Examples of our work

Research among charities and voluntary organisations to understand the issues associated with increased accountability.

Examples of our Work - Charity and Voluntary Market Research

Background

Charities and voluntary organisations are increasingly having to behave like businesses in order to survive, but many struggle to recruit the staff with the necessary skills to operate in this manner. For example, time spent sourcing finance can sometimes prevent charities from carrying out the work they were formed to do.

This problem is exacerbated by increasing levels of government-imposed compliance. This research was commissioned on behalf of a leading insurance provider to assess the scale of the problem and understand the types of risk faced by these organisations

Objectives

• To assess what impact the increasing need to behave like businesses was having on charities

• To understand how this impacted on their ability to fulfill their mandate

• To assess how many charities had difficulty attracting and retaining staff with business skills and staff for leadership roles

• To understand the level of red-tape charities were being forced to cope with due to increased levels of accountability and governance.

Methodology

A telephone survey was conducted among 200 senior decision makers of charities and other voluntary organisations. PCP was responsible for sourcing suitable respondents for the research

Outcome

This insurance provider was able to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing charities in relation to increased governance. The results of the research highlighted the increasing need for charities to allocate resources in order to meet governance requirements, to meet requirements for public service delivery and to manage their risk profile in relation to partnerships, investments and any other liabilities.

Our client used the research to support a publicity campaign highlighting the need to manage risk within the charity sector