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Small charity week: building resilience for a post-pandemic future

Did you know that there are almost 170,000 registered charities in England and Wales? The landscape is vast, but most people are only familiar with a handful of household names. Why? Because 93% of charities have an income of less than £500,000, with 95% falling below the £1m mark. That means just 5% of charities in England and Wales account for almost 87% of sectoral income (£73.1 billion of £83.9 billion).

They do a lot with a little, but life as a small charity isn’t easy. That’s why, for this year’s Small Charities Day, we want to take some time to recognise and celebrate the contribution of small charities, and to share some top tips to help them ride the post-COVID storm.  

Posted 15/06/2021

Why we LOVE small charities 

They might be small, but together these 162,000 charities are mighty. A key part of the UK’s social fabric, research shows us that small charities plug critical gaps in public services, and have an important role to play when it comes to addressing social welfare in their local community. Known for their person-centred, inclusive approach, they are often born from the communities they strive to support and can reach people sooner and stay around longer than larger, national organisations.

The ‘glue’ that holds services and communities together, never has the role and potential of small charities been more evident than in their COVID-19 response. Acting faster and more flexibly than the public sector, small charities showed ‘tremendous energy’, ‘flexibility’ and ‘professionalism’ at every turn. Truly coming into their own, their position within the local community was a real asset here, with many organisations using their links, knowledge, understanding and relationships with the people around them to shape and adapt their services.  

‘The service offer of smaller charities was concentrated on addressing four main areas of need - access to food, isolation and loneliness, information and mental health/wellbeing – and was tailored to different groups experiencing complex social issues. They found multiple ways to maintain human contact by checking up on people, keeping in touch with them and connecting them to one another wherever possible.’

The Value of Small in a Big Crisis, 2021

Building resilience for a post-pandemic future

Despite all they have achieved, data shows that only 30% of small charities were able to continue full-service delivery during the COVID-19 crisis. What’s more, almost half of all smaller organisation believes they will lose more than half their annual income – with nearly 1 in 10 struggling to meet payroll commitments. It isn’t easy being a small boat on a rough sea, and resilience is a must if small charities are to ride out the post-covid storm.

But what does it mean to be resilient?  

By definition, resilience is ‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties’. Or, to put it another way: ‘the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape’. Imagine a stress ball. You can squash it, stamp on it, throw it, bounce it. But it never loses its shape. It’s an odd comparison, but it works. Because if you want your charity to be resilient, it must be able to absorb a multitude of different stresses.

Not sure where to start? There is no one recipe for success, but checking your progress against CAF’s six key characteristics of a resilient charity is a good place to start.

  • PURPOSE: You have a clear vision and mission, with funds and activities that align toward them.
  • AWARENESS: You regularly assess the local, social, political and economic risks that surround you.
  • LEADERSHIP: Your trustees and staff are thinking forward not just focussing on the day-to-day.
  • WELL NETWORKED: You’re working with, learning from, and giving back to peer organisations/partners.
  • FINANCIALLY AND OPERATIONALLY FIT: You’ve got sufficient income and reserves from diverse sources.
  • IMPACT: You understand the need you are meeting and the impact you are making.

Not quite there yet? Don’t panic. Rome was not built in a day, and resilience does not happen overnight. But there are some steps* you can take to help move your organisation forward:

  • Know your why: We know it is tempting to chase the money, but it is better to focus your limited resources on a single, well-defined goal that meets a direct need.
  • Use your Board: A strong board doesn’t manage, it leads. It is important that yours has the right skills and expertise to future-proof your charity.
  • Think before you furlough your fundraisers: It might seem an easy cost to cut, but fundraisers are the ones bringing money into your organisation. See them as an investment, not an expense!
  • Connect with the sector: No charity is an island and it’s important to build constructive relationships with peer organisations and groups so that you can learn from and support each other.
  • Bring in extra capacity: Make sure the base of your organisation is strong. Do you have the right team and skills to mobilise your mission?
  • Work your networks: If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Take the time out to map your organisational networks, and make the most of every opportunity out there.
  • Dare to ask for core funding: Whether it’s a core bid or budget line if you don’t push for core funding donors won’t be prepared to give it.
  • Use your data: No strategy should be based on assumptions. You need to use your data to make evidence-based, strategic decisions.
  • Be open to learning: A wise person knows how much there is left to learn. Don’t assume you have all the answers, be open to new ways of doing things.
  • Always evolve: Business as usual is not enough. There is no point in being open to learning if you are not prepared to act on each lesson and move your organisation (and its fundraising!) forward.

*Inspired by (and expanding on) CAF’s ‘Six characteristics of a resilient charity’.

Remember. If your organisation is struggling with a particular area of development, others will be too. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it, and you know what? With six days of advocacy, advice and events, Small Charity Week is a great place to start!