The need for charities post-coronavirus and where to begin in founding a new organisation

At this unusual time, charities are struggling. Incomes are falling, services are being stalled or hampered, and staff being laid off. Many may ultimately close in the wake of the global impact of coronavirus and government efforts to restrain it. Despite this, there will also be a huge need for charities and their services once the world starts getting back to normal. There is likely to be a spike in the numbers requiring mental health support, financial help, jobs and education advice, and refuge, welfare and care services, amongst other matters. Some people will be thinking about creating new charities to support those in need but what’s involved?

There are a lot of charities out there. Currently, there are around 160,000 registered charities, and many thousands more unregistered ones, in England and Wales alone (according to The Charity Commission). But what do they all do and can they really all be doing something unique that’s not done by another charity and something that has a lasting impact?

When I last worked at a national cancer charity, I remember the day a new senior member of staff joined and his surprise at what he found when he arrived. It was the first time he had worked at a charity and he said he expected it to be staffed by old ladies who spent their time knitting! What he got was a young, energetic, ambitious workforce with steely determination and busy schedules. With heaps of national awards for its work and a long list of impact achievements, his initial expectation of how a charity operates couldn’t have been further from the truth.

There are charities working in a huge range of fields, from improving health, relieving poverty, furthering education, advancing animal welfare, promoting the arts, or protecting the environment (to list just a few). Their remits are diverse and the impact they have is inevitably variable. Starting a charity is typically underpinned by strong motivation through personal experiences or passions. And no one could argue for a better driving force. But the extent to which charities may succeed, or lose direction, often depends on the mission they’ve set themselves, the strategies they design to achieve their mission and how they organise themselves and operate. (The impact of the pandemic is, of course, an entirely different matter.)

Mission: If you look around at the many charities across the country it is not surprising why there is often confusion about what some of them do, particularly when there are other charities that seem to do the same thing. While the mission obviously needs to be inspiring, it should also be distinct and clear. It needs to set out what the charity is working towards and the way it plans to get there.

Strategy: The strategy of a charity should be about it plans to achieve its mission, informed by the need for its work. Many charities start off by wanting to fundraise for a particular cause. However, fundraising isn’t an end point so there needs to be a good strategy in place for what to do with the funds raised. If the funds are to go towards research, for example, who will be carrying out the research (e.g. the charity itself or other experts)? How will the quality and impact of the research be appraised? If the plan is to raise awareness of an issue, who will be raising this awareness, how will awareness be raised and how will the charity know if awareness has been raised? And, what is the purpose of raising awareness of the issue (e.g. to change public behaviour, to increase government funding, to change policy)? A detailed strategy with realistic activities and measurable goals needs to be designed, implemented and regularly reviewed to ensure the charity continues to make progress towards its mission.

Too many charities spread themselves too thin by trying to do too many things in a reactive fashion rather than focusing on what they’re aiming to achieve with the resources they expect to have available. The charity should recognise its strengths and the particular areas where it wants to make a difference. In addition, too few charities take time to measure the impact they’ve made, identifying achievements to celebrate but also being critical about where they need to improve and make changes accordingly … And making sure they communicate this to their stakeholders.

Operations: Depending on the size of the charity and its available resources, it might be staffed purely by local volunteers or by a wide range of paid staff with expertise in aspects such as fundraising, service provision, public affairs, information and communications. How a charity is organised can hugely affect how it operates and how it is able to have an impact. New charities need to take into account the costs of running an organisation. Even the smallest charity, operating from someone’s spare room, may incur costs of accounting, postage, phone calls and travel, for instance.

It is also worth bearing in mind that the impact the charity can make is often linked to the level of expertise and time available of the people who run it. Full-time experienced staff are likely to be able to drive progress and achieve changes more quickly and to a greater level than part-time generalist volunteers. Although the cost of the staff is obviously very significant, it can be a worthwhile investment as they help to drive the mission and strategy of the organisation much more efficiently — in other words, if the charity is there to make a difference, it is more likely to make that difference more quickly via the utilisation of knowledgeable, paid staff. However, it should be recognised that there are also many excellent charities being supported by an army of volunteers, old and young, knitting or not, whose work is tireless and invaluable — never underestimate the power of volunteers and the great work they can achieve when harnessed effectively.

The charity’s strategy should also link to how the organisation operates. For example, is it realistic to expect a small charity run by only a few part-time untrained volunteers to devise and deliver a major campaign to influence the UK government on an issue, or change public awareness and behaviour within a year? No. Charities need to use their resources wisely, build on their strengths, commission external expertise where necessary, and be clear and realistic about where they’re headed. At the end of the day, charities are businesses and need to be operated as such.

There are so many other essential things to get right, including good governance, stakeholder management and charity reporting, that it is essential to take time to plan and think about how best to develop and run a charity.

It’s always good to seek guidance and expertise to ensure things are being done in the right way for the right reason — and success will hopefully follow. There is a lot of advice available on starting and running charities, such as from The Charity Commission and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. There are also organisations that champion and support charities, like NCVO, who can offer tons of advice. So, if you think starting a charity is right for you, seek advice at the earliest opportunity and do your research on what’s already out there, where you might fill the needs gap, and how to get started.