Third Sector

In February the government announced it would provide a £10m financial package to help the families of children and young people with cancer cover travel costs to and from medical appointments.

The commitment was a major campaign success for the charity Young Lives vs Cancer, which spent 10 years lobbying for the travel fund. Emily Burt and Dami Adewale are joined by Sonia Malik, associate director of policy, influencing and voice at Young Lives vs Cancer, to hear the story behind the win.

Sonia talks about the importance of relationships with the public and across the p...

Host Emily Burt is joined by Third Sector colleagues Andy Ricketts and Emily Harle to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

The team speculate about the future for charity infrastructure, after calls for an independent commission from Acevo, NCVO, the CFG and Navca.

Emily rounds up the sector reaction to the Autumn Budget, with charities “disappointed but not surprised” after warm words fail to translate to financial injections.

And Andy revisits “the most important story no-one knows about” with the latest update on the dispute between the Charity Commission and the...

Third Sector’s Andy Ricketts and Dami Adewale are joined by Jason Parker, chair of the Stroke Association.

Jason talks about streamlining the work done by the board he leads and some of the practices he has implemented to keep energy high.

He discusses how he prioritises what trustees focus on and how to avoid slipping into micromanagement of the executive.

And Jason gives advice on how chairs can ensure they maintain healthy relationships with their chief executives.

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Third Sector editor Emily Burt and senior reporter Emily Harle are joined by Kiran Kaur, the co-founder and chief executive of the social enterprise GirlDreamer.

Kiran talks about GirlDreamer’s Dream Fund as it shifts towards a primarily Gen-Z demographic and digital-first ways of demonstrating impact.

They discuss the changing professional and personal priorities of Gen Z, and the charity sector’s readiness gap when it comes to valuing the unique skills they can bring both as employees and the next generation of founders and chief executives.

And Kiran flags the benefits of the...

Emily Burt is joined by Natalie Pinon, interim chief executive of NPT UK.

Natalie describes the increasing willingness among high net worth individuals to talk about charitable giving, and the growing desire to experience the positive impact their wealth can make in their lifetime, rather than as a legacy gift.

Emily and Natalie discuss Charities Aid Foundation research that found the majority of wealth advisers wait for clients to raise the topic of charitable giving rather than initiating the conversation, and how to close the confidence gap.

Natalie points to the broad range...

Editor Emily Burt is joined by Ed Ikin, chief executive of the Ernest Cook Trust, an educational charity and funder that cares for 9,000 hectares of land across six UK counties and delivers outdoor learning to 4,000 young people every year.

They discuss how the history of the trust is shaping its approach to grantmaking, as the organisation begins the process of adopting a place-focused approach to its partnerships.

Ed outlines a “proof of concept” for making the organisation’s unique mix of assets fulfil a clear role in its founding goal of providing education. And he emphas...

Host Emily Burt is joined by Third Sector colleagues Andy Ricketts and Emily Harle to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

Two months after the new Prime Minister’s cabinet was announced, Andy explores the career of the newly appointed charities minister and the team discuss the possible outcomes of the finalised DCMS briefs.

Emily reflects on the funding intervention that saved Reach Volunteering from closure, weeks after the charity announced it would begin winding down.

And the team discuss the escalating far-right rhetoric that has seen RNLI staff an...

Editor Emily Burt is joined by Asma Shah, chief executive of You Make It, a charity that exists to empower and advance the professional and personal development of young Black and brown women living in East London.

Asma discusses founding You Make It at a time when the importance of lived experience was not recognised by funders, and how operating in survival mode has shaped her approach to leadership. 

She talks about the ways that funding ‘buzzwords’ can fail to recognise the impact small organisations deliver, and why charities should not shy away from taking an en...

Third Sector editor Emily Burt and deputy editor Andy Ricketts hear from Adam Baker, director of communications and supporter engagement at Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance. 

Adam talks about the charity’s recent “thankathons”, an annual event where staff and volunteers come together to spend the day saying thank you to people who have donated to the air ambulance. 

He discusses the benefits of running such an event and highlights some of the lessons the charity has learned from the days so far. 

He also digs into some of the practicalities of the day and g...

Emily Burt and Andy Ricketts hear from the fundraising specialist Caroline Richardson and Paul Courtney, director of fundraising at Children’s Hospice South West.

Caroline and Paul discuss how ROI is used in fundraising, and the importance of treating the measurement as one data point in a wider context.

And Caroline explains why a decrease in fundraising ROI is not necessarily a bad thing, after her research found a year-on-year decline.

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Senior reporter Emily Harle is joined by Katie Docherty, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

She talks about the significant developments in fundraising over the past five years, the evolution of CIoF’s flagship conference and the need for chief executives and sector leaders to recognise fundraising as a serious profession if they want to grow organisational income.

And four years on from her pledge to make the fundraising profession a safer place, Docherty reflects on the need for charities to empower fundraisers to raise the alarm if they feel unsafe, an...

Third Sector editor Emily Burt and senior multimedia reporter Lucinda Rouse are joined by Jules Lynch, founder and chief executive of the Global Girl project. 

Jules discusses how leading with Black feminist principles empowers her charity to take a collaborative and trust-based approach to developing service offerings, sharing funding and resources. 

She discusses how the colonial origins of charitable models prevent those with power in the sector from working in meaningful partnership with communities, and why letting go of that power is an uncomfortable but essential step toward driving change in the sector. 

And...

Matt Hyde, chief executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, talks to Third Sector deputy editor Andy Ricketts about volunteering, working with government and the grantmaker's new strategy. 

Matt discusses the foundation's ambition to ensure everyone in England and Wales is living 'in a good place' and how it hopes to increase overall giving levels to voluntary sector organisations.

He talks about working with government and, as a member of the Civil Society Council, what his hopes are for the sector under Andy Burnham's new government.

The co-founder of The B...

Third Sector editor Emily Burt and senior multimedia reporter Lucinda Rouse are joined by Tanya Curry, chief executive of the MND Association.

Tanya recalls how the MND Association was thrust into the limelight thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge social media phenomenon in the summer of 2014.

She describes the effects of the raised profile and £7m cash injection on the charity in the years that followed, and how its systems and processes needed to catch up.

She stresses the need to pause and make a plan in the face of pressure to mobilise w...

Host Emily Burt is joined by Third Sector colleagues Andy Ricketts and Emily Harle to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

Andy recounts an “embarrassing misstep” for the Charity Commission, after the regulator was found to have committed a contempt of parliament in seeking to prevent a set of critical reports from being laid before the house. Emily Harle hears from one of the whistleblowers at the heart of the row. 

The team discuss Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first days in post, including the decision to move the Office for the Imp...

Editor Emily Burt and deputy editor Andy Ricketts are joined by Dr Colette Fletcher, executive director of the Operational Research Society, and Rebecca Goldring, performance and partnership area manager at Porchlight. 

Colette discusses the history of operational research and its current function as one of the world’s “best-kept secrets”: underpinning everything from traffic systems to Chris Whitty’s slide decks during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

And Rebecca shares how Porchlight has worked in partnership with volunteers at the ORS to transform a disorganised pot of data into a clear and confident narrative for stakeholders. 

Click her...

Editor Emily Burt and senior reporter Emily Harle are joined by Maddy Desforges, chief executive of the local infrastructure membership body Navca. 

They discuss the challenges around funding infrastructure organisations, working with local government and the risks that can come with a broad operational remit. 

Maddy also shares the opportunities for local charities and infrastructure organisations that may come as an increasing push for devolution seeks to place neighbourhoods and communities at the heart of policymaking. 

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Editor Emily Burt and reporter Dami Adewale are joined by Danielle Bridge, chief executive of Black Minds Matter UK. 

They discuss BMMUK’s ‘back-to-front’ journey, from a crowdfunded project that received £1.5m in its first six months of existence to a charity that must become sustainable in a world where supporting Black lives is no longer at the top of the political and public agenda. 

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Lucinda Rouse is joined by Emily Burt, Dami Adewale and Andy Ricketts to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

Emily considers the likely consequences for the Civil Society Covenant of Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, and the impact of ever-shorter political cycles on the voluntary sector’s work to address long-term challenges. Andy provides an assessment of the current state of charity retail, after the British Heart Foundation became the latest major charity to announce a raft of store closures.

Dami gives an update on th...

Lucinda Rouse hears from some of the speakers at Third Sector’s annual conference, which was held at the Royal Society of Medicine’s 1 Wimpole Street in London on 23 and 24 June.

They are: Simon Blake, chief executive of Stonewall; Fadi Itani, chief executive of the Muslim Charities Forum; Kate Lee, chief executive of the NCVO; Emma Pears, chief executive of SELFA Children’s Charity; Dame Julia Unwin, chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales; governance consultant Penny Wilson; Athar Abidi, head of social at Cancer Research UK; Taahra Ghazi, co-chief executive of ActionAid UK; and Alex E...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Max Newton (he/him), director of fundraising, marketing and communications at Cerebra, and the digital communications and fundraising specialist Rebs Curtis-Moss (they/them).

Rebs outlines the common causes of friction between a charity’s communications and fundraising functions, from perceptions of brand being prioritised over fundraising needs to unrealistic social media engagement goals set by fundraisers.

Max stresses the importance of building relationships and developing a good understanding of each team’s respective functions, as well as an acknowledgement that terminology can hold alternative meanings on different side...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by the communications and community engagement specialist Jayne Cravens to discuss the opportunities for charities on the social media platform Reddit.

Jayne describes the different ways charities can make use of the site, from promoting events to recruiting volunteers.

She also explains how organisations can repurpose existing material published elsewhere to gain visibility and improve SEO.

Read Jayne’s Nonprofit & NGO guide to using Reddit

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Jo Grose, chief executive of the United Synagogue, to discuss how her charity’s operations have been affected by recent attacks on the UK Jewish community.

Jo shares some of the operational adjustments made by the United Synagogue to protect staff, volunteers and service users, and describes the impact of a growing sense of insecurity on the charity’s long-term strategic direction.

She explains why she considers the phrasing of some recent statements of solidarity by sector leaders to be problematic, and conversely why Dame Julia Unwin’s firs...

Lucinda Rouse is joined by Andy Ricketts and Emily Harle to discuss their highlights from the final edition of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Fundraising Convention, which took place in London on 4 and 5 June.

Emily chooses a panel discussion that focussed on the need to break down siloes between different fundraising channels. She also shares lessons about brokering successful partnerships with corporate donors.

Andy talks about some of the small changes that charities can translate into easy fundraising wins, such as including a heart on fundraising materials to encourage more donations. He also discloses hi...

Lucinda Rouse and Dami Adewale  are joined by Sarah Derbyshire, chief executive of the orchestral music charity Orchestras Live, to discuss the organisation’s path to data maturity.

Sarah explains the importance of having data systems that are designed to show the stories behind the numbers, and how a data audit can help reduce the information collected by charities.

She also provides insight into the charity’s income-generating impact measurement tool, the Social Value Engine, which helps other social impact organisations with their evaluation work.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle  discuss snippets from a recent interview Emily conducted with Simon Blake, chief executive of Stonewall.

Simon explains how the LGBT rights charity has refined its clarity of purpose with a renewed focus on advocacy, stressing the importance of closed-door meetings over “noisy” tactics.

He provides insight into how Stonewall is supporting the mental health and wellbeing of its staff following a restructure, including by taking time to celebrate the charity’s achievements.

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Lucinda Rouse is joined by Third Sector colleagues Emily Harle, Dami Adewale and Andy Ricketts to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

Emily describes recent cases of so-called “lawfare” affecting Scope and the 10,000 Interns Foundation, both of which have been threatened with legal action on potentially vexatious grounds.

Dami provides insight into the resignation of ex-British Psychological Society trustee Nigel MacLennan from his post as chair of Playground Proms, after a tribunal rejected his claim to whistleblowing protections in a dispute with the BPS. 

And Andy considers why charities worki...

Lucinda Rouse visits the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as grantmaker Project Giving Back marks its fifth and final year of supporting “gardens for good causes” at the event.

She hears from PGB chief executive Hattie Ghaui about how its approach has encouraged participating charities to experiment and take risks in their public engagement and storytelling.

She visits four of the PGB-funded gardens and speaks to Matthew van Duyvenbode, co-chief executive of Trussell; Kit Stoner, chief executive of the Bat Conservation Trust; YoungMinds’ garden designer Charlie Chase and chief executive Abigail Ampofo; and Paul Jackson-Clark, director of fun...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Andy Glyde, strategy and insight lead at Bowel Cancer UK, and Phillipa Williams, strategy director at the behaviour change and communications agency Claremont.

Andy describes the development process for Bowel Cancer UK’s recent campaign to encourage more people to report symptoms of bowel cancer to their GP. 

He explains how the campaign sought to bridge the gap between having an awareness of the symptoms and taking action when identified.

Phillipa recounts how the campaign trod the line between instilling a sense of urgency to act...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Joy Warmington, chief executive of the equality charity Brap.

Joy highlights some of the limitations of standard equity, diversity and inclusion approaches and explains why adopting a flexible and responsive mindset is preferable to following an EDI toolkit. 

She shares her optimism that racism will be eliminated in the future and provides tips for charity leaders seeking to place their anti-racism commitments at the heart of their operations.

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Host Lucinda Rouse is joined by Third Sector colleagues Emily Burt, Andy Ricketts and Emily Harle to talk about three significant sector stories from the past month.

Emily Harle shares her reflections from an event run by the Women in Charity Network, including the need for female leaders to make space for their more junior counterparts.

Emily Burt provides context to Third Sector’s recent findings about legacy trends across 100 major charities. She and Lucinda share clips from a video discussion with Alex McDowell, vice-chair of Remember a Charity, which is included in The Legacy Ma...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation.

Charmaine outlines the BHF’s new commitments on equality, diversity and inclusion and explains why they are important in furthering the charity’s mission to fight heart disease.

She talks about changes to the organisation’s recruitment process to encourage more diverse applications and explains how the BHF is tackling the low level of female representation in medical and research settings focused on heart health.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle discuss snippets from a recent interview Emily conducted with Carol Homden, chief executive of the children’s charity Coram.

Carol explains the rationale behind the Coram Group’s recent amalgamation with four charities while avoiding duplication and competing processes.

She shares her views on the merits of chief executives holding senior board positions to gain an appreciation of governance responsibilities.

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Lucinda Rouse and Andy Ricketts are joined by Rebecca Fell, chief executive of the refugee support charity the International Care Network, and the fundraising specialist Atul Kumar.

Atul puts forward the case for why project managers should play a part in funding bids. He shares his tips on how to write successful proposals for trusts and foundations funding, including the importance of a strong project name.

Rebecca explains how ICN approaches fundraising in the absence of any dedicated fundraising staff. She reveals the challenges of fundraising for a cause that is becoming increasingly politicised.

Lucinda Rouse and Dami Adewale are joined by Saskia Lightburn-Ritchie, chief executive of the domestic abuse support charity MyCWA.

Saskia recounts how a long-standing commitment to partnership and collaboration, which forms one of the charity’s three key missions, strengthened its ability to execute a £500,000 emergency appeal when it lost a significant council contract.

She explains why it is so important to place the domestic abuse survivors the charity supports at the centre of any partnership discussions, and how MyCWA is able to withdraw from negotiations that are not in survivors’ best interests with no hard...

Lucinda Rouse is joined by Third Sector colleagues Emily Burt and Emily Harle to reflect on three significant sector stories from the past month.

Emily Burt shares her perspective on concerns raised by small charity representatives following the news of a restructure at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Lucinda considers the findings of the Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving Report, and asks whether falling levels of individual donations point to the need for a strategic shift in fundraising.

And Emily Harle provides details of an experimental AI agent that has raised £500 for...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle discuss snippets from a recent interview Emily conducted with Matt Downie, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis.

Matt provides insight into Crisis’ plan to buy a thousand homes in the next decade and become a landlord for people experiencing homelessness.

He shares his view that the voluntary sector is entering a ‘third wave’, which will require businesses and wider society to play a part in solving social problems, and questions the value that charitable status offers to social purpose organisations.

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**Content warning: This episode contains references to suicide and sexual abuse**

Lucinda Rouse and Dami Adewale are joined by safeguarding specialist Joanna Nicolas and Sebastian Rocca, founder and chief executive of the LGBTQI refugee support organisation Micro Rainbow.

Joanna identifies some of the most common safeguarding challenges facing voluntary organisations, which principally stem from the power imbalance between a charity’s trustees, staff and volunteers and its service users.

Sebastian describes how Micro Rainbow is approaching safeguarding in the face of increasing hostility towards the groups it supports. He explains why he no lo...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Stephen Roberts, chief executive of North Devon Hospice, to discuss the organisation’s response to some of the challenges facing the hospice sector.

Stephen explains why the charity is aiming to reduce its dependence on legacies and how it encourages innovation in its fundraising work.

He stresses the importance of factoring local need into ideas for new income opportunities, which has led to the opening of a lucrative dog-walking field on land belonging to the hospice. 

He shares his tactics for gaining trustee approval for new...

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt  are joined by Emma Turner, chief executive of Mind in Croydon.

Emma lays bare the operational realities of meeting soaring service demand in the face of cuts to local authority and integrated care system budgets, which form the bulk of Mind in Croydon’s income.

She explains how the charity has formed partnerships with other local organisations at the instigation of commissioners, enabling all parties to innovate and find new solutions to collective challenges.

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