Third Sector

Lucinda and Rory are joined by the talent director Paul Cullen to discuss how charities can form fruitful partnerships with celebrities.  Paul provides his take on the move by numerous charities to distance themselves from Russell Brand in the wake of the multiple sexual abuse allegations made against the comedian. The talent director suggests different ways in which charities can gain v...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Duncan Shrubsole, director of policy, communications and research at the Lloyds Bank Foundation, and Elizabeth Jiménez-Yáñez, policy and communications manager at the Latin American Women's Rights Service (Lawrs), to talk about charities’ influencing work.  Duncan highlights the importance of enabling grassroots organisations to influence policy by amplifying th...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by James Cusack, chief executive of Autistica, to debunk some common misconceptions about neurodivergence and neurodiversity. James, who is autistic, describes his own professional journey and his conviction that workplaces are enriched by colleagues who think in different ways. He suggests basic workplace adjustments to accommodate neurodiversity to the benefit of all...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by the fundraising consultant Lynda Harwood-Compton to discuss successful partnerships between charities and corporate entities. Lynda, who was the head of philanthropy and partnerships at the Brain Tumour Charity until August, describes a general shift in mentality by corporates to be more strategic in identifying charities with a shared purpose and values, as well as...

Lucinda and Rory are joined by the charity coach Steve Allman to discuss how voluntary sector leaders can be better supported in their increasingly demanding roles. Steve describes some of the common issues clients bring to him and highlights the critical role of boards in cultivating a positive organisational culture which promotes professional development at all levels.  He explains the dis...

Lucinda and Rory are joined by Judith Moran, director of Quaker Social Action, and Jehangir Malik, policy and engagement director at Mercy Mission UK, to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing faith-based charities.  Judith stresses the importance of Quaker values as a guiding principle to Quaker Social Action, forming a precious part of her organisation’s identity, but acknowledges...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Carol Botten, chief executive of the north east voluntary sector network Vonne, and Jack Chellman, chief project officer at the Global Returns Project, to understand how voluntary organisations can measure the impact of their climate work. Carol acknowledges the difficulties of measuring any form of impact and stresses the importance of establishing what it is you w...

Lucinda travels to London Zoo to meet the Zoological Society of London’s head of procurement, Sara Muller. Sara gives the low-down on the ins and outs of her role and describes her motivations for working in procurement, including a special interest in promoting sustainability in the sector. She provides tips for anyone interested in joining the procurement profession and outlines the key qua...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Leann Cross, director of the childcare support charity Home-Start Greenwich, to explore how inflationary pressures are impacting low-earning charity employees. Leann discusses multi-year term public funding cycles, which are designed to improve long-term organisational sustainability but have negatively affected Home-Start’s ability to respond to rising costs. ...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Natasha Ratter, environmental sector lead at the Environmental Funders Network, and Rachel Heydecker, senior policy and engagement officer at the Association of Charitable Foundations. Rachel explains how the ACF’s Funder Commitment on Climate Change is encouraging funders working across a wide range of cause areas to integrate climate considerations into their work...

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Graeme Marsh, head of the McCarthy Stone Foundation, to explore the evolving relationship between voluntary organisations and their corporate partners. Graeme explains the growth in corporate foundations over the past three years as companies move away from traditional philanthropic giving and seek a greater level of input to support ESG (environmental, social, gove...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Janet Thorne, chief executive of Reach Volunteering, to hear how the charity has stepped up its efforts to fight climate change. Janet describes the steps taken to incorporate environmental considerations into Reach’s mission and why a “greening” of the charity’s operations wasn’t considered worthwhile. She flags the challenge of limited funding and highlights the im...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, to learn about how the climate crisis is disproportionately affecting already disadvantaged groups in the UK. The discussion opens with  a clip from a previous episode  with the Wildlife Trusts' chief executive Craig Bennett, describing the interlinked nature of the climate and nature crises and...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Nick Daniel, marketing director at Dogs Trust, and Denholm Scotford, sector head for technology, media, telecoms and entertainment at the market research agency Harris Interactive. Den breaks down the different aspects of a successful brand measured in Third Sector’s recently released Charity Brand Index , from public awareness and familiarity with individual ch...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Cathy Pharoah, visiting professor of charity funding at Bayes Business School.  Cathy provides tips on the right way for voluntary organisations to approach potential major donors, stressing the importance of building networks and emphasising shared local links. She also suggests ways in which charities can offer something in return and points out that forward-l...

Lucinda and Andy hear from the head of the children’s charity on leadership, government engagement and sticking to a purpose. They discuss the differences between his leadership roles in the Civil Service and voluntary sector and explore some of the challenges he is tackling now at the NSPCC, including falling volunteer numbers. Peter also explains his use of social media as a charity boss and his...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Sarah Vibert, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and Vic Hancock Fell, organiser of Small Charities Week. They discuss the challenges facing small charities in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, combined with the closure of the small charity infrastructure bodies the Small Charities Coalition and the Foundation for Social Improv...

Acting editor Andy Ricketts is joined by reporters Lucinda Rouse, Russ Hargrave and Alina Martin and, for the first time, a live audience for a special podcast recording from the Third Sector Fundraising Summit on 7 June. From Gift Aid to charity shops and more recent digital inventions, they each make a case for their chosen fundraising innovation and explain why they believe it should be conside...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Courtney Scott, head of policy and research at the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, and James Goodman, director of partnerships at the Local Trust. Courtney and James make the case for why all third sector leaders need to be active participants in debates on food availability and affordability, regardless of their specific organisational focus. James descri...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, to talk about the need for voluntary sector leaders to contribute to debates on issues beyond the bounds of their specific cause areas. Craig explains how the Charity Reform Group is working to shine a spotlight on the wider contribution charities can make to society and give their leaders the confidence to engag...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Neil Heslop, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, to discuss how voluntary organisations can maximise their Gift Aid earnings. Neil describes the need to digitise a process that was first introduced in the 1990s, to make it quicker and easier for donors to boost their charitable gifts by 25 per cent and raise a potential £2bn per year.  He calls on v...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by the diversity, equity and inclusion specialist Natalia-Nana Lester-Bush and Rick Dodds, creative partner at the advertising agency Don’t Panic London.  They talk about the need for nuance in the depiction of service users in advertising campaigns by voluntary organisations working in the UK and overseas. They discuss examples of effective and impactful campaign...

Lucinda, Alina and Russ mark the Coronation by examining the royal patronage system and possible changes during the reign of King Charles III, with his vision of a slimmed down monarchy.  They discuss the various roles of a royal patron, from generating publicity and exposure to removing stigma associated with sensitive charitable causes, and providing public endorsement of recipient charitie...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Sarah Denselow, principal for effective philanthropy at the think tank New Philanthropy Capital, and Yvonne Field, chief executive of the Ubele Initiative, to learn about the need to adapt grant-making processes to better serve minority-led voluntary organisations. Yvonne explains why there is a need to overhaul the system to address the disadvantage of small, black...

Lucinda takes a look behind the scenes of Comic Relief’s grant-making team with Poonam D’Cruze, head of the charity’s poverty and injustice programme. Poonam explains the various functions of her team and provides tips for organisations seeking grants from Comic Relief to strengthen their applications. She describes her motivations for entering the funding space after years of working for small ch...