Boldness in times of change: Rethinking the charity sector

As the world around us changes, the charity sector must keep up. Whether you are the leader of a large or small charity, a corporate, statutory or independent funder, or a social enterprise that is new or established, you will know first-hand how the enormous flux in the external environment is challenging ‘business as usual’ thinking, disrupting old ways of operating and unsettling long-held power relationships.

This paper is the first output of our State of the Sector programme, aimed at injecting new thinking and ideas about how sector leaders in the UK can respond to the changing environment. It brings together our practice and thinking to identify what are, in our view, the critical issues, challenges and opportunities facing charities and the sector in 2016 and beyond. We have maintained an element of optimism, including highlighting the ‘bright spots’ of practice that currently exist.

The next stage of our programme is to conduct primary research to explore whether the challenges and ideas presented here align with sector leaders, advisors and commentators. Our findings will be published later in the year and into 2017 and we will seek opportunities to debate these through roundtables and events. The final stage will bring together essays from innovative leaders on how we can transform the charity sector to continue to deliver impact for the causes and people that charities are there to serve.

• If you would like to be involved in this ongoing programme please get in touch with Patrick Murray.
• Tell us what you think about the issues on Twitter using the hashtag #StateoftheSector.