Our Annual Report 2022/23

Welcome from our chair, Vaughan Lindsay

The pandemic, the cost-of-living, the climate crisis—is it any wonder that 2022’s word of the year was permacrisis? But amidst the chaos, we must not lose sight of the long-term. That’s why NPC is supporting the social sector to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges, whilst at the same time responding to today’s crises. ​

We’re known as a thought leader, yet we’re still focused on the practical, providing solid, hands-on guidance and support. Our clients say that we help them to take stock of what they’re doing and how they should prioritise and in doing so, contribute to an impact-focused culture.​

The depth provided by our consultants is matched by the breadth of our think tank work. Our NPC Ignites conference has been described as journey of discovery—an open and inclusive space to reflect on the sector’s challenges and explore possibilities for change with knowledgeable people.​

Going forwards, we want to focus on social inequalities, helping charities, government, and funders to direct resources towards:​

• People and areas experiencing the worst wealth, health, and educational outcomes. ​
• The environment, ensuring that different social groups are included in decisions.​
• Data and digital.​
• Helping people to access better charity services.​
• Improving philanthropy as a sector that adopts structural and systemic change, with a focus on equity, inclusivity, and user-involvement. ​

All of this is only possible with your support, especially now as fundraising gets harder. As always, I’d like to thank everyone who has worked with us and supported us, as well as the many who read our published work and put it into practice.​

Introduction from our CEO, Dan Corry

Our mission is to help charities, funders, businesses, investors, and policy makers to achieve more for the people that they serve. ​Through our think tank and consulting work, we bring both breadth and depth in the impact that we achieve. ​

2022 was dominated by the cost-of-living crisis, which posed huge questions for charities and those working with them—questions which demonstrate why NPC is needed and which will only get bigger as Britain goes to the polls. We’re helping the sector to navigate these through our three priorities: Improve, Innovate, and Influence. ​

At the end of our 20th year, we published new resources, including our funder guides on confronting the cost-of-living crisis and incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into grant-making. We also developed new thinking on equitable evaluation and centring-lived experience.​ We launched the first of our briefings on how the climate and nature crises and environmental policies will impact different social groups. We also continued to demonstrate the role of civil society in creating a flourishing local economy, with a lot of effective influencing work around Levelling Up, and a guide for MPs. We trialled new approaches through our Open Philanthropy initiative, and built upon our previous innovations through successfully pushing for a new Employment Data Lab.​

Throughout, we’ve strengthened our consulting offer to provide more on impact investing, systems change, and collective approaches. We’ve also shifted our communications to reflect the changing nature of media and social media, with our LinkedIn presence rising by almost a third. It’s been a bumper year for media coverage, with numerous colleagues recording podcast interviews—mostly for the first time. I’d like to thank the entire team for their dedication, and our trustees for their challenge and support.