The Prince Update - May 3rd

Our writer Richard Prince shares his regular horizon scan of the sector news, flagging up developments, new funding and opportunities in the social sector for portfolio careerists and others to be aware of.

Volunteering credited with increasing job prospects

In a new Royal Voluntary Service study of current and recent volunteers, volunteering was credited with improving job prospects for over half (58%), rising to 73% amongst the youngest volunteers (16-19).

Majority of employers seeing presenteeism in their workforce, CIPD research finds

The latest Health and wellbeing at work report, from the CIPD and Simply Health, found that, of the 668 HR professionals polled, more than three-quarters (77%) saw presenteeism in staff working from home, while a similar number (75%) saw it in employees attending the workplace.

CAF warns that Small charities face 'existential threat' from COVID crisis

Many small charities face an “existential threat” from the coronavirus crisis, says Neil Heslop, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Heslop cited the argument by Mark Carney, former head of the Bank of England, that society was seeing a “rebalancing of priorities”. But he added that by placing more emphasis on community values at a time when the charity sector was under such pressure, society faced “a paradox.  Society is coming to that realisation [about community values] right at the time here in the UK when a very large proportion of the smaller and community-based organisations are facing an existential threat about their very existence and their ability to contribute”.

NCVO - Charities have collaborated more with local authorities during the COVID crisis

A third of charities have worked more closely with local authorities during the coronavirus crisis, according to the latest NCVO research into the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. Charities and councils “have found new ways to collaborate” during the pandemic and around seven in 10 charities had worked with their local authority in some form during the crisis, including by delivering service contracts and acting as advisers to local officials.

A quarter of charities said they had received higher levels of local authority funding since March 2020, when the first national lockdown began. However, a similar proportion – 22% – said they expect funding from local authorities to fall compared with the last financial year. Only one in 10 expect council funding to rise. Housing charities were the most likely to have seen local authority funding increase (60%), followed by emergency and relief charities, and community and economic development charities (both 30%). But, as the initial crisis of the pandemic eases, there is a danger that things go back to business-as-usual and the silos go back up. “With funding cuts on the horizon, the next year is going to be challenging for many charities and voluntary organisations”.

Two neighbouring Age UK charities are in talks to merge

Age UK Croydon and Age UK Sutton have announced they are involved in discussions about the possibility of a potential merger. Benefits of the move between the two south London charities include helping to build capacity, providing better long-term sustainability and financial security, and “new opportunities for growth, offering more services, to more people, across both Boroughs”.

Partnership and collaboration is needed for systemic change, say cancer charity leaders

The charity sector will “only achieve systemic change” if organisations understand they are one part of a system, the chief executive of CLIC Sargent has said. Rachel Kirby-Rider was speaking at Civil Society Media’s Spring Summit, alongside Kate Collins, chief executive of the Teenage Cancer Trust, and Frank Fletcher, chief executive of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, about how their charities collaborated during the pandemic.

The panel also discussed “the elephant in the room”, namely why they decided not to merge. Kirby-Rider said: “Very quickly into the pandemic, we knew that we had to make some changes to be able to mitigate those drops in income.” However a merger would have been a “distraction”, she said, so the idea was taken off the table. 

New COVID charity plans to raise start-up funds via a blockchain token auction

A new charity to help people affected by the pandemic hopes to capitalise on the enthusiasm for cryptocurrency by auctioning a non-fungible token (NFT). The charity, covid:aid, has registered with OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator, and plans to launch next month. It has been inspired by successful auctions that have raised millions through selling digital artwork. NFT’s are unique, or one-of-a-kind, digital assets that can be bought or sold, with the record of ownership stored on a blockchain ledger. The charity is also seeking traditional donations through its website.

Comment: this is a first, and it may appeal to some philanthropists, but we’ll have to see if it is a one-off gimmick or the first of a kind….

Government rejects calls to extend ‘not particularly attractive’ social investment tax relief

The UK Financial Secretary to the Treasury has rejected calls for a further extension of a crucial tax relief scheme designed to stimulate social investment – but campaigners hope this can open the door to a new, improved policy to replace it. Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) offers tax incentives to individuals to encourage them to invest in social enterprises. Investors were left in limbo for months as to whether the relief, which was to end in April 2021, would continue beyond this date. It was eventually extended for another two years in March, when the government’s Budget was announced, but not for the five years sector bodies had campaigned for.

Comment: this is disappointing. Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) had a lot of potential, but has never quite hit the scale where it could make a meaningful difference to impact investing

Social Enterprise and COVID-19

This research by Social Enterprise UK is based on the responses of social enterprises to a survey looking in-depth at the impact of COVID-19 on social enterprises, how social enterprises are adapting to the crisis, and how they can be better supported through it.

The report shows that social enterprises are at the forefront of solutions to the crisis, on the health and social care front line and providing crucial community support to the most vulnerable. It also shows that many social enterprises are struggling, falling through the cracks in support and leaving their communities, beneficiaries and staff exposed.

The future of work – a VCSE sector view

Have we reached a revolutionary moment in working culture history? The report by Blackbaud Europe is based on a survey launched in January 2021, in partnership with The Resource Alliance. Over 800 people from across the third sector shared their ideal long-term work practices and what they really feel about their organisations’ response to COVID-19.  As part of the report Blackbaud also spoke to key decision-makers, 21% of which are already in the advanced stages of their return-to-office planning

The report examines changes that charity professionals are planning to implement over the next 12 months, investigates if flexible working is here to stay and how the charity sector responded to COVID-19 and shares fresh insights as to how the third sector is feeling a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.