a match to your Facebook Fundraiser. You can add a match at any point while your Fundraiser is running; the best time is closer to the end so the motivating power of the match compounds with the urgency of the approaching deadline.
6) Invite your partners to create Fundraisers
As mentioned earlier, your average supporters may be more inclined to create Fundraisers around their personal life events, so campaigns are the time to call on outside allies as well as organisational insiders. If your charity has relationships with celebrity ambassadors or social media influencers, ask if they’ll create a Facebook Fundraiser in support of your campaign. The same goes for people on the inside – depending on what feels appropriate for your charity you can ask the management team, board members, staff, and even volunteers if they’re willing to create a Fundraiser as part of the campaign. This can be especially effective if a public-facing member of your team is popular with your supporters; the community may rally to their personal Fundraiser as much or more than an official charity one.
When the time comes to recruit the next CEO for your charity there are some initial considerations.
Here are three that need to be addressed before you can write the job description and personal specification.
The first is agreement on the strategic objectives. Every new CEO will have ideas of their own as to where they would like to take the charity. Nevertheless, it is important for trustees to consider and agree the general direction in which they want the charity to go.
Then making sure that the board fully understand what the charity’s ethos, values and philosophy are. It can be surprising how differently people interpret the words. Exam what makes the charity special and what are our fundamental values with which the new CEO must be in agreement. How will the trustees test whether long-listed candidates’ personal values and philosophy are compatible with those of the charity?
It is also worthwhile spending time considering the major challenges and risks that the charity is facing currently and those which it is likely to face in the near future.
You will then have a much better picture of the sort of person you need to lead your charity into the next phase of its evolution and will be able to probe, by the questions you ask short-listed candidates, how each candidate will deal with these challenges if they are appointed.
Once the above issues have been considered, it is time to turn to some of the practical aspects of recruitment.
I was reading an article about stress and it made the very good point that too many people wait until stress has progressed too far before taking action. That unlike other afflictions, like alcohol abuse or cancer, that only affect certain individuals, stress affects all of us -- stress is not an “if” but a “when.” So, it makes sense to take preventive measures against stress.
The article goes on to suggest that Time management, Delegation and preventing becoming over-committed are three key preventative measure. I have certainly felt the stress building up when I have been over-committed. Whilst these are certainly three ways to manage stress building up. I would add three soft stress-busters for workplace wellbeing.
The first is to Smile: remember all that is great about the place you work. Good humour is catching and eases tension.
The second is to take your lunch break: don't skip meals and make sure you eat away from your desk. Even better have a walk after you have eaten. It is easier to build the walking habit if you do it with colleagues.
My third soft stress buster is to cut back on the caffeine: You need a good nights sleep and caffeine from your afternoon cup of coffee will still be in your bloodstream when you go to bed. So drink decaffeinated drinks in the afternoon.
