The future of charity

Earlier this week, I was invited to speak at a Good Futures event where charity leaders came together to discuss whether the current charity model is fit for purpose. This is a topic close to my heart - having worked closely with some big charities with audacious goals over the last decade. 

The session that I was invited to lead was all about ‘what do corporates want from charities - the future of impact collaborations’. I shared some inspiration from my time at Virgin Media, and some honest truths about what has worked and perhaps more importantly what hasn’t. If you know me - you will know I don’t hold back and have plenty to share! 

But first, I think it’s important to acknowledge the current landscape for charities. On the whole, charities are facing an even greater demand for their services given the cost of living crisis we are experiencing – put simply, more people need more help than ever before. But this is against a backdrop of no one having much money to donate meaning charities are competing for funds and many charities are also struggling to keep pace with rising costs. And that’s without mentioning the war for talent – people are leaving charities to join purpose-led organisations so staff retention is an issue. So all of this, meant it was a timely conversation and opportunity to step back and discuss.

Here are some of the questions I received from the audience:

How do you think charities will look in 20 years time?

My honest view is that I think we will see charities begin to disappear for a number of reasons. Companies are becoming more purpose driven which includes encouraging their workforce to support local causes and their customers will be engaged through their purchasing power. I also think we will see charities that tackle the same issues consolidate for greater (and for more efficient and effective) impact.  

Brands who are as important as charities in driving lasting positive change will start to take on the role charities have played in partnerships – corporates with their larger resources can commission research, bring in experts and get a University to measure social impact. People will also start to buy from social enterprises which I think we will also see increase.

How do you think charities, and the charity sector, need to change and evolve? And how specifically do you think will change how they work with corporates?

To have a positive and powerful partnership that powers positive change I think charities need to focus on:

A) People – hire better talent, people who get the job done, think strategically and move at pace 

B) Partnerships – charities need to live and breathe partnerships in it’s truest sense, where there is trust between both parties and people genuinely come together to get a job done regardless of what side of the partnership they are on

C) Platform sharing – both sides should provide full access to assets and contacts to amplify resources required to achieve the goals

D) Plan – a clear vision and path for action with regular milestone check points is essential  

E) Purpose – everyone should be super clear on why and what they are doing (it sounds obvious but I’ve witnessed a lot of confusion)

What will the future corporate / charity relationship look like? (Will it even exist?)

Let’s face it, purpose driven companies are currently partnering with charities for integrity and access to beneficiaries and expertise they don’t have. In the future, they may be able to convene various organisations and experts independently to achieve this.

I also think we will see more multi-cause partnerships emerge that are aligned to business strategy. The one size fits all approach may be viewed as limiting in the future.

I think we will see the sharing of expertise, access to customers, brands and platforms over cash and large donations.

One thing is certain, there will be no charity of the year. I’m known for standing on many stages and demanding we kill the employee vote – it is simply not strategic, it’s highly political, a waste of resources, short term and limiting. The sooner this happens the better – for everyone involved.

What are your concluding remarks?

In summary, I think it’s time to get radical. Charities and those corporate leaders that lead the partnerships must embrace a growth mindset, be super flexible and responsive, ooze positivity and pace, and relish change.

Corporate partnerships are ultimately like a marriage; you’ve got to court each other and truly get to know each other first, be aligned on core values and vision for the future, embrace the wider family (such as parent companies just like any set of in-laws), talk about each other in a way that matters as if they were in the room next to you and be able to leverage each other’s skills.

Visit the Good Futures website to read the full report and more of my comments: https://goodfutures.co.uk/assets/uploads/Articles/Paradigm-Shift/Future-of-charity-full-report.pdf