Ensuring the Labour government and its MPs listen to civil society is expected be top of charity leaders’ mounting in-tray during 2025.

The first Labour government in 14 years has made bold promises of involving charities in policy making. But charity leaders may face a tough task ensuring this talk leads to the sector having a meaningful say.

Responsibly navigating an increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the sector, so it benefits staff, volunteers and communities, is also a priority for the year ahead.

Gamification is another technology area charities need to ensure they are utilising, particularly gaming’s changing demographics.

Each year equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) improvements are top of charity leaders’ in-tray. Sadly 2025 will follow yet another 12 months of inaction.

Similarly with climate change, much more can be done in the new year.

Charities’ struggle to find volunteers is also likely to continue. The behaviour and demographics of those giving up their time for free is changing. But are charities’ adapting accordingly?

Corporates and councils could become stronger allies in the months ahead. But more work will need to be done by charity and business leaders to ensure partnerships are effective.

New government…new challenges and opportunities

In October the government launched plans for a ‘civil society covenant’ to boost partnership working between ministers and charities.

Already National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) are involved in talks with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on the details.

Also, in July the government launched a cross-government child poverty taskforce, involving charities such as Save the Children, to discuss solutions with ministers.

It is certainly a different approach compared to the previous Conservative governments, which were marred by culture war attacks on charities by its MPs and ministers.

But charity leaders in 2025 will need to ensure this new approach leads to charities having a meaningful say.

Already there is concern charities voices are not being truly listened to.

While charities are involved in a cross-government child poverty taskforce, their call for an end to the two-child limit on benefits has so far been ignored. Children’s charities say this would be the biggest driver of improvement in the lives of children in low-income households.

Labour’s first budget in October 2024 has also caused concern, especially the impact of increasing employer national insurance contributions and raising the minimum wage will have on the sector.

Charity leaders, including ACEVO’s chief executive Jane Ide have warned that many charities “may be forced to reduce staff, cut salaries, and, most importantly, scale back services for the very people they strive to support.”

Backbench MPs could prove useful allies for charity leaders. Labour’s landslide victory has changed the make up of their numbers, according to research by Pro Bono Economics.

It found that more than a third of all 650 MPs have a background in the charity sector, as staff, patrons, volunteers or fundraisers.

This includes eight cabinet members, including Nandy, who has worked at Centrepoint and The Children’s Society.

The general election also saw the Green Party increase its MP numbers from one to four, including victory for Ellie Chowns for the party in North Herefordshire.

She has already set the bar high in supporting the sector by donating more than a fifth of her salary to good causes each year, including setting up a £10,000 constituency fund for local groups and charities.

Work needed to attract corporate partners…

The corporate sector could be another useful partner in 2025, to help raise awareness, funds and supply volunteers.

But work needs to be done by both voluntary and private sector leaders to form effective partnerships.

Research published in 2024 by social value management platform What Impact found that two in five charities in England, Scotland and Norther Ireland who want to collaborate with the private sector have yet to find a corporate partner. Among Wales based charities the proportion jumps to three in five.

Barriers to overcome include a lack of resources among charities to run corporate partnership programmes.

Poor communication is another, with businesses failing to understand the cost and upheaval involved in for charities when, for example they are asked to host a large group of corporate visitors on their premises.

Further research released during 2024 by think tank Pro Bono Economics called for an end to “short-termism” in partnerships between charities and corporates.

It says the most successful partnerships are formed when both sides “are united by a genuine shared purpose”.

Separate research into corporate partnerships, published by C&E Advisory Services, lists the most admired link ups among partnership professionals.

Their top-rated partnership is Tesco’s link up with Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.

Now in its sixth year this focuses on a shared focus on improving health. Tesco helps raise awareness and funds, with £29m raised so far. Meanwhile, the charities support includes training for the retailer’s pharmacists.

...and council partners too

Despite council and charity budgets being squeezed by more than a decade of austerity policies, local authorities can still prove useful partners for civil society to help deliver support and raise awareness.

This may be especially the case in 2025 after Labour’s first budget offered some comfort for council leaders, with an extra £1.3bn for councils in the next financial year and a further £1bn to improve special educational needs.

To help charity and council leaders form partnerships, guidance has been produced by the Local Government Association, alongside the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA).

This advises better collaboration between council officers and leaders at local charity infrastructure organisations to ensure commissioning processes are improved so funding is more evenly distributed and can meet demand quickly.

Examples of successful link ups include Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)’s partnership to support the mental health of young people in the area.

This has seen the SCVO manage £1m in government funding, liaise with local charities and schools, and allocate grants for up to £40,000 to support children.

Flexible volunteering

Further evidence has emerged over 2024 that next year will see charities continue their struggle to attract volunteers.

For example, in September the Charity Retail Association revealed that charity shop volunteer numbers have fallen by 15% over the last four years, from 220,000 to its current rate of 186,000

A failure to claw back volunteers that drifted away amid Covid lockdown and the changing lifestyles of volunteers amid the cost-of-living crisis has been another factor.

With more older people having to work, or taking on childcare commitments within their families, they have less free time for charities.

Younger people could be another target, but volunteering opportunities need to fit in with their busy lives and include working from home options.

Charity leaders are advised to ensure they are meeting the changing needs of volunteers by being more flexible, offering a range of roles, online and in person, and covering varying levels of commitment.

One option is to promote small action or micro-volunteering to offer flexible and smaller opportunities, as well as virtual options for those who cannot attend sites.

Among charities already using this strategy is Sustrans. Its head of volunteering Katie Aartse-Tuyn told Charity Times in August that the move ensures people can fit volunteering into their lives.

“Small action volunteering opens a world of opportunities for charities such as ours,” she said.

Using AI effectively

An increasing number of charities are either regularly using or looking to utilise AI tools to improve their organisation and support.

A survey published during the summer this year by Charity Excellence Framework found three in five charity workers are now using AI.

The same proportion are using ChatGPT and just under a quarter are deploying Microsoft Co-pilot, to carry out research, write reports and develop ideas.

Many others are developing chatbots to signpost support and deal with basic enquiries.

But charity leaders need to ensure AI effectively meets the needs of staff by supporting and not replacing them. Where used in service delivery it needs to improve support.

According to Charity Excellence Framework’s survey half of charities say they feel “extremely unprepared” to use AI safely and effectively, amid concerns around managing risks, using appropriate tools, cyber security and having the right skills.

Another concern around using AI is that it is not sophisticated enough yet to understand ethical decisions charity leaders must make, analysis released in February 2024 by think tank Rogare found.

Researchers asked ChatGPT a range of questions around ethics in fundraising, such as whether to accept a donation from a fossil fuel company, and around donor consent.

But in all its answers ChatGPT3 “never offered any information about donor power/privilege and donor dominance, unless prompted to do by asking a specific question”.

Gaming for good’s demographic shift

Another fast-moving area of technology for charity leaders to tackle in 2025 is around gaming for good.

The income potential from gaming for good can no longer be ignored by charities.

According to latest available statistics the UK video game industry was worth £7.9bn last year and globally there were 3.2bn gamers, a tally that is set to increase to 3.34bn by the end of 2024.

Already three in five charities are using gamification, according to a 2023 report by insurer Endsleigh, including engaging with developers and gaming influencers on social media to use virtual reality in fundraising, run gaming marathons, quizzes and live streaming events.

Gaming’s demographic shift also needs to be considered. Young men are still a key target group, but figures for the UK show almost three in ten adult gamers are aged between 30 and 39 and two in five are over 40. One in 14 are over 60 years old.

Female gamers also need to be targeted as they account for half of UK gamers.

The fast-growing world of fantasy Football, in particularly Fantasy Premier League, is another area to consider forging links with as more than 10m now play this game.

In May 2024 a ‘North v South’ match among fantasy football managers and influencers raised £20,000 for Street Child United.

Meanwhile, in October Fantasy football content creator Holly Shand raised £1,300 for Cancer Research UK in October after staging a five-hour live stream.

Culture shift needed on diversity

Recent evidence suggests a significant culture change is needed in 2025 among charity leaders if improvements to EDI are to succeed.

Worryingly, senior staff are found to be those with a “significant role in acts of racism” in charities, according to ACEVO and Voice4Change England’s December 2023 report Warm Words Cold Comfort.

Meanwhile, improving EDI is charity boards’ worst performing area, admitted trustees responding to a Directory of Social Change’s 1,000 strong governance survey in October.

During 2024 theAssociation of Chairs warned that “currently chairs are significantly older, more educated, more likely to be white and less likely to be disabled”.

There is promising evidence from some overseas aid charities that action is taking place, as they look decolonising their operations.

This sees charities pass leadership from offices in the UK to local leaders to tackle ideologies “of superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches”, according to NGO body Bond, which has published guidance on the issue.

On Call Africa’s UK based chief executive Ben Margetts announced in July this year that he is to step down in 2025 so the charity can appoint a locally based leader in Zambia.

In October UK based Mango Tree announced it is to close its offices as it transitions its operations to a partnership model with groups led by local leaders. This has already seen it launch a partnership with UK and Uganda based charity Kids Club Kampala, which has a “commitment to empowering local leadership”.

Climate change

Another area where charities can improve in 2025 is in tackling climate change.

It has been two years since a landmark legal ruling to allow charities to align their investments to tackle climate change, even if they lose out financially by excluding the large part of the market that still funds the fossil fuel industry.

But a survey published by Rathbones in October found that two in three charity leaders are concerned about potential reputational and brand damage caused by their stock market investments.

Action by some has already been taken, including Christian Aid, which has severed ties with Barclays, after it emerged it was among Europe’s largest funder of fossil fuels.

There is certainly will among charity leaders to improve measures to tackle climate change.

Nine in ten leaders believe environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments will be more important in their charity’s investment decisions over the next three years, according to an Investec Wealth and Investment survey published in July 2024.

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