Posts Categorized: Uncategorized

Capping charity admin costs is a very bad idea

In the last week, from two very different sources, we’ve had proposals that the charity sector should keep itself to a minimum level of administration costs. The first came from the philanthropist Gina Miller, who’s said the sector should keep its admin spending to below 25 per cent. The second, a bit more worryingly, came… Read more »

Let’s ditch workfare and introduce the Community Allowance instead

Once upon a time there was a great idea for helping the unemployed into work. It was called the Community Allowance, and various well-intentioned people spent years trying to make it happen.

The sector isn’t going to get smaller contracts, so it needs to win big ones

Last week, Chris Grayling told a meeting of the House of Commons justice committee that he wanted contracts in his department’s new payment-by-results probation scheme to be small enough for voluntary sector organisations towin them.

The Cup Trust case has worn away my sympathy for the commission

Yesterday, we heard that William Shawcross will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on 7 March to address the issue of the Cup Trust, the £176m tax avoidance scheme that it was unable to shut down. I suspect the committee will want some explanation of what went wrong. This will be interesting, because the commission,… Read more »

Why I oppose Peter Bone’s bill on religious charities

This weekend I was invited onto the TV show The Big Questions, to talk about whether all religious institutions should be charities. The debate came about because of a Ten Minute Rule Motion, proposed by Peter Bone MP, which proposes that all religions should be presumed to have charitable status.

The answer is more sector surveys, not less

Research in the third sector. Is it up to the job we need it to do? This week’s magazine features an interview with Richard Harrison, director of research at the Charities Aid Foundation, who among other things has launched a strong rebuttal to critics who claim that his organisation and the NCVO have published inaccurate… Read more »

Don’t thank me for my donation – spend it on the cause

The other day, the subject of thanking donors came up again on our website. This time, it was a link to a blog about how to say thank you but it’s the latest in a string of pieces from opinion-formers, on our website and elsewhere, talking about the importance of thanking donors. The thing is,… Read more »

Confessions of a virgin volunteer – part two

So, I’m now three shopping trips in and my volunteering experience is well and truly up and running. Overall it’s been pretty much successful, but not without its small hiccups.

Does the sector have an image problem?

Last week I went to a round table on stereotypes and the sector organised by Charity Leaders’ Exchange. One of the main issues that arose was the reputation of the sector. I’d started to wonder about this already, after a couple of encounters with friends and friends of friends, who, on finding out I wrote… Read more »

Could sex for the disabled be a charitable activity?

Sex as a charitable activity? That’s an easy one, surely? The answer must be no. Yet in the past couple of weeks, there have been two stories about organisations that have backed the idea that sector bodies could provide or support the provision of sex to disabled people.