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Prioritising positive impact

With rising demand for their services at the same time as dealing with pressure on funding, many charities face the challenge of managing competing priorities.

Emma Haddad, CEO at homelessness charity St Mungo’s, says: “You’ve got to get people to remember your name – and you’ve got to demonstrate the difference you will make.”

Charlotte Hill, Chief Executive at surplus food redistribution charity The Felix Project, adds: “With corporate partnerships in particular, getting them to really understand what you do and how you benefit people will contribute to forming a genuine partnership where it’s clear how you can help them and how they can help you.”

Reduced income, of course, is itself a natural brake on activities, and Charlotte believes that many charities will inevitably need to prioritise what they can do to have the biggest positive impact with available resources and be able to measure and demonstrate that impact clearly. For example, she says: “We used to have targets for increasing the number of meals we delivered each year but that wasn’t driving the right decisions. It meant we focused on volume rather than on whether the meals were going to the places where they were most needed.”

Getting the best from tech

While charities such as The Felix Project are already putting technologies like artificial intelligence to good use to automate processes and cut costs, other organisations are still at the beginning of their journey of discovery with these new tools. Charlotte says Felix has no choice but to have “tech DNA” running through it. “The food industry is our most significant partner so being able to interact with their tech is vital.”

Technology is more of a challenge at St Mungo’s, concedes Emma. “That’s partly because we’ve been going since the 1960s, and we’ve got this legacy of old systems and methods, but we’re exploring new ways of doing things.”

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Mission first

Many charities we speak to say they are increasingly recognising the need to put aside competition with each other and instead pool resources to achieve common aims.

Charlotte says: “It’s hard but we need to build trust and understand that it’s not about your charity – it has to be about the mission.”

Emma adds: “Often the issues we’re dealing with are just too big for any single organisation to solve, so it has to be a collective effort. We’ve learned St Mungo’s doesn’t have to do everything – partnerships are really powerful and can lead to better outcomes for the people we serve.”

With continued geopolitical turmoil and tough economic conditions, charities need to continue to adapt in order to support the most vulnerable in society. Ensure you take the time to understand your donors and plan your strategy and don’t be afraid to learn from others.

More insights from our National Charities Day