Third Sector

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 describes how food insecurity and food poverty are indicative of wider insecurity and poverty issues that community organisations are seeking to alleviate. Food, he argues, is a good place to start to strengthen communities and enable them to become better partners to third sector organisations.Courtney stresses the importance of charities’ lived experience to help influence food policy, and draws on a new FFCC report on how funders and communities can work together on longer term food security solutions.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Phoebe, who attributes getting back on her feet following the breakdown of h

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 engage in public policy conversations.He also gives his views on direct action movements for environmental causes such as Extinction Rebellion.Lucinda visits the Chelsea Flower Show to speak to some of the charities and designers behind the gardens funded by Project Giving Back, namely the Royal Entomological Society, the Teapot Trust, Fauna and Flora International and Horatio’s Garden, which was awarded best in show.The Third Sector Fundraising Summit is taking place from 6 to 7 June and will feature a live recording of the Third Sector Podcast. Click here for registration details.Do you have stories of people whose lives

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 voluntary organisations to put time and effort into understanding the process, and to participate in an ongoing government consultation on the future of the scheme.Also in the episode, Russ and Lucinda discuss Third Sector’s reporting on the departure of Care4Calais’ boss. They consider the role of business publications in covering a story that has also attracted the attention of the mainstream media.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

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 campaigns such as Tearfund’s recent appeal video shot in Burundi, which contradicts and ridicules a more traditional narrative of development support to poor communities abroad, employing comedy to create a more interesting and authentic story.Rick and Natalia-Nana provide guidance on how charities can avoid “context flattening” in their storytelling, such as by ensuring a diversity of perspectives in the creative process, whilst conveying meaningful messages to audiences that inspire action.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

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 charities’ achievements.Alina cites data collected by the voluntary sector consultancy nfpResearch on the popularity of various royal patrons and their influence on donor patterns, as well as a 2020 study by Giving Evidence on the impact of royal patronages on their partner charities.Lucinda provides information on the application process for charities seeking a royal patronage, which contains a heavy emphasis on aligning charitable cause areas with royals’ personal interests. And Russ explores the impact on charities when their royal patrons experience a decline in popularity.Do you have stories of people whose lives have be

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 and racially minoritised communities. She outlines how funding opportunities such as Propel and the Phoenix Way are seeking to shift the power dynamic in grant-making and stimulate long-term change.Sarah provides a preview of an upcoming NPC guide on how DEI considerations can be embedded within grant-making cycles. She emphasises the need to change perceptions of risk, away from the risk of money wasted to the risk of impact missed if the right charities fail to receive funding.Also in the episode, Russ gives some background to his report on the merits of charities sponsoring football clubs, following the recent coll

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 charities, driven by a desire to influence the funding landscape and create an ecosystem more responsive to the needs of the communities it supports.She outlines Comic Relief’s use of experts by experience to inform the grant-making process, and the charity’s commitment to interrogate what is asked of funding applicants, in order to shift some of the onus and burden of applying to the grant-maker.Later in the episode, news editor Steven Downes sheds light on the funding crisis facing hospices.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 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 content generation and information dissemination. He cites examples of charities which are already using AI solutions, including the Brain Tumour Charity, Unicef and Age UK.Angus explains how Biomni’s CharityBot uses language models to access information and carry out repetitive tasks, freeing up human resources for more complex work. He describes how conversational interactions enabled by AI tools help to increase accessibility of charities’ services, enabling them to identify users’ needs through their early engagement with online resources and refine their offering accordingly.Also in the episode, Russ gives his assessm

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 staff and the causes they are fighting for, raising the risk of mental distress, and suggests ways of supporting mental health in the sector. She also discusses some of the challenges facing Mind, including the need to further the charity’s commitment to tackling racism.Also in the episode, Russ and Lucinda talk about the difficulties facing social care charities, following a warning by Leonard Cheshire about the severe financial challenges jeopardising its future.And Lucinda decamps to Third Sector’s C-Suite Summit to speak to some of the speakers and attendees at the event examining the future of the voluntary sect

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 volunteers from untapped social groups and communities.Catherine suggests ways in which the sector can maintain the momentum generated by the pandemic for micro community-based volunteering. She stresses that volunteering opportunities need to be mutually beneficial to volunteers, the organisations they serve and their service users.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Meera Wiggett, whose family took comfort in the support provided by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity when her daughter Maia was seriously ill as a newborn baby.Do you have stories of people like Meera and Maia whose lives have been transf

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 activity.Kirsty summarises the objections from within the sector to the new draft guidance, including the impracticalities of trustees monitoring staff members’ personal social media accounts. She provides pointers for voluntary organisations seeking to refresh their social media policies and stresses the need to consider the mental health and wellbeing of the team members responsible for organisational accounts.Later in the episode, The New Humanitarian’s Isabelle Roughol makes an appearance to plug the publication’s flagship podcast, Rethinking Humanitarianism.To find out more about the Third Sector C-Suite Summit,

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 for other voluntary organisations embarking on a similar culture change, stressing the need to be open, listen and prepare for “comfortable conflict”.In Charity Changed My Life, we hear from Ben Peters about the invaluable practical and emotional support he has received from the Teenage Cancer Trust since his cancer diagnosis.To find out more about the Third Sector C-Suite Summit, please click here.Do you have stories of people like Ben 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 lucind

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 their audiences, raising over £1m and gaining more than 6,000 new followers for the charity in four years. She suggests how other charities can get involved and engage creators, starting with immersion in platforms such as Twitch.Tom explains the terms ‘fandom fundraising’ and ‘creator economy’ and provides an overview of how different charities make use of the streaming world. He describes how the tools provided by Tiltify help bring more traditional forms of fundraising into the online space.Also in the episode, Alina talks about her recent interview with Jo Todd, chief executive of Respect, which covered the argument

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 aims.She provides insight into the growth of her team, bringing in talent from outside the sector and gaining internal buy-in. She also gives her perspective on ways in which women can be better supported in the fundraising space. News editor Steven Downes provides analysis on two of the week’s top stories, namely the growth of Muslim charities and the rebrand of the music therapy charity, Nordoff & Robbins.  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 p

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 the concerns about the model, including its potential to encourage gambling.Paul explains how the Teenage Cancer Trust benefitted from being Omaze’s first charitable partner in the UK, with sums raised from two campaigns far exceeding expectations. He highlights the value of the exposure the charity received and provides advice for other voluntary organisations looking to get involved.Also in the episode, news editor Steven Downes shares his thoughts on the voluntary sector’s top stories of the week, from a high-paying new role at the Wellcome Trust to a move by two charities to fully remote working.And

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 about the operational practicalities of bringing two organisations together, as well as his personal experience of being the only visually impaired chief executive working in the national sight loss sector.The interview is preceded by a discussion on the findings of the recently published Good Merger Index, which revealed a sharp dip in the number of charity mergers in the past year. And Third Sector’s news editor, Steven Downes, provides analysis on his top stories of the week, from Islamic Relief’s response to the Turkey-Syria earthquake to the fake football ticket sale by scammers impersonating the Sick Childre

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 time to build trust between organisations and drive long term change.Campbell describes the need for persistence and maintaining focus on the desired outcome of a collaboration, along with other lessons from the RNIB’s work to galvanise the sight loss sector during the pandemic. This has included changes in internal culture.The episode also features news analysis from Third Sector’s news editor, Steven Downes, and an appearance from acting editor Andy Ricketts to plug the upcoming launch of Third Sector TV.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you

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 democratic rights and freedoms and promote local community-led decision-making. Also in the episode, Russ travels to Petworth in West Sussex to speak to Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust. They discuss redundancies, her optimism about the ever-increasing need for voluntary organisations and the future of the organisation she leads. Charity Changed My Life features the story of Razia Yazid Mohamed, a resident of the Kirandongo refugee settlement in Uganda who has received valuable leadership training from ActionAid.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better

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 outlines the profile of the ideal candidate for a proposed “philanthropy champion” and calls on charities to be more efficient while quantifying the benefits of their services to society.The Good News Bulletin features the story of a Cartier watch, worth £10,000, which was found in a bag of donations at the British Heart Foundation in Hounslow.Read the full transcript.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 slave trade.Ian stresses the need for charities to have a gift acceptance and refusal policy in place to help decide whether or not it is in the best interests of the organisation and its service users to turn a donation down. He points listeners to relevant guidance from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and the Charity Commission.The Good News Bulletin features a moonlit owl flying display organised by the Hawk Conservancy Trust to raise funds and awareness for conservation issues affecting birds of prey. Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we ca