Third Sector

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Suzy Edington, fundraising consultant at JustGiving, and Ellie Putt, senior participant experience manager at the Alzheimer’s Society.Suzy outlines the changes in fundraising behaviour on the JustGiving platform since the Covid-19 pandemic, with greater volumes of smaller donations and rising levels of regular giving contributing to revenue growth in 2023.Ellie explains how the Alzheimer’s Society personalises communications with its supporters and equips them with the necessary information to maximise the value of their individual fundraising appeals.Both stress the importance of making regular updates to fundraising pages and give their tips for sharing strategically on social media platforms.Charity Changed My Life features the story of a service user of BeLifted, a grassroots organisation supporting women and girls in north London.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it take

Lucinda and Andy are joined by the organisational psychologist and author Dr Susan Hetrick to discuss the drivers of and barriers to workplace toxicity.Susan identifies unreasonable performance pressures as a key trigger for organisational toxicity. She explains the terms 'normalisation of deviance' and 'cognitive dissonance', which are the key drivers of a toxic working environment.She stresses the importance of training to equip charity managers with the necessary skills to foster an open and trusting workplace culture and the need for leaders to live and reflect their organisation’s values.Also in the episode, Andy gives his take on the findings of the latest Good Merger Index, which suggests voluntary organisations weathered the Covid-19 pandemic better than anticipated.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com f

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Hatty Evans, head of brand and marketing at Magic Breakfast, and Georgie Howlett, managing director of Stand Agency, to discuss the importance of language in appealing to donors and service users.Hatty explains how Magic Breakfast, which works to end morning hunger in schools, takes different approaches in its messaging to teachers, parents and donors, emphasising food insecurity, child poverty and academic attainment, respectively.She stresses the importance of centring the experience of children and families in storytelling and avoiding portrayals of shame, which, although often striking a chord with donors, are isolating and disempowering for parents.Georgie explains how the incorrect use of language can create unwanted siloes between a charity’s donors and service users, missing opportunities to deepen engagement and build supportive communities. She describes how the use of simple, humanising and equalising language has opened up access to mental health services in re

Lucinda and Andy dissect a recent speech delivered by the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to charity bosses, in which he pledged to reset the relationship between the government and the voluntary sector should his party win the next general election. Senior news reporter Emily Harle joins Lucinda to explore some of the causes and solutions to burnout affecting charity social media teams.They hear from Paulina Stachnik, head of communications at Women for Women International, about how the charity prepares for a crisis situation on social media. Paulina describes the need to balance thoughtfulness with timeliness when responding to negativity and explains how Women for Women International is using ChatGPT to help identify and respond to trends in online interactions with the charity.Later in the episode, Lucinda and Andy are joined by Shivani Menon, senior researcher at the think tank Onward, to discuss the findings of a new report on the state of philanthropy in the UK. Shivani elaborates on the

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Ashling Cashmore, head of impact and advisory at the Charities Aid Foundation, and Mandy Rollins, chief executive of Disability Solutions West Midlands.Ashling explains the six characteristics of a resilient charity, as described in a framework formulated by CAF to guide charities on a strengthening journey. These include effective leadership, financial and operational fitness, and a clearly articulated and understood sense of charitable purpose and impact.She stresses the importance of ring-fenced funding for long-term investment into organisational sustainability and calls for other funders to support resilience initiatives.Mandy describes how financial and technical support from CAF through its resilience programme has helped DSWM to bounce back from a turbulent few years. She identifies the charity’s biggest challenge as being the disconnect between its management team and board of trustees, and blurred lines between strategic and operational responsibility. Charity Ch

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Tom MacInnes, chief analyst at Citizens Advice, to discuss how the charity is using its unique position to improve understanding of the cost-of-living crisis.Tom explains how his team used client enquiry data to identify rising energy and private rental costs as two of the most significant drivers. He highlights the growing trend of clients approaching Citizens Advice with more than one problem and explains how the charity is using its service data to strengthen its advocacy work.Also in the episode, news editor Andy Ricketts reports on how squeezed local authority budgets are placing pressure on voluntary organisations, particularly those providing arts services.Buy your ticket for the Third Sector Tech Summit here. Submit your early bird entry to the Business Charity Awards by 18 January here.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be fea

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Jane Ide, chief executive of Acevo, and Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, to discuss some of the themes and challenges facing the voluntary sector in 2024.These include the upcoming general election and its implications for the sector; the growing trend of charity closures; and opportunities for collaboration, both within the voluntary sector and with other entities driving social change. Sue puts forward her conviction that the coming year represents a powerful moment of reset for charities as they become confident agents of reform, while Jane describes her frustration with the lack of progress in tackling racism and inequality in the sector.Also in the episode, news editor Andy Ricketts provides insight into the findings of Third Sector’s recent Charity Pay Study, which identifies the highest-paid charity leaders. And Charity Changed My Life features the story of a resident of an almshouse apartment provided by the St John’s Foundatio

Lucinda, Andy and Emily discuss the leading stories and trends from the voluntary sector in 2023.Lucinda delivers an against-the-clock round-up of the year’s charity news before the three discuss their selected top stories. These include the closure announcements by Children England and Lankelly Chase - for very different reasons - and the success of the Big Help Out volunteering initiative.They share their nominations for the year’s strangest stories, namely the ongoing Captain Tom Foundation saga; tweets from the British Trust for Ornithology falling foul of Twitter; and the logistical nightmare facing the small charity that receives funding from 35 different sources.Finally, they reflect on some recurring trends in the sector’s news over the course of the year, from the appetite for and reception to campaigning by charities to the rise in instances of strike action and thoughts on flexible working measures.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we ca

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Ian Joseph, managing director of Trustees Unlimited, to talk about what charities need to think about when creating an effective board. Ian describes the key qualities of a good trustee, from having an emotional connection to a charity’s cause to humility, courage and conscientiousness. He provides pointers on how to find the right trustee, starting with a charity’s personal links before casting the net wider, and stresses the need to formulate both a business and a moral case for board diversity to avoid tokenism.Also in the episode, senior news reporter Emily Harle shares some clips from her recent interview with James Needham, chief executive of Help for Heroes, in which they discussed cross-charity collaborations and the rising importance of legacy giving for the veterans charity. Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Miriam Turner, co-executive director of Friends of the Earth, and Victoria Benson, chief executive of the single-parent support charity Gingerbread, to discuss their respective organisations’ move to a four-day working week.Miriam explains how the change is helping to strengthen the environmental justice movement by enabling a more diverse staff body to further the charity’s cause effectively and authentically.She provides insight into the necessary preparations and adjustments, from streamlining meeting culture to ensuring effective cross-team collaboration.Victoria describes how Gingerbread, which is in the early stages of a six-month trial of a four-day week, prepared for the change with the help of a staff working group to balance employee wellbeing and sustained productivity.They also identify some of the challenges of reducing working days, including meeting congestion on core collaboration days and problems faced by some staff in adapting to new ways of working.Also in th

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Julie Bentley, chief executive of Samaritans, to find out how the charity has rebuilt its volunteer base after it shrank by 30 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic.Julie describes how Samaritans’ more flexible volunteering packages aim to attract volunteers from all corners of society. She provides her views on the campaigning climate for charities, and the need for more consistent core funding to help the sector overcome the present financial challenges.She also stresses the need for a more joined-up and compassionate social care system to identify and assist people with overlapping needs, from financial to mental health support.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Duaa Falah, executive director for the Iraqi grassroots organisation Mercy Path for Women’s Affairs. Duaa explains how her involvement with Mercy Path and its sister organisation, Mercy Hands, has enabled her to become a force for good in her community.Also in the episode, Emily provides some background to

Lucinda and Rory are joined by Wajid Akhter, founder of Charity Week, a student and volunteer-led campaign of Islamic Relief, and Harry Twohig, communities officer at the Brilliant Club, to discuss how charities can tap into students’ inclination to support societal causes.Wajid outlines the aims of Charity Week, which he established in 2000, and describes how its partner charity, Islamic Relief, provides important support while allowing students and volunteers to assume full leadership of the initiative.Recent graduate Harry stresses the need for charities to allow students to have genuine ownership of their voluntary work, fostering trust and a sense of belonging. He explains why he considers Amnesty International and the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan to be particularly strong examples of effective charity-student engagement.Also in the episode, Rory explains the ins and outs of charity job shares, the number of which has gone up by 900 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Charte

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits.In the final episode of its pilot series, The Diff visits the Synergy Theatre Project to hear about its work with prisoners and ex-prisoners. Guests explain how working with prisoners, ex-prisoners, young offenders and young people at risk of offending reveals the many factors that perpetuate cycles of violence in today’s society. They also share the vital importance of lived experience in Synergy’s work.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits.In the second episode of our pilot mini-series, airing 13-17 November, host Rhianna Dhillon learns how the first-aid charity StreetDoctors empowers young people to become part of the solution to knife crime. Volunteer and medical student Suleiman Shurafa gives a quick-fire guide to the vital first-aid skills that can to save the life of someone who has been stabbed or injured in a violent incident. And chief executive Lucie Russell explains the importance of the charity's trauma-informed work.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits. In the first episode of our pilot mini-series, airing 13-17 November, we ask: what causes a knife crime epidemic – and what would it take to end one? Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, and Nathaniel Peat, founder of the Safety Box CIC, discuss the multi-layered factors driving knife crime in the UK, and explain how their work helps to tackle the crisis. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Katy Saunders, director at Social Finance, and Mark Jarman-Howe, chief executive of St Helena Hospice, to discuss how charities can make effective use of social investment mechanisms.Katy explains how the social investment market works and describes its growth over the past decade, presenting opportunities to charities to be both investors and recipients of social finance.Mark describes St Helena’s journey into social investment as traditional fundraising streams failed to keep up with rising demand. He explains how the charity now provides lottery services to 35 other charities, with an annual turnover of £5m.They also discuss the potential risks and downsides of social investment, stressing the importance for charities to conduct due diligence into potential partners and acknowledge that grant funding is often preferable.Earlier in the episode, senior news reporter Emily Harle discusses ways in which charities can engage politicians in the wake of party conference season and w

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Rebecca Gray, chief executive of Maudsley Charity, a grant-maker for mental health projects.Rebecca describes how the recruitment of a new board in 2018 helped the charity to change its approach to funding across thematic, strategic programme areas with input from stakeholders to help influence the charity’s direction of travel.She explains how the charity balances considerations of need, potential for change and the most appropriate type of funding to make a difference, investing in local projects targeting social groups that lack trust in statutory mental health services, with a view to generating a national ripple effect.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Lydia Eccleston, who received life-changing support from Endometriosis UK that enabled her to confirm and manage her diagnosis with the chronic condition and the realities it presents.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear th

Lucinda takes a look behind the scenes at Barnardo’s as she shadows a day in the life of Becky Rice, the charity’s senior policy adviser for mental health and wellbeing.Becky outlines the different aspects of her job: from conducting research to responding to government announcements and speaking to children, young people, practitioners and parents to ensure their perspectives and priorities are at the forefront of the charity’s policy recommendations.She describes her professional path to her current role and provides tips for anyone interested in joining the policy profession, as well as outlining the key qualities she looks for in a budding policy adviser.Lucinda is joined by Third Sector’s editor, Emily Burt, to reflect on the visit. Also in the episode, reporter Rory Poulter provides insight into a range of leading sector perspectives on how charities can collaborate effectively.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to

Lucinda and Rory are joined by Sophie Tebbetts, head of programmes at the food poverty charity FoodCycle, to learn about the different techniques used to attract and retain the charity’s 15,000 volunteers.Sophie explains how FoodCycle’s roots in universities have informed its volunteer strategy and enabled it to maintain a healthy roster of volunteers, most of whom fall within the 25 to 45 age range. She stresses the importance of flexibility and streamlined induction processes, as well as open communication channels with the charity’s core team and events to recognise and celebrate the critical role played by FoodCycle’s volunteers.Charity Changed My Life features the story of the forces veteran Brian Brown, who received vital support from Help for Heroes during his recovery from an alcohol addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.Also in the episode, Rory sheds light on the news of strike-off action initiated against the English National Opera and the surprise departure of its music director.Do you

Lucinda and Emily introduce The Diff: a new podcast from Third Sector, currently in its pilot stage, which champions the work of small charities, grassroots organisations and social enterprises working on the front line.The episode features snippets of conversations between The Diff’s host, Rhianna Dhillon, and five guests. These consist of Meg Doherty, founder of the social enterprise Fat Macy’s; Tom Slatter, head of insights and impact at the social mobility charity The Brokerage; the poet and educator Christian Foley; Alex Smith, senior adviser at the Obama Foundation; and Ben Sweet, manager at Love Squared.Rhianna and her guests provide their perspectives on the sector and some of the shared societal problems that charities are working to overcome.The Diff is produced by Inga Marsden, Til Owen, Jide Eguakun, Babajide Osikoya and Nav Pal.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message