Can charities still change the world?

With demands for sector services up by around 15%, public spending cuts affecting the sector and a quick pace of change from and within government, this feels like a challenging time for campaigning. Many charity leaders expect to maintain or increase the services they provide over the next quarter, despite mainly expecting their expenditure to decrease or stand still. So, will campaigning remain high on the agenda for charities that want to see a change in the world?

Campaigning is about influencing both policy and practice. With these changes and the sector playing such an important role in delivering public services, this feels like a very important time for the sector to be campaigning, using their specialist knowledge and experience in delivering these services to improve policy and practice and ultimately the lives of people they support. Some organisations may be concerned by an expectation that if they are spending public money they should not campaign, but this is not a new concern for campaigners. Campaigning doesn’t have to be adversarial or public – it is about building an appropriate plan for your campaign with a good understanding of the people you want to influence and knowing what is likely to influence them. Increasingly terms like ‘advocacy’ and ‘service user involvement’ are being used in relation to campaigning and service delivery. With this, local campaigning is becoming very important and influential.  

I’ve read some great guest blogs on NCVO’s website highlighting both challenges and opportunities that come with the government’s Localism agenda, and how campaigners need to adapt their tactics, build new contacts and take advantage of new opportunities to be successful in this environment. NCVO believes in the independence of the sector, both ethically in terms of government and private funding, and legally in terms of the right of the sector to campaign. Despite the challenges the sector faces in these changing times, the role of the sector in campaigning and influencing policy and practice is more important than ever. Charities have a vital role to play in changing the world around them and campaigning is an important part of this. The principles underpinning effective campaigning remain the same and NCVO is continuing work to support organisations to campaign more effectively.

Over my next few blog posts on campaigning I’m going to look at different elements that can help make campaigns more successful. I will identify any particular opportunities for campaigners in the current environment and importantly I would love to hear about your experiences of campaigning in the current climate, or any particular opportunities that you see for your campaign.