Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation
We have a clear ambition at the Wolfson Foundation to be a listening, responsive and open organisation, staffed by people who care deeply about supporting the sectors we serve.
As we explored in our free campaigning report last year, engaging MPs can rely on a huge amount of strategy, and some charities can find it difficult to break through the noise and make themselves heard in these arenas. One charity that has managed to consistently make their message heard is Cats Protection, who in recent years have managed to successfully capture and hold the attention of MPs, and advocate for the needs of pet-owners across the UK.
Philippa Wilkinson, Learning Officer at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
We commissioned nfpResearch to find out about people's experiences of working with us and what changes we might need to make. In 2022, we shared the full report and our initial reflections on the findings.
As we head into the Spring bank holiday – we’re told we can expect some Summer over the next few days – this week we’re recapping some of our top picks for you to read. Check out our coverage, original research, and free reports on the topics that matter to you.
We hope you enjoy!
This guest blog comes from Sarah Clarke of CharityComms, about our collaboration on the 2022 Communications Benchmark Report.
Mark Pierce, Associate Director of Knowledge and Research at the Community Foundation
At the Community Foundation we like to think we have a fairly close relationship with our grantees, and that they wouldn’t be too shy to tell us where we could be doing better. And a bit of constructive criticism is genuinely appreciated. But we also know it can be difficult, particularly if you are a new grantee or have been unsuccessful in applying, to raise concerns about how a funding partner conducts their business.
This week's guest blog reflects on the challenges of managing international funding for INGOs. It also provides findings from the FX Insights Report 2021 on how charities can save money on currency transfers
'Do-gooders', so called by Home Secretary Priti Patel, continue to plug the gaps in society left by the inaction of the current government. In this week's guest blog Peter Markham, a correspondent for the Immigration Advice Service, digs a little deeper into this worrying trend and questions what this means for charity in the UK.
Review key findings from Malcom John's Action for Trustee Racial Diversity report with some interesting statistics including:
62% of the top charities by income have all white boards. By contrast there are only four all-BAME boards - 50% fewer than in 2016 (Inclusive Boards 2018)
34 out of 100 UK major charities have all white Senior Leadership (both voluntary and professional) (Green Park 2017)
2.9% of trustees in the sector are women of colour (Inclusive Boards 2018)
This week's guest blog is written by Malcolm John the Chair of the Young Harrow Foundation. Malcolm looks into the apparent lack of diversity of charity among charity trustees, highlighting barriers to diversity and suggesting ways to promote inclusiveness.