Tim Harrison-Byrne

So far in our campaigning report we’ve been talking about the present, exploring the hurdles and opportunities of the current political landscape, and shining a light on the unwritten rules of engagement between the charity and political spheres. Recent years have seen charities needing to evolve rapidly, mainly thanks to the semi-constant societal shifts such as the mainstream rise of social media, the pandemic, and the culture war. Adaptation has been the name of the game, with charities that have been able to stay on their toes winning out.  

But even after so many years of turbulence in Westminster, the charity sector must not expect the momentum of change to slow down any time soon. For the sake of preparedness, we need to look forward and explore how the next several years will unfold, which recent trends are here to stay, and how the public appetite for charity will continue to evolve. 

We hear a great deal about how social media has impacted the ways that charities campaign, particularly in how they support engagement with new audiences. Various voices within the sector might argue that it is a blessing then, but we have yet to understand how effectively it can incentivise the public to disintermediation; moving away from established charities, instead prioritising direct individual action. This is particularly seen in younger generations raised with social media, whose charitable habits are likely to become mainstream as they begin to enter the workforce and adulthood. It therefore remains to be seen what kind of effect these technologies will have on campaigning in the long term. 

Likewise, as we enter the post-pandemic, it’s worth reflecting on factors around public engagement. On the one hand, people have become more socially aware and have seen first-hand the benefit of rallying behind shared causes, hopefully leading to a tendency towards supporting charitable causes. On the other, the cost-of-living crisis which has emerged in the wake of the pandemic has the potential to see individual prioritisation of charities to fall to the wayside as disposable income becomes scarcer.  

With 20 years of sector data behind us, we at nfpResearch have witnessed a great deal of social change unfold. This wealth of experience gives us a solid grounding to look ahead and make predictions about the future, which we have combined with the wisdom of well-established and long-serving voices in the third sector to explore what the next five years of campaigning might look like. 

To learn more about upcoming attitudes, issues, and developments that we foresee evolving within the sector, read the fourth and final chapter of our campaigning report: What does the next five years look like for charity campaigning? Download below.