A lack of action in the sector to improve diversity and tackle climate change this year has ensured they will remain priorities for charity leaders in 2024.
But next year will see fresh challenges too, especially with a general election set to take place and culture wars increasingly overshadowing reasoned political debate.
Meanwhile, the cost-of-living crisis’ impact continues, as charities tackle the triple threat of rising demand, falling income and inflation. Many are already having to turn people away and some have had to close.
Elsewhere technology’s influence on charities looks set to increase, especially around the use of artificial intelligence and data.
Charities also need to be aware of increased scrutiny of their work, as the Charity Commission collects more of their data.
Given continuing challenges and fresh issues facing charity leaders, their annual to do list looks to be lengthy once again during 2024.
Diversity is now a must do
There has been much talk among charities in recent years around tackling the sector’s lack of diversity and being anti-racist.
But despite this apparent will to improve, the pace of change has been painfully slow.
In October 2023 ACEVO chief executive Jane Ide said she was “deeply disappointed and frustrated” by a lack of progress in the representation of global majority leaders in the sector. The charity leaders’ organisation’s 2023 pay and equalities survey found just 7% of charity CEOs are people from the global majority, in line with previous years.
The NCVO’s 2023 Civil Society Almanac recounts how this lack of diversity is workforce wide, with nine in ten staff identifying as white. As with the previous year the charity sector continues to be “less ethnically diverse than the private and public sectors”, says the charity infrastructure body.
At trustee level diversity problems remain. A Newton Investment Management survey this year found that despite four in five charities rating diversity as important global majority trustees only make up just 12% of boards for the fourth year running.
Similarly in November, insurer Ecclesiastical found that only half of charities are actively recruiting new trustees from diverse backgrounds. It also recorded a 14% fall in board diversity from 2022 to 2023.
This lack of action has been picked up by the campaign group #CharitySoWhite, which lamented in September 2023 how it had been “drowned in requests for meaningless conversations” with white led charities about diversity.
#CharitySoWhite burst on the scene to confront systemic racism in a stale and regressive charity sector, then disappeared just as quickly.
— #CharitySoWhite (@CharitySoWhite) September 19, 2023
"Why?" is a question we were asking too.
The answer? White supremacy, internalised racism, and burnout https://t.co/5yu2QmjQKf [1/6]
A change is needed across the sector as current efforts are clearly not enough.
It is up to every charity leader in 2024 to ask themselves tough questions such as, am I really doing enough to improve diversity and tackle racism?
Some indications that this can step up in 2024 have emerged in recent months.
The NCVO has looked at importance of language as part of the culture change needed in the sector to improve diversity.
Instead of phrases such as BAME and ethnic minorities it is using the phrase “people of the global majority”, something Charity Times has adopted too. This reclassification is important to challenge “existing dominant white-centric narratives”, said NCVO chief executive Sarah Vibert.
Also, this year, UK based Christian charity United Society Partners in the Gospel has pledged £7m aid to communities in Barbados impacted by its historic links to slavery.
Meanwhile, The Charity Commission has promised to carry out research into the barriers preventing a diverse range of people from joining charities’ boards.
Take action on climate change
Tackling climate change is another area where charities can do more in 2024.
Nine in ten charity professionals believe their organisation is concerned about climate change, according to a survey carried out by not-for-profit tech specialist Charity Digital in August this year.
But when asked if their charity had taken serious action to protect the plant, including developing environmental action strategies, more than half said either “no” or “not sure”.
The most common reason for failing to tackle climate change given by charities in this survey was they had “more pressing priorities”. Cost and lack of knowledge are highlighted as other barriers.
More ethical investment and banking choices focusing on sustainable companies and ignoring fossil fuel firms look to be a good way for charities to show a commitment to tackling climate change.
With the charity sector contributing £18bn to the UK economy, it certainly has considerable financial clout.
Some already are acting in this way on their investments. For example, in July Christian Aid announced it is cutting ties with Barclays over the banking firms links with fossil fuel industries.
But more need to follow Christian Aid’s lead in 2024, suggests an Association of Charitable Foundations survey of funders in July, which found that the number investing in a post carbon economy had only increased slightly.
Another way charities can better tackle the impact of climate change, according to think tank New Philanthropy Capital, is to develop strategies on how they can tackle the impact of climate change on young people, who will be hit hardest by long term harm to the planet.
Brace yourself for a culture war escalation
In recent years political debate in the UK has been blighted by so-called culture wars, with right wing politicians and media taking aim at many of the communities that charities support, from trans people to asylum seekers.
Charities have been further caught up in this unpleasant discourse as their attempts to address historical links with slavery have been branded “woke”, most notably by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden when he was culture secretary.
A report by Charity Reform Group released in February found that a “hostile political rhetoric” against charities is hampering their ability to influence politicians.
Then Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s comments in 2023 that rough sleeping “is a lifestyle choice”, certainly indicate culture war attacks on charities’ communities look set to be ramped up ahead of 2024’s general election.
Suella Braverman MP says that homelessness is a lifestyle choice, and charities should not give out tents. She is (rightly) being slammed for this nonsense. However, the fact is, that many people experiencing homelessness ARE unable to sustain a tenancy without extra support,
— Choice Housing Trust (@choicehousing_) November 8, 2023
While her sacking in November’s reshuffle may give some hope that culture war attacks will lessen, it remains to be seen how Esther McVey’s appointment in the Cabinet Office will impact on charities. The Conservative MP and GB News presenter has been appointed to lead an ‘anti-woke’ agenda across government.
Charities are advised to brace themselves for more attacks on the work they do and the people they support as the general election date nears.
They could also consider how they use social media as their beneficiaries come under fire. Among the most high-profile charities to do this is transgender charity Mermaids which in 2023 quit X for TikTok. How many more will follow in 2024?
Campaign…but within the law
Charities should not feel pressured to curtail their campaigning work despite political hostility around their work, is a strong message for leaders to take into 2024’s general election year.
Already in 2023 Charity Commission chairman Orlando Fraser has sought to assure charities they are “free to campaign robustly” if it is “in furtherance of their purposes” and within the law.
In addition, the regulator’s social media guidance has confirmed charity leaders’ freedom of expression, if potentially controversial views such as backing a particular political party, are not associated with the charity.
We’ve published new guidance to help charities make the most of using social media, whilst managing the risks.
— Charity Commission (@ChtyCommission) September 18, 2023
Read more: https://t.co/ShDMPEfZ6j pic.twitter.com/of7Cxy8eUy
This clarification has been welcomed in a report from the Third Sector Trends in England and Wales survey project, which found that three quarters of charities “steer clear of political issues”. Small charities, those in rural areas and older organisations are among those less likely to campaign.
Conservative Party voters also back charities’ role in campaigning. Two thirds think charities currently strike the right balance in their lobbying and campaigning; a survey New Philanthropy Capital found this year.
Prepare for further scrutiny
The public is set to be able to see much more about charity’ s organisation and finances in 2024, with the launch in 2023 of the Charity Commission’s expanded annual return.
This sees the number of questions increased with the aim of increasing transparency and better assessing risks facing the sector. For example, it will ask for more details about charities’ source of income and the locations they operate in.
Commission chief executive Helen Stephenson says new questions are designed to be “proportionate” and not an excessive burden on charities.
Charities in 2024 need to ensure they can adapt to the change and assure themselves their finances and organisation are robust enough to stand up to extra scrutiny.
Information from the new return “will also support policymakers, researchers, the sector, and the public to gain a more in-depth understanding of the nature and profile of charities in England and Wales”, adds Stephenson.
This understanding of the sector looks set to increase further with the launch in 2023 of The Gradel Institute of Charity, a first of its kind research centre dedicated to supporting charities and researching the sector.
Get serious about AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming employment and how organisations operate, such as using chatbots to better support service users.
Deploying ChatGPT to improve campaigning and promotion, using data to manage donors and investing in technology to swiftly predict and respond to disasters globally, are other ways.
But according to 2023’s Charity Digital Skills report, around three quarters of charities say they do not feel prepared to respond to opportunities around AI. This is despite a similar proportion believing AI can be transformational for their organisation.
Lack of time, resource and skills are cited as key barriers for charities.
In 2024 charity leaders are advised to explore the potential benefits of AI further and how it can improve their organisation and better help service users.
At the same time charity leaders could be shrewd in exercising caution before investing in AI. For example, research published in August by the charity Money4You found that current AI generated funding searches, such as those through Google’s Bard and Bing’s chatbot, are “littered with errors”.
In addition, charities need to be aware of AI’s potential to increase inequality in society and harm their service users.
An estimated three in ten UK jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI heightening the threat of poverty for more household. Also, a reduction in wages can impact the government’s tax base and reduce government benefits.
Prepare to firefight
The cost-of-living crisis is dealing the charity sector another hammer blow it emerged from the Covid pandemic.
This is already impacting charities’ ability to survive.
In November 2023 the Cares Family group of charities announced it is to close due to a “desperately difficult fundraising environment”.
Also in 2023gender equality charity Chwarae Teg announced it is to shut its doors for good due to a “perfect storm of financial challenges”.
Meanwhile, charity infrastructure body Children England announced its closure amid “financial challenges”.
Children’s charities also face a long-term threat to their survival as an ageing population and reduction in the birth rate erodes the public’s personal connection to them, according to analysis by nfpResearch in 2023.
While ten years ago two in five people listed these charities are their favourite cause to support, this proportion now stands at a quarter, nfpResearch found.
According to the NCVO one in five charities may have closed by the end of winter of 2023/24 due to a ‘cost-of-giving’ crisis as charities battle demand as donations and income falls and costs rise.
📢 With costs climbing, funding falling and demand increasing, for charities who give so much, this is not just a cost of living crisis. This is a #CostOfGivingCrisis. pic.twitter.com/L4Wusz8SlP
— NCVO (@NCVO) October 30, 2023
Many others in 2024 will have to make tough choices on who receives help.
One in eight have already been forced to turn away people in need of help due to the financial challenges they are facing, according to a Charities Aid Foundation survey of 600 charities that was published in September 2023.
One charity worker told researchers that “it feels like we are constantly firefighting”.
There is no doubt that 2024 will be financially tough for many charities, but there are measures to put in place to ensure they remain open and can continue to help as many people as possible.
This includes charities clearly highlighting their specific areas of expertise to the public, who like good causes with a clear mission statement and information about the work they do, according to nfpResearch.
Charity partnerships among similar organisations to jointly promote campaigns and attract funding is another, the research organisation adds.
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