Time to shed the shackles
Anyone reading the press over the last year could be forgiven for thinking that working in the charity sector is like living through The Blitz. It feels like the sector’s […]
Finding the diamonds
There’s an old story about a Persian farmer that a lot of struggling charities might find extremely relevant. It was popularised by the 19th century Baptist minister Russell Conwell and it goes like this…
Doing good is not enough
Need is growing, funding is contracting, grants are turning into contracts, and the people who are giving them out are looking for ever more things in return. For charities on the receiving end, it seems that ‘doing good’ is no longer enough.
Mark Lever on commerce, excellence and the future of the sector
Mark Lever, CEO of The National Autistic Society talks about the sector’s most pressing challenges, and how business thinking is becoming increasingly important to its future survival
The Changing Face of Charities
Between 2001 and 2011 the charity sector’s income grew from £31bn to £41bn a year. Not through fundraising or grants, or legacies or investments, but through commercial trading. Public donations […]
CEO Seminars
Our Charity CEO Breakfast Seminars are extremely popular – the last one was fully booked two months in advace. As far as I’m aware, they are quite simply the only […]
Pleasing all the people
Being a professional means knowing that you can’t please all the people all the time, and experience means that you have those conversations up front.
Engaging with business
One of the themes in my recent conversations with the sector, is the desire to engage better with businesses. There are two opportunities: income and mission, but one is far greater than the other.
Distinguishing innovation
Within the media stories about Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain going into administration, are hidden lessons for many charities.
We need to talk
Honesty, candour and the willingness to share openly are among the sector’s greatest attributes, but they have far more potential than is currently being realised.
Bold leadership vision
In vision statements and outward-looking aspirations, charities and non-profits are rarely short of bold ambition. But it’s often the avoidance of negative consequences that shapes the action plan.
The handcuffs of public perception
Some of the most debilitating constraints faced by the charity sector have a common root cause. Which implies there could be a common solution if we are collectively willing to take it on.
The millstone of strategic planning
The idea that any plan sufficiently detailed to merit the name, will still be relevant in three, two, sometimes even one years’ time, is utterly naïve.
CEO Breakfast June 2019
June’s breakfast topic will be Strategic Innovation: for impact, income and social change. My guest speaker will be Richard Hawkes, CEO of the British Asian Trust and former CEO of Scope.
Unlocking the power of pace
Almost every charity CEO wants their organisation to move faster, to become more responsive, more flexible, more agile. The solution is far simpler than you might expect.
Earning more income
Earned income has been the single biggest driver of the growth in charity income for most of the last twenty years, and it currently represents over 50% of all charity revenue. Growing it is a priority for many charities, but it’s not easy…
