Charity Report: Resilience, Risk & Reputation

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Resilience, Risk & Reputation.

The MPAD Charity Report

The charity sector is on the line.

ENGAGING WITH THE BOARD

MANAGING THE MEDIA

THE DIGITAL DILEMMA

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Why communications deserves a seat at the table in the boardroom.

By Rachel Picken

The changing landscape of the media and how that impacts you.

By Mark Picken

Why the future of charity comms must start trending.

By Nigel Barker

What keeps charity leaders and communicators awake at night.

By Matt Stone

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Contributing charities

µµ 30% LOCAL

µµ 25% REGIONAL

µµ 30% NATIONAL

µµ 15% INTERNATIONAL

20% Environmental

10% Young persons

10% Cancer

10% Humanitarian

10% Disability

5% Emergency services

5% Later life

5% Cultural

5% Volunteer

5% Homeless

5% Sport & Education

5% Hospice care

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In 2016, why is this relevant?

The tragic death of Olive Cooke, donors being hounded for money and the collapse of Kids Company are stories that have placed charities in the media firing line recently. This can serve to overshadow the incredible work that charities do on a daily basis.

At MPAD we work with a number of charities. We wanted to find out if what was being said on a national level was having a negative impact on organisations.

In order to do that we created the MPAD Charity Comms and Reputation survey. We spoke to a broad cross section of charities, from local to international organisations to fully understand the scale of the problem.

Where necessary, we have allowed respondents to answer the questions anonymously, which according to one CEO of a national charity would allow them to ‘give better answers’.

Only one charity declined to take part after seeing the questionnaire, however, the response for the survey was incredibly positive, and we’d like to thank all those participants for their valuable time.

During the interviews there were a number of common themes that appeared, so we have highlighted these in the report, as well as added in relevant quotes from interviewees, our own opinions to the responses and how we think charities can move forward.

We wanted to find out if what was being said on a national scale was actually having a negative impact with charitable organisations

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Under the microscope.

Attacks on larger charities in the national press are on the rise. This brings charities to the forefront of people’s attention, often for the wrong reasons. 30% of the organisations we surveyed have experienced a reputational attack or felt under closer scrutiny from the media.

We hope we have staff and systems in place that would prevent us from that position of scrutiny. µµ SARAH DANIELS, FORCE CANCER

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70% NO

Have you experienced any attacks on your organisation?

O

YES

N

% 30

Do you feel under closer scrutiny from the media?

% 35 ES

% 65

Y

hile two thirds of charities don’t feel under media scrutiny, most charities do feel that there was more focus internally, either from trustees or volunteers, and from donors.

Questions have been raised around data protection following the Olive Cooke death, while donors or potential donors are starting to take more of interest in how and where their money will be used.

This will also become more relevant with the new charity Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP), which during discussions with the charities was met with neither concern or excitement. It just seemed to be another process to deal with.

Despite being transparent and having processes in place, many of the organisations feel the need to be even more open with supporters in order to retain the level of trust.

However, a small number of respondents felt that the attacks on national charities were being led by the right wing media, on behalf of a right wing Government as a way of keeping charities in check. They believe it is being used as a way of stopping charities from lobbying the Government in the wake of huge public spending cuts, which have impacted the sector, and ensure that charities ‘get on with the work they are meant to be doing’.

This did come with the caveat that it was not just charities feeling the affects of this, other large organisations have come under

fire, such as car manufacture VW following the emissions controversy.

As a result there is a sense that the media is attempting to act as consumer champions and fight for the underdog against big organisation’s willing to take advantage of the average people on the street.

Although these attacks have been on a national scale with global organisations, there was a feeling that the fallout could eventually spread across the country and affect charities based regionally and locally.

If this is the case, then charities do need to consider being as transparent as possible to ensure that levels of trust in the organisation remain high, and the best way to do this is through clear communication.

W

A former volunteer issue that hit the media. Certain members of the media were out to get us, but not bothered with facts and explanations. µµ ANONYMOUS

We’ve always been keen to focus on our governance, be as transparent as possible and not employ aggressive marketing tactics, and I think we’ve been too British in not being forthcoming with communicating this. We are in an age when people question morale so I think it’s important we communicate ours better. µµ CAROLINE DANKS, NATIONAL TRUST

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

¶¶ BY RACHEL PICKEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MPAD

Kids Company The closure of Kids Company represents possibly the two main things that keep charity leaders awake at night – managing reputation and lack of funding.

µµ PHOTO COURTESY OF CONFERENCE BASICS

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We’re transparent and definitely not well paid. We’re set up in such a way where we’re audited and confident with what we’re doing and using money in the right way so we haven’t seen any impact. µµ MARIE PREECE, CORNWALL WILDLIFE TRUST

Our respondents offered the following salient points: ffBe as transparent as you can about your funding streams and service delivery as you can be. ffReview best practice around fundraising tactics. ffShare wider charity sector news with your team so they can gain insight into external factors that might effect fundraising or public perception of your organisation. ffWe need to make sure our frontline staff are delivering terrific services.

One respondent summed it up Kids Company, coupled with wider media scrutiny about fundraising tactics: It has sent a jolt through the sector. It makes us think about how we make sure our reputation is good with our supporters, as well as ensure a broad base of income.

30 all at ne No

0%

d cte pa Im

%

2

Founder Camila Batmanghelidjh was the darling of the charity world as far as the media was concerned – colourful, charismatic, passionate, doing it all for the kids...

At its height the charity was reported to support some 36,000 children and young people and employ 600 people.

But even the most characterful of leaders cannot ignore strong governance and financial management. I see both sides of the coin when it comes to managing risk and finance – hold too much in reserves and you become unappealing to funders, yet not enough put aside for a rainy day carries risk that you cannot ride out a challenging funding period.

Coupled with allegations of serious incidents concerning the children in their care, even if Kids Company were to survive it would have been incredibly difficult to pull back from the brink. So what can we learn from the demise of such a high profile, established and previously media-friendly charity?

What impact have the recent issues with the likes of Kids Company had on your organisation?

50% Somewh at Im p ac ted

I see this as an issue for charities as a whole. The charity commission hasn’t been working – they allow all sorts of organisations to register.

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Yes to a certain extent but only as they are looking for an angle to build upon Kids Company story and justifiably questioning the policies, strategies and salaries of the big players. µµ ADRIAN RICHARDS, BF ADVENTURE

µµ PHOTO COURTESY ADY SATRIA HERZEGOVINA

Out to get us.

Some media publications believe charities are not run as they should be. At the end of the day it’s the media’s job to expose wrongdoing, but should they act as judge, jury and executioner?

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W

e believe charities should be called out if anyone is doing something illegal or unethical.

In July, nfpSynergy conducted research with the Charity Awareness It’s a story that’s caught the public interest, so I don’t blame them.

Monitor (CAM), and found that alThey’ve got to sell papers, after all. However some balance would be most half of people recalled having seen media coverage about charity good – It would be interesting to read about what funds are used for fundraising methods. Among people within charities, rather than the way charities try to get funds. There’s who had seen the coverage, 50% said it had worsened their view of charities. been some good pieces on why it’s ridiculous to lambast charity CEO Much of the media coverage has pay – it would be good to talk about why charities should be allowed to focused on fundraising tactics from cold calling to the use of legacy do- use clever money-making tactics just like the private sector. nations. µµ CHLOE RICKARD, COOL EARTH Journalists (like the general public), believe that charities generally spend more than they should on administrative and fundraising costs, and consequently spend less of their income on the their charitable cause than they should.

It seems as though journalists also believe charity controversy is one of the most newsworthy charity stories, with 64% of the Charities should not bury their head in journalists that were surveyed as part of the sand. They need to focus on a pro-acthe nfpSynergy report saying they ‘would be tive approach when dealing with the media likely to cover a charity scandal’, compared and the sectors’ reputation as a whole. This to only 38% who said ‘they were likely to could mean messaging supporters to ask if It’s a story, they go off on one. cover a story about a charity beneficiary’. they’re getting their communications right, There’s no specific agenda.

Whatever the charity sector does next, as we have seen with the RNLI and Friends from sharing a more positive narrative to of the Earth. educating the public on why it needs mon- Fighting a crisis on a case-by-case apey, there is a great deal to do to win back proach will just lead to further negativity the trust of the public after this summer within the media and public perception. of scandals.

Do you feel that the media are currently ‘out to get’ charities?

15%

15%

45%

25%

AGREE

STRONGLY AGREE

SOMEWHAT AGREE

DON’T AGREE

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

The changing media landscape.

PR and Communications can be largely misunderstood. The media see PR as a dark art, while many comms officers have been on the receiving end of a media enquiry with a clear agenda to challenge.

I

t’s not as simple as good cop, bad cop.

Everyone has a job to do. For the comms officer, it’s about generating and managing a positive media profile for their organisation. According to our survey, 80% of charities believe their local media is important to supporting their organisation.

However 90% say they could do more in terms of working with local media to tell their story.

And herein lies the problem. For the journalist, their objective is changing. It used

to be about selling newspapers or gaining audience figures, but now it’s becoming more about developing online impact.

Traditionally, generating strong media coverage was about aligning human-interest (or indeed, animal-interest) stories with the news agenda. But there continues to be a challenge in understanding what kind of stories the media want to receive, and the stories the charities want to put out there.

Ask yourself honestly - how newsworthy is the fundraising function?

Local media: it’s our bread and butter.

It’s how we communicate with people. µµ TAMSIN THOMAS, CORNWALL HOSPICE CARE

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Totally. We need to work with PR agencies, including more storytelling. There is still a way to engage the media. µµ DANNY WHEAR, SHELTERBOX

µµ PHILIPPINES, TYPHOON, 2014. SHELTERBOX

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Stories will now be assessed for their ability to deliver click-throughs or shares. Whereas the local newspaper would welcome colourful fundraising events, their news values are now harder-nosed. Online news must be easy to digest, short, (150 words is the most we now consume on screen) and covers a spectrum from saccharine (cute kittens anyone?) to the shocking and unusual.

We believe comms officers will be increasingly expected to cover a multitude of disciplines – excellence in copywriting, good with a camera, recording and editing sound and video packages, plus a basic understanding of how to use paid for online platforms such as boosting posts on Facebook and managing Google Adwords accounts.

Our survey results show that regional and local media continue to play a crucial role in helping charities connect with their fundraising public and other key stakeholders.

All our participating charities have different levels of resource available to operate

and effective communications function.

Some have separate comms teams, more integrate their communications officers with the fundraising team.

But we have a prediction at MPAD – by 2020, “earned” media – that’s coverage carried by third party media on its news value alone – will be shrinking or gone completely. This means charities will probably need to reconsider their approach to “free editorial. Newspapers and radio stations cannot survive without advertising, and we’re increasingly seeing a blurring of the lines between editorial and paid for space.

It’s a double edged sword. As newspapers and printed platforms shrink, and editorial teams dimish, reporters have less time to deliver news. They will become more reliant on savvy comms officers to deliver their content. Reporters will also have less time for fact checking, and are more likely to take risks on an impactful story.

Most of our PR is through local media and we have really good relations with them. If we send a press release out it’s pretty much guaranteed to get local coverage. Our strength is being on the ground locally.

It’s really important. µµ MARIE PREECE, CORNWALL WILDLIFE CARE

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Some wh at Im po rta

15%

nt ta r o

Important

20%

How important is local media these days?

nt

65%

Ve ry I

m p

Don’t Agr ee

10%

50%

% 15

ree Ag

gree ngly A Stro

25%

Could you use the media to tell your story more than you currently do?

ewhat Agree Som

14

CHARITY REPORT 2016

Crisis Comms We believe crisis management is a critical organisational function.

Failure can result in serious harm to stakeholders, losses for an organisation, or end its very existence. Public relations practitioners are an integral part of crisis management teams.

µµ PHOTO COURTESY OF PIXABAY.COM

Through Leave a Gift to Cornwall. If we were doing a joint event we may be doing joint communications. There may be more opportunities in the future if we were working with other service providers that had similar values. µµ SARAH SNELL, MERLIN MS CENTRE

% e 25 on N

As part of the survey, we asked the charities how they would define a communications crisis.

There were a number of varied responses. Some of them are listed below....

6 Pu 5% re ly In te rn al

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8 N 0% o

5 Ex % te rn al

5 M % ix of bo th

Do you have a crisis comms team or do you use external support?

Other charities are not necessarily the enemy. We need a collaborative approach to charity communications in the South West.

Have you partnered with another charity to manage your crisis comms?

1 Ye 5% s

5 N % ot ap pl ic ab le

¾¾ DANNY WHEAR, SHELTERBOX

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

The digital dilemma. ¶¶ BY NIGEL BARKER, SENIOR CONTENT DEVELOPER

2014 bought us the No Make Up Selfie and the Ice Bucket Challenge, both of which raised vast amounts of money for various charities, as well as awareness.

µµ PHOTO BY KIM QUINTANO

A Evidence suggests that digital has created a new audience in the 16-24 age group. Traditionally supporters are over 55.

nyone on Facebook for a two week period a couple of years ago would have had their timeline completely filled with videos and photos of friends pouring iced water over their head.

There was a sense after those events, especially looking on social media, that many charities were trying to replicate theses viral challenges and find their own Ice Bucket Challenge. And as charities fought to gain attention in an increasingly busy market, these challenges become weirder and wackier in order to grab people.

In June 2015 there was the Hold a Coke with your Boobs campaign for breast cancer, while following directly on from the Ice Bucket Challenge was the Take a Golden Shower for testicular cancer, however, this was later reported as a fake. There was

also the short lived campaign that aimed to encourage men to wear nothing but a strategically placed sock.

But where the No Make Up Selfie and the Ice Bucket Challenge flourished was that they appeared to be publicly-led, rather than coming from the charities that directly benefited. What this gave the challenges was a sense of authenticity. People could actually see that this was something done by someone who cares, and so it became emotive and encouraged them to get involved.

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Stephen Fry tweeting about our No Fun Being Extinct campaign generated the most donations we’d ever had in one day. But the tweet was on the back of an integrated campaign, we weren’t just replying on one tweet! µµ CHLOE RICKARD, COOL EARTH

Digital can present something of a dilemma to charities. Traditionally donors have been older, so may be less active on social media, and therefore what the survey highlights is that many charities still use traditional means to reach those people.

The charities know the audience and the best way to reach them, so is it best value to be using new channels that may not yet yield results?

However, as those donors get older, then charities do need to look at new channels to access the donors of the future, and now is the time to start engaging with that younger market, who will already be making decisions on which charity relates to them.

This will start the process of brand loyalty.

And while the survey highlighted that dig-

ital has been effective in accessing new audiences, there is still a need for more understanding that will enable charities to utilise the medium fully.

With digital, charities shouldn’t focus on finding the next big viral challenge. The main thing is to focus on the organisation’s objectives and ask ‘what does success look like?’

If this results in a campaign that becomes an Internet sensation, then that is great, but don’t let that be the marker.

And if you do happen to benefit from a campaign that goes viral, then the next question you need to ask yourself is ‘how would you cope if your income went up from £200,000 in a month to £5 million?’ What procedures do you have in place for that?

iPad

Has digital been effective in accessing new audiences?

25%

Very Effective

Somewhat Important

9:45 AM

50%

25% 0%

Not Effective

Effective

100%

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

It all begins with strategy. ¶¶ BY MATTHEW STONE, CHARITY COMMUNICATOR

From my experience of working within the sector, I’ve felt a culture of mutual suspicion across departments, particularly the fundraising and communications teams. The fundraisers often think they know best about communications.

µµ PHOTO COURTESY OF CORNWALL HOSPICE CARE

Communications raises awareness for the benefit of fundraising. µµ TAMSIN THOMAS, CORNWALL HOSPICE CARE

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A

significant majority of the charities surveyed responded that their strategy is focused towards awareness, with a bit of fundraising. Four even went as far as saying their strategy was exclusively awareness.

Only one charity, international humanitarian NGO ShelterBox, stated that their approach is now ‘purely fundraising’. Their view is that‘ if you set your sights on fundraising, the results will fall out of it.’

Fundraising after all is also a great way to raise awareness. People don’t give without being asked, the exception being a media disaster story such as an earthquake hitting our screens.

However, does it matter if an individual campaign makes a loss, so long as new supporters are engaged with the charity? Or does one area eloquently lead to another?

Force Cancer told us that they have two core aims. ‘One is to inform people about our services and the other areas of our work.

Two, is to inform people that our services would not exist without fundraising.’

Now our approach is purely fundraising. We didn’t measure in the past, but the objective needs to be fundraising, just fundraising.

Our digital strategy is now purely fundraising. If you set your sights on fundraising the results will fall out of it

Effective fundraising (eg face to face, direct mail, phone) actually raises awareness anyway. Because of the income associated with it, this usually makes it more effective than any non-fundraising awareness activity.

Charities shouldn’t waste time, funds and resources on brand awareness campaigns, when you can tick both the awareness and fundraising boxes.

I believe the gap between commercial marketing and charity fundraising is blurring. Donors are telling us that more and more, they want value for money. They are more discerning and a simple ‘please give’ message is not good enough.

µµ CHLOE RICKARD, COOL EARTH

µµ SARAH DANIELS, FORCE CANCER

Is the core aim of your communications strategy awareness raising or fundraising?

20% Purely awareness

µµ DANNY WHEAR, SHELTERBOX

I think one leads to the other, they’re co-dependent.

We have two core aims. One is to inform people about our services and the other areas of our work. Two, is to inform people that our services would not exist without fundraising.

5% Purely Fundraising 25% Fundraising and awareness equally

0% Fundraising with a bit of awareness:

50% Awareness with a bit of fundraising

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

¶¶ BY RACHEL PICKEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MPAD

Engaging with the board.

I believe that communications can work through an organisation – one of the most rewarding ways of working is to support the trustees and chief executive, as well as the comms officer or administrative staff on the floor, and everyone in between.

µµ SERVICE USERS AT THE MERLIN CENTRE µµ PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVEN LILLEY

A

t its best, communications deserves "a seat at the table" in the boardroom. (Flamson, 2009, cited in Berg, 2013). PR theorists who talk about "excellence" in communications believe that the organisations that communicate best have PR specialists represented at board level.

Fundraising is easy for trustees of boards to quantify – they see investment in the fundraising activity, and if done right, impact on income.

But what trustees and others struggle to evaluate is communication and its impact.

Our respondents to this survey all valued their reputation above all, yet struggle to measure it.

Being a small charity, our board is more interested in fundraising and what is being paid in. They struggle to quantify the value of comms and PR, and value reputation as in income. We have anecdotal evidence about our media profile, our membership has grown and feedback from speaker engagements.” µµ SARAH SNELL, MERLIN MS CENTRE.

Communications leads should work closely with their board to identify clear comms objectives and how they link to the organisation’s overall mission. These objectives should be measurable – I believe even the most arbitrary of values can be recorded, measured and expressed in a tangible way.

In 2015, it’s not enough to stick a finger in the air and hazard a guess at your organisation’s reputational status. We’ve never had so many evaluation tools at our fingertips, especially with fast-accelerating advances in online and social media.

We’re always keen to roll our sleeves up and dive into a meaty evaluation project.

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How involved are the board in developing and advising on your communications strategy? lved Invo y r Ve

25%

Involved

20 %

d

15%

No t in vo lve

% 45

ved Invol hat ew m So

What the charity sector says It is left to the expertise of the team, and we have the team to do it, as it’s a big charity. A new project has trustees on a working party, and executives draw on expertise where necessary

Many of our trustees and advisers are already fantastic supporters of our fundraising work. We would love to increase the visibility and active involvement of all of our senior volunteers and are working hard on this at the moment. We’re a large organisation so it will take time to properly embed this work. µµ CAROLINE DANKS, NATIONAL TRUST

I would like to see the board more involved.

This is increasing due to the new board. In the past year – 18 months we have had 3 new trustees with a sound knowledge of fundraising and communications.

µµ PETE LEWIS, SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE

µµ DANNY WHEAR, SHELTERBOX

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Political Support There can be many benefits gained from having a politician support your cause or attend a charity event.

P

oliticians are high profile figures, and their presence automatically makes it more likely that an event will attract press coverage.

But contacting a local MP is not an obvious first step for every charity. Carry out some research to try and find MPs with interests that suggest they might be sympathetic towards the charity’s cause.

In some circumstances MPs may also be prepared to table Ten Minute Rule Bills or Early Day Motions to help highlight issues important to a charity they support.

It seems, in fact, that the negative side-effects of working with MPs are mostly theoretical. Much as one would like to dish some dirt, it is difficult to come up with an example of a charity suffering from any problems as a result of its association with a politician. Of course, it is still important to do everything possible to minimise the risk of such a situation.

Charities are independent organizations, and therefore are not in the pockets of any political party. You need to make sure that there is an honest understanding of the relationship on both sides.

We used to have support from Andrew George and the Lib Dems. The environment just isn’t on the agenda at the moment. In fact I saw a slide recently at a conference about the nature related laws that have been taken away. A stack of about 10-12 of environmantal issues are now ‘off the table’ since the Conservatives have come to power. µµ MARIE PREECE, CORNWALL WILDLIFE TRUST

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Four out of six local MPs have visited since the 2015 General Election. Sarah Newton is helping with CMA’s lobbying campaign. µµ EDWARD TREWHELLA, CORNWALL MOBILITY CENTRE

% 10

ree t Ag ’ n o ID

e gre IA

25% I Somew hat Ag re e

% 35

Our local politicians (MPs) actively support us.

I 30%

strongly Agree

Charities shouldn’t promote the party or personal political interests of the MP or peer; and that they shouldn’t use your platform to express party political views.

As long as both parties follow those rules, there is no reason why even very close engagement with individual politicians, who have courted controversy in their careers or personal lives, should not be successful.

In a recent report by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), 63% of people agree that charities should speak out where they think government policy will have a negative impact on people. While most Conservative and Labour voters are united on this issue, there is significant disagreement between MPs of the respective parties. 93% of Labour

MPs agree, compared with only 33% of Conservative MPs. The report also found Labour and Tory MPs have very different views on charities speaking out about government policies.

While 93% of Labour MPs said charities should be able to speak out when a government policy negatively impacted on the public, just 33% of Conservatives agreed.

Charities are free to participate in public debates and to use their voice to try to influence decisions, which will support the work of the charity. However, there are some particular legal requirements about political activity by charities. Contact the Charity Commission for more information on the subject.

I’d love for my local MP to be more interested in global problems, which will fast become very real local problems. µµ CHLOE RICKARD, COOL EARTH

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CHARITY REPORT 2016

Big picture: Securing the protection of the entire world’s remaining rainforest by the people that live there, for the future of the planet.

Personally: Growing reach and reputation of Cool Earth, and increasing donations. µµ CHLOE RICKARD, COOL EARTH

What the fu hol Moving into legacy fundraising and generally diversifying our fundraising offering. µµ PETE LEWIS, SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE.

Writing and developing a communications strategy and get agreement from board to get someone in who can deliver the strategy. µµ SOPHIE LITTLEWOOD, AGE UK DEVON

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Charitable - How we support the most vulnerable in society and cope with austerity measures put in place and crisis in health and care. How we make communities more resilient.

Organisational – How we do that with funding issues. µµ IAN JONES, VOLUNTEER CORNWALL

t does uture ld?

Bringing in as much unrestricted income as we can. Identifying the bigger projects. Going in another direction with our fundraising. µµ MARIE PREECE, CORNWALL WILDLIFE TRUST

Thank you to all the charities that have contributed to this report.

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