"Sector bodies, fundraisers, researchers, influencers, comms directors, chief executives" must work together, says think tank
An influential think tank has called for the creation of a cross-sector taskforce to boost the public’s trust in charities.
Charity research consultancy NFPSynergy calls for a "multi-party, multi-faceted effort" to increase confidence.
It makes the call following a difficult few years for the sector, especially south of the border, from the damage done by the Olive Cooke affair to recentrevelations of sexual misconduct which have engulfed Oxfam, Save The Children and the wider aid sector.
NFPSynergy says that the sector must be more prepared to face media scrutiny, defend chief executive pay and improve the ease with which their accounts can be understood.
It outlines the need for a taskforce in a papersent to England and Wales’ Charity Commission chair Baroness Stowell.
The paper says the proposed taskforce should be chaired by Stowell and states: "To guide this process, we need to get sector bodies, fundraisers, researchers, influencers, comms directors, chief executives and more round the table to coordinate and drive activity”.
Charities must be prepared to "explain, explain, explain why paying the chief executives of our largest charities £125,000 a year is a bargain, and why charities have to invest in fundraising to raise money and deliver more for their cause".
The report says charities are too reluctant to examine the practices that need reform and turn a blind eye to many of the sector’s failings, which are addressed only if a media storm ensues.
The sector, says the authors, must "identify and address the Achilles’ heels we know about", including "the woeful state of charity accounts, which are too long and full of jargon to be explicable to all but accountants or the most dedicated of donors”.
It is unclear exactly how Scotland, which has its own charity eco-system and regulatoty structures, would fit in to any taskforce.
However, NFP's Joe Saxton told TFN: “I think Scottish representation would be very important on any taskforce, as the problem of trust covers the whole of the UK and Ireland. While Baroness Stowell is chair of the regulator for England and Wales, charities cross border in their work, so any action needs to cross those regulatory borders too.
“It should also be said that our research indicates that trust levels in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are generally higher than they are in the UK as a whole, while trust in the Republic of Ireland has been buffeted more by some of the events there, than in England.
“So it maybe that each of the different regulators should be addressing the issue of trust in their own jurisdictions too by co-ordinating with a UK/Ireland wide task force (which needs to address issues such as SORP and the woeful state of reports and accounts which cover all four regulators) and the specific issue in each of the different countries.”
Statistics published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and Ipsos Mori in February showed public trust in Scotland is substantially higher when compared to England and Wales.
The findings led to the launch of SCVO's I Love Charity campaign aiming to support good governance within organisations to ensure they are well run, open and transparent.
