Charity Reform Group

Confident campaigning governance

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Trustees’ role in supporting charities to campaign and speak up 

In its conversations with leaders from other sectors, the Charity Reform Group discovered there was a strong appetite to hear more from charity CEOs in public discourse. That same research suggested that one of the barriers is a lack of clarity, and perhaps confidence, among charity trustees as to what charities and charity CEOs can – or should – legitimately speak about, and how. 

To test this further, we collaborated with Governance and Leadership (G&L) magazine to survey charity trustees on their attitudes to speaking out and campaigning. 

In response, SMK has produced a free guide for trustees. It is framed as a set of questions that will help boards support their organisation to campaign with confidence. It is not legal advice but is intended to work alongside more detailed legal and strategic guidance we have signposted to. 

 

    Support for trustees 

    survey results

    Navigating charity campaigning: free guide 

    Five essential conversations boards should have to develop confident campaigning governance. 

    Download the guide here > 

    survey results

    Trustee Survey 2023: results

    Find out more about trustee attitudes to speaking out, campaigning, and regulation. 

    See survey results here > 

    survey results

    More support for boards

    Get in touch if you think your Board could benefit from having someone guide you through the discussions outlined in our free guide.

    Register your interest here > 

    What do people say?

    …while responding to current needs is an important part of our work, we will never eliminate or reduce that need unless we do more to influence government and funders, and to some extent public awareness and attitudes.  ” 

    Survey respondent 

    We want to see charities protect their space to campaign by inhabiting it with confidence; regulators and funders ensure the support to navigate the legal and regulatory challenges is available; and politicians model good democratic behaviour by valuing robust debate and standing up for charities right to speak out.  “

    Sue Tibballs, SMK CEO

    This survey shows that charities have thoughtful trustees who want to deliver the best impact for the people and communities they work with. That so many are prevented from doing so because of ambiguity around guidelines, or a fear of the repercussions is intolerable. ”

    Mark Russell, CEO of the Children’s Society 

    Building confident campaigning governance

    – new offer for trustees

    Our recent research with Governance & Leadership magazine found that support for campaigning amongst trustees is high, but levels of confidence do not match.

    In response, SMK has produced a free short guide for trustees called  Navigating charity campaigning that points to five essential conversations board should have to develop confident campaigning governance. It can be used alone, or as the starting point for a board conversation guided by SMK. Our one-hour or three-hour sessions will help boards explore campaign governance together. Full details in this blog.

    Take the first step to building campaigning governance confidence in your organisation. Register your interest by emailing SMK Head of Programmes Kath Christie.

    Download the guide here
    Navigating charity campaigning