Five tips to make your mark at Westminster
The charity campaigning landscape is increasingly crowded. Today, charities need to put more thought into getting MP’s attention than five years ago. Drawing on our insights from the Charity Parliamentary Monitor, we give you five tips for making your mark at Westminster.
Coalition Government yet to impact positively on charities, say public
- Only 1 in 10 of public think the Coalition has had a positive impact on charities so far, with four times that number saying they have not seen a positive impact
- Only 1 in 20 of public think Lib Dems have most influence in Coalition decisions, three quarters saying Tories ‘wear trousers’
- Labour seen as most pro-charity party – despite majority of people still saying they don’t know which party is most supportive of charities
- “Our voluntary sector has neither rarely been more needed by the public, n
“That’s almost bullying, to be honest”: the nature of charity campaigning in the new Parliament
- Read more about “That’s almost bullying, to be honest”: the nature of charity campaigning in the new Parliament
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Ten months after an election that led to a new Government and a third of newly elected MPs at Westminster, knowing how best to engage with MPs remains unclear. The picture is complicated further by the wider context of funding cuts, bringing both added impetus for campaigning and making campaigning more difficult, along with uncertainty about what the ‘big society’ might mean for campaigning. As we shall see, questions have been raised about the very legitimacy of charities campaigning, as opposed to delivering services.
Most MPs embrace business support for political parties, but say such backing from charities should remain banned
- Labour MPs least keen on businesses supporting political parties, being completely split down the middle on the issue
- Labour MPs keenest on charities supporting political parties, although still broadly against it
- “The government review of red tape should see a re-analysis of the restrictions placed on charities, so they can join businesses in advancing their agendas in the way they - with trustees’ and supporters’ backing - see fit,” says nfpSynergy’s Saxton
Most MPs believe that businesses should b
Coalition MPs deem charities to be "more important" post-Election, helping achieve public spending cuts
- Lib Dems noticeably less effusive than Tories; Labour MPs most sceptical of all.
- "Coalition enthusiasm, albeit relatively half-hearted in the Lib Dem camp, is grounds for joy or gloom if you are a charity
- Depending on whether or not you think this heralds extra support to help you fill any gap resulting from public sector cost-cutting" vies nfpSynergy
Coalition MPs overwhelmingly believe that “charities and social enterprises are going to be more important to the new government than to the last one
Trust in charities bounces back whilst faith in banks wilts
- Two thirds (65%) of British adults claim they trust charities, according to latest figures (Nov 2008)
- This 23 percentage point rise since July 2007 marks the largest increase in trust in any kind of public institution
- Banks show nine percentage point slump in public confidence over the same period
- “Public and voluntary sectors appear trustworthy compared with failing private sector, epitomised by propped-up banks,” touts Saxton
- “Happily, despite downturn, public probably trusts a
What place for the public in political campaigning for charities?
The Charity Commission defines campaigning in two ways: firstly, raising public awareness of a particular issue and influencing public opinion; secondly, political activity to influence government policy or legislation. Here we focus on the second kind of campaigning, and the question of involving the public for the purpose of influencing policy or legislation. Of course, it’s important to note that these two kinds of campaigning are by no means mutually exclusive, and often run hand in hand.
Fringe benefits: are party conferences a good use of resources? nfpSynergy briefing
A briefing released in Sept 2009, using data from the Charity Parliamentary Monitor to examine whether party conferences are a good use of resources for charities and non-profits.