Change and Charities

These are challenging times for many of Britain's charities. Change is being driven by several convergent factors: market fragmentation as the number of charities continues to increase, reductions in public spending and the need to attain higher standards of accountability.

In many voluntary sector organisations, change simply means retrenchment. Where can we cut jobs? Which projects can't be funded any more? How do we scale down our ambitions?

For the more enlightened, change takes on a more positive aspect. Need isn't diminishing so how do we generate more revenue? How do we return from dependency on grants and contracts from the state and foundations to independence by raising our own funds and delivering our own mission rather than that of our donors?

Yesterday, I had the positive experience of facilitating a meeting between two successful organisations in the same sector to see if and how could they could achieve more together than they do apart. They weren't focused on cost saving - although there will be efficiencies over time - but on how they could improve their services and achieve greater impact.

It was refreshing to work with trustees who were prepared to focus on the interests of their beneficiaries rather than on preserving their own positions.

Merger and acquisition in the third sector can bring about considerable change for the better. If there's a shared vision and explicit common goals, merger can reduce overheads, accelerate learning, eliminate conflict and confusion, increase influence and improve effectiveness.

Helping bring about change in the community & voluntary sectors is what Change Agents do in their own time - voluntarily, of course.