We have a shiny new government. It is ready to give the voluntary sector the big bear hug of an embrace and the big wet kisses of an over-enthusiastic relative. The government also has its own agenda of the ‘big society’. But before we get carried away with the government’s agenda of what it wants to sort out – what are the issues that the sector needs to sort out. What are the big tasks that the sector needs to tackle to move onto the next stage of its development, to become an even stronger force in society today – indeed to play a full role in the big society?

1. Remember what you believe and tell everyone

At the heart of a strong brand are strong beliefs. Too many organisations were founded on strong beliefs and then they cover them up and let them grow mouldy. So take the time in 2010 to make those implicit beliefs explicit. Beliefs are important because they are also what inspire people. People join a cause because they share a desire to do something and they believe your organisation can make the difference.

The challenge

Quantitative easing, pay freezes, efficiency savings and paying down national debt are fancy ways of saying that there is not as much money as we once thought, and so all of us are going to have to make do with less. We may celebrate 2012 for the Olympics, but also the return of 2008’s levels of prosperity. This loss has already happened and the argument now taking place in public and in politics is how to share the pain out.

Not every charity can spend millions of pounds on awareness advertising to boost its awareness. However every organisation can integrate its communications at minimal cost in order to maximise the impact of its message. Integration can be done at the tactical level or the strategic level. There are two broad ways in which an organisation can integrate at a strategic level.

Chief Executives play a vital role in creating awareness – yet all too often they are bystanders in the awareness process. It is interesting that in the commercial sector most CEOs would see themselves as the guardians of their brand (of which awareness-building is the first step) yet in the charity sector most CEOs are at best neutral and often hostile to branding and, by inference, to awareness-building.

The human race likes to categorise. Our brains continually want to divide things into those that are good or bad, right or wrong, light or dark. Nature abhors not so much a vacuum, as a spectrum. The result of the desire to categorise is that in all parts of our lives we make our choices about those we love, those we hate, our beliefs and our world views. We make these judgements on appearances or our initial experiences.

• UK economic fluctuations effect charity incomes, voluntary ones first – though not seen straight away, analysis shows
• Average charity income growth will slow or become static in downturn, though actual average incomes won’t fall, experts predict
• “Don’t accept or expect defeat”; but be cautious and “ensure resilience against income volatility”, think tank urges

Growth in charities’ average voluntary income rises or falls 10 months after any rise or fall in GDP growth, followed by peak impact on overal