Our Annual Report 2021/22

Celebrating 20 years of maximising social impact

Vaughan Lindsay, Chair

For 20 years NPC has been helping philanthropists and charities to maximise social impact.

Through our think tank and consultancy work, we’ve provided a challenging and independent voice that inspires bold initiatives and much needed innovation in the social sector. We’ve helped charities, philanthropists, and funders to move from ‘in principle’ to ‘in practice’. And we’ve developed and encouraged new ideas and strategic leadership to help the social sector overcome the everchanging challenges they and their beneficiaries face.

Now we want to look ahead to the next 20 years. What will the new challenges be? What new ways of doing good will emerge? And what changes should we be making now?

We were founded by a group of bold philanthropists who funded our early work to maximise social impact. Today we must raise our own funding to be able to serve the sector, facing the same fundraising difficulties as many of our fellow charities. As we move from one crisis to another, we can’t predict the future or what challenges will come next, but we can continue working to develop, test and share evidence-driven tools for all. Impact matters, and it matters most of all to the people charities serve.

That is our agenda, and we hope you will continue to be part of this exciting and worthwhile journey. I’d like to welcome our new trustee, Emily Wheeler, and thank all the NPC staff for all their work. Equally, I’d like to thank everyone who has worked with us, whether as a funder, a client, an event attendee, or one of the many who read our work and put it into practice.

 

Making an impact in an age of permacrisis

Dan Corry, Chief Executive  

NPC’s core purpose is to help charities, funders, philanthropists, and policy makers to have more impact, something we strive for every day. Increasingly this means responding to new crises.

First it was Covid. It was vital that we helped guide funders on where to put their money so that it went to the right places. I am very proud of how our team pivoted so quickly. Our guides, online events, blogs, and data dashboards helped funders and charities understand where need was, where the gaps were, and how they could help. Our work helps multiple organisations and people in need as our advice and approaches cascade through the sector, contributing to the work on the ground that ensures a child is fed or a homeless person finds a bed for the night. Through this, a donation to NPC can magnify the effectiveness of a huge range of causes.

Now we have a cost-of-living crisis. We’re responding by advising funders on who will be most affected, how charities seeking to help are struggling, and what they can do to support them – as well as helping charities learn from each other. In the midst of all this has been the powerful Black Lives Matter movement and the recognition that our sector – and NPC – has not acted enough on diversity, equity, and inclusion as much as we should have. We have a long way to go, but we have reviewed and changed many of our practices, including how we advise clients, organise events, and think about social issues. Last – but perhaps most important – we have the climate crisis. The climate crisis and our response to it is about people as much as planet, so this cannot be solely the preserve of environmental funders and NGOs. Our Everyone’s Environment programme seeks to ensure all charities and funders understand how this affects them and the people they work with.

I’d like to thank the entire NPC team for their hard work, passion and good humour through some tricky times, and to my Chair and Board who have got the balance right between being challenging and supportive.

NPC is a thought leader, yet at the same time focused on the practical side of the work, providing solid, hands-on guidance and support.’

Survey respondent

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