Strategy and Impact

This year's PKF/Charity Finance Directors Group risk survey reveals that almost 90% of organisations are revisiting their strategic direction in the light of the recession, and focus on risk management is on the rise.

The new Transparency Manifesto has been designed by the ImpACT Coalition to help charities respond to media attention and address the perception gap between how the public think charities operate and the reality.

It sets out what the Coalition believes an accountable and transparent organisation looks like.

The Manifesto’s nine points cover communicating impact and sharing learning, commits organisations to involving stakeholders in their work and requires leaders to champion accountability and transparency.

Research by New Philanthropy Capital finds that whilst most of the large charities it assessed are good at describing their outputs, only 40% describe their impact clearly.

The findings were based on an analysis of 20 of the top 100 UK fundraising charities, focusing on their annual reports and reviews, impact reports and websites.

The research assessed each organisation’s reporting on:

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) is encouraging charities to assess themselves against the nine questions the Treasury is asking government departments in preparation for this month’s spending review.

NPC argues that if charities can successfully answer the questions, it can help them build a stronger case for survival to their existing funders who may also be looking to make cuts.

The questions include whether a product or service:

The pros and cons of measuring impact using techniques such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) continue to be explored across the sector.

The Reputation Institute has included charities for the first time in its annual assessment of the public’s opinion of organisations and companies – and the charities are streets ahead, thanks largely to well-planned strategies, says the researcher.

Our needs conference last week pushed the boundaries of current understanding about beneficiary need, prompting participants to challenge their assumptions about what service users require and to explore who really decides this question.

As one delegate said, "It was good to have time to think and talk about things which we sometimes put on the 'too hard' pile."

The findings from the Government's Total Place pilot project and a joint nef and NESTA report on 'co-production' point the way ahead for innovative public service delivery.

In advance of our major conference on need this June, Richard Piper, Head of Strategy and Impact at NCVO, suggests that charities may need to get more sophisticated in thinking about need if they want to make the biggest impact for their beneficiaries or cause.

Charities should consider publishing expenses of individual trustees and senior managers but disclosure should not be mandatory, according to a report by an independent expert group.  Read more about the expenses recommendations.