Brief 1: How charities are currently viewed

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In the video, Dan discusses how for years charities have been seen as something much different to other typical businesses.

"Too many nonprofits, he says, are rewarded for how little they spend (e.g. 'overhead' costs -- not for what they get done. Instead of equating frugality with morality, he asks us to start rewarding charities for their big goals and big accomplishments (even if that comes with big expenses)."

Dan argues that, although it's good that charities boast that 100% of your donation goes directly to the cause, it's not always the best and most efficient way to spend this money. Part of the money, like with any functioning organisation or business, needs to be reinvested so that the company can grow exponentially and ultimately make a much bigger impact towards the given cause. But the issue is that this way of thinking has been frowned upon by the public for years as they consider this a wrong way of running a charity when in actual fact it's a proven business model for generating profit or in this case donations.

Research from the UK Small Charity Sector Skill Survery (2014-2015) goes onto support Dan's argument by making the point that:

"Since the Small Charity Index was launched, small charities have been consistently reporting reductions in staff. Workload has been highlighted as a significant challenge and as having a negative impact on a charity’s ability to deliver services. As small charity staff spend more and more time on delivery they must ‘squeeze’ in all of the other tasks related to their role as best they are able."

"It was good to see that 72% of charities linked their annual training plan to their business plan, but with only 15% of charities having a formal business plan, it is essential that more charities take a strategic approach to their learning and development programmes."

This links in with how Dan argues charities should work - like businesses but without the profit-driven incentives that usually drives a business. But by having a formal plan it will allow the charities to grow like a typical business, ultimately meaning improved methods of fundraising, in turn, more donations and a greater impact on the causes the charities are working for.

Although this aspect of a charity is not something we can personally intervene with, we can at the very least be clear and transparent about where it is people's donations are going.  All of this in the hope to shed light on the real workings of a not for profit organisation.

We aim for the platform to champion the great work these local charities are doing with the intention of incentivising more donations, more people wanting to get involved etc.

Sources:

http://www.thefsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/UK-Small-Charity-Sector-Skills-Survey-2014%EF%80%A215.pdf

https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong#t-1114425