The not-for-profit sector is, by its very nature, innovative. Charities exist to respond to an unmet need or to drive change. But what does innovation actually mean? And what are charities really doing to develop innovation processes, cultures and, more importantly, results?
After the Paralympics, Scope conducted a poll among 400 disabled people and the people caring for them. It showed 72% of them thought the Games had a positive effect on attitudes towards disabled people. Lord Coe was hoping that ‘we would never look at disability in the same way again.’ But have the London Paralympic Games really helped to change attitudes among the public and are they now more knowledgeable about disability?
Over the last decade a slow motion drama has unfolded between fundraisers and the public from whom they want to fundraise. As fundraisers have had to raise ever more amounts to fund the work of their organisations, they have blocked their ears to the voices of donors who have tried to tell them that they don’t like the techniques they now deploy.
We have told ourselves that a mild irritation is a small price to pay for raising the money that changes lives. We have kidded ourselves that the end justifies the means.
When I started my internship here last July, I didn't know much about the charity sector. Aside from a newspaper story I wrote for the British Heart Foundation and a week’s work experience there, I scarcely knew my Band Aid from my Gift Aid. It's been a fascinating learning curve over the last six months and although we are not a charity, we work solely for non-profits. So I thought while many of our bloggers reel off their last Auld Lang Syne at home, I’d muse on five things I learned about the charity sector in 2012.
Time for some negative thinking.
As a researcher on Parliamentary matters, I am only too aware of the importance of the relationship between charities and MPs. But three separate events suggest a worrying new direction in the way MPs view charity lobbying.