Third Sector

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...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Jonathan Chevallier, chief executive of Charity Digital, and Angus Gregory, chief executive of Biomni, to talk about how the arrival of low-cost natural language AI tools has opened up opportunities for the voluntary sector. Jonathan outlines how ChatGPT could enable charities to deliver services more quickly and cheaply, from improving fundraising campaigns to conte...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, to discuss her plans for the charity, her views on the need to reform the voluntary sector and the state of mental health in charities. Sarah calls for bravery among third sector leaders in confronting notions of the role and place of charities in society. She identifies the heightened emotional relationship between charity staf...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of the Royal Voluntary Service, and Matt Hyde, chief executive of The Scouts, to talk about the Big Help Out initiative, which aims to generate excitement about the possibilities of volunteering. Matt highlights the need for innovation in charities’ volunteer recruitment efforts, such as using digital channels to attract volunteer...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Kirsty Marrins, the digital communications specialist and a trustee of CharityComms, to talk about the minefield that social media interactions can pose to voluntary organisations. The discussion follows a consultation by the Charity Commission on  new social media guidance , which was prompted by a growing number of complaints about charities’ social media act...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Priya Singh, chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, who led the NCVO's internal reform after a review in 2020 identified structural racism, homophobia, sexism and classism. Priya describes the role played by the NCVO’s trustee board in guiding the organisation through the process, knowing when to lean in and when to step back. She offers advice fo...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Georgia Paton, gaming and streaming manager at the British Red Cross, and Tom Downie, UK charity manager at the fundraising platform Tiltify, to discuss ways in which charities can take advantage of the growing livestream world. Georgia describes how the British Red Cross has reached a new fundraising demographic by collaborating with online content creators and the...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Kat Dixon, outgoing director of partnerships at Catch22, whose team tripled the charity’s voluntary income in the space of four and a half years. Kat talks about the need to strategise and think deeply when forming and executing partnerships with forward-thinking corporate organisations, such as Microsoft and TikTok, in order to successfully link social and business...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by James Oakes, chief international officer at Omaze, and Paul McKenzie, director of engagement at the Teenage Cancer Trust. James describes Omaze’s business model as a for-profit organiser of high-value prize draws, with a proportion of its profits shared with selected charity partners. He outlines what the company looks for in a charity partner and addresses some of t...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Keith Valentine, chief executive of Fight for Sight, to look behind the scenes of the sight loss research charity’s ongoing merger with the Vision Foundation. Keith describes how the merger was motivated by a quest for growth, responding to the absence of a national funder that combined scientific research with service delivery for visually impaired people. He talks...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Campbell Chalmers, strategic engagement lead for the third sector at the RNIB and Joseph Howes, chief executive of the grant-making charity Buttle UK, to discuss how voluntary organisations can benefit from working together.  Joseph talks about Buttle’s experience of joining groupings such as the End Child Poverty coalition. He stresses the importance of taking...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Stephanie Draper, chief executive of Bond, to talk about issues affecting the international development sector. Stephanie describes the impact of funding cuts on international development charities at a time of intensifying humanitarian crises. She suggests ways in which UK-focused charities can work with their international counterparts in campaigning to protect dem...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Lord Gus O’Donnell, former Cabinet secretary and chair of Pro Bono Economics, to discuss the findings and recommendations contained in the recently released final report from the Law Family Commission on Civil Society. O'Donnell talks about the need for civil society to be involved in discussions and decision-making alongside the government and private sector. He ou...

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Ian MacQuillin, director of the fundraising think tank Rogare, to consider the ethics around accepting monetary gifts from donors with questionable morality. They also talk about the implications of returning donations or other measures to atone for historical wrongdoing, following the Church of England’s recent acknowledgement of its connection to the transatlantic...

Lucinda and Russ are joined by the Charity Finance Group’s chief executive, Caron Bradshaw, and special adviser, Pesh Framjee, to talk about how charities can effectively manage their financial reserves in times of stress. Caron maintains that reserves are there to be used, rather than protected, to enable charities to continue fulfilling their mission during periods of financial difficulty. She s...

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Debra Allcock Tyler, chief executive of the Directory of Social Change, to discuss the year ahead in the voluntary sector. Debra provides insight into fundraising, campaigning and governance trends. As organisations who rely on government contracts are likely to be squeezed further in 2023, she emphasises the need to keep asking for funding, attract new volunteers an...