THE SMALL CHARITY FRIENDLY COLLECTIVE
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We are proud to be a founding member of an informal collective of small charity friendly specialists, who have come together to answer the challenge set in the Small Charities Coalition’s (SCC) Small and Mighty final report: to provide dedicated and trusted support to small charities. Members of this collective have extensive professional experience in the sector - previously all SCC ‘Approved Trainers’ and/or advisors, we are keen to ensure the ‘special touch’ the SCC was so known for continues on, so we are committed to the following standards to ensure we are working in a small charity friendly way: |
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1. We work in YOUR best interest
We put small charities first. We won't do or suggest anything that you don't really need, or that we aren't best placed to deliver - instead, we will connect you where appropriate to other small-friendly colleagues. We won't stick around any longer than necessary and will always ensure there’s a clear handover when it's time to move on; we aim to share our expertise and support you to develop solutions in-house where this is more affordable or works better long-term.
2. We cut through the noise
We support you to do more with less, by identifying your top priorities and addressing them efficiently. We ensure our services are accessible - we avoid jargon, explaining things clearly and simply, and are committed to offering affordable, transparent pricing.
3. We meet you where you are
We understand that if you're contacting us, it's to get some support - we don't expect everything to be in order, and won't judge, no matter where you’re up to. We tailor our approaches to small charities, your capacity and resources. We ditch the assumptions (for example around your capacity, reserves, or prior knowledge) and set realistic expectations based on your goals.
4. We learn from the sector
We build connections with small charities and organisations that support them. We listen and respond to the challenges, needs and experiences of small charities, and improve our offers based on what we hear and learn.
We loosely define ‘small charities’ as those with an approximate turnover of up to £1 million.
Membership: the Small Charity Friendly Collective is an informal group of people with a shared love for, and dedication to small charities. This initiative is in the very early stages, and we are still building our understanding of what this looks like and how it could work within the wider ecosystem of support available to the sector. We will share any updates on how the group will operate as we gain clarity for ourselves.
We put small charities first. We won't do or suggest anything that you don't really need, or that we aren't best placed to deliver - instead, we will connect you where appropriate to other small-friendly colleagues. We won't stick around any longer than necessary and will always ensure there’s a clear handover when it's time to move on; we aim to share our expertise and support you to develop solutions in-house where this is more affordable or works better long-term.
2. We cut through the noise
We support you to do more with less, by identifying your top priorities and addressing them efficiently. We ensure our services are accessible - we avoid jargon, explaining things clearly and simply, and are committed to offering affordable, transparent pricing.
3. We meet you where you are
We understand that if you're contacting us, it's to get some support - we don't expect everything to be in order, and won't judge, no matter where you’re up to. We tailor our approaches to small charities, your capacity and resources. We ditch the assumptions (for example around your capacity, reserves, or prior knowledge) and set realistic expectations based on your goals.
4. We learn from the sector
We build connections with small charities and organisations that support them. We listen and respond to the challenges, needs and experiences of small charities, and improve our offers based on what we hear and learn.
We loosely define ‘small charities’ as those with an approximate turnover of up to £1 million.
Membership: the Small Charity Friendly Collective is an informal group of people with a shared love for, and dedication to small charities. This initiative is in the very early stages, and we are still building our understanding of what this looks like and how it could work within the wider ecosystem of support available to the sector. We will share any updates on how the group will operate as we gain clarity for ourselves.
Members of the Small Charity Friendly Collective:
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Liz Pepler, Embrace Finance (small charity finance)
Embrace Finance specialises in working with small charities and social enterprises to build financial sustainability. In our experience, there are 3 steps to financial sustainability; getting on top of the current numbers, getting on top of the possible future numbers and getting on top of the pathway from A to B. We can support you with all three steps. We are certified, regulated and friendly. We build your financial confidence so that you can build your financial sustainability. |
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Michele Price, Charity Partner, Gunnercooke LLP (charity law)
I am a charity lawyer with a passion for helping small charities do great things. I specialise in setting up new charities and not for profits, general governance and annual reporting and troubleshooting across a range of legal, strategic and board issues. As former CEO of a charity and current trustee, I help with the legal issues but delivered with a practical and common-sense approach, based on wisdom and a real understanding of what makes small charities tick. I aim to unlock the heart of the problem or query and then guide you through the solution that is going to work best for you, within your budget and relevant to your resources. I offer a free half hour initial consultation. Any follow up legal work is offered at a preferential small charities rate, usually for an agreed fixed fee. |
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Laura Salisbury, Laura Salisbury Consulting (strategy and fundraising)
Need to raise more unrestricted income? I'm a strategic leader specialising in public fundraising, who can provide training, mentoring and support to your board or senior leadership team, as well as deliver hands-on fundraising appeals, events and projects when needed. I have nearly 20 years' experience in the sector, and since becoming a consultant I’ve helped clients by conducting audits, supporting as an interim, mentoring staff, and drafting fundraising strategies. While the majority of my experience is in the UK, I am now based in Australia. I have a huge amount of experience supporting charities remotely, and therefore continue to support clients in the UK. My background is working for large international organisations including Amnesty International and VSO, and delivering against large multi-million pound targets. But I now have plenty of experience supporting small charities, start-ups and social enterprises. |
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Mike Zywina, Lime Green Consulting (strategy and fundraising)
Lime Green Consulting work with charities and social enterprises to help them be more strategic, become more sustainable and access more funding. They do this by providing a mix of strategic consultancy, facilitated workshops, fundraising support and training. They provide training and consultancy to hundreds of grassroots charities each year, and have developed long-term partnerships with the School For Social Entrepreneurs and the Small Charities Coalition (until its closure in 2022). Lime Green Consulting also offer a variety of free resources for grassroots organisations, including a set of fundraising helpsheets, a podcast, and a monthly fundraising blog containing a mix of practical how-to guides and opinion pieces, with a particular focus on trusts & foundations and fundraising strategy. |
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Sonia Wilson, Populo (Human Resources)
Sonia Wilson set up her social enterprise Populo in 2013 to provide affordable HR support to small charities and social enterprises. Sonia has supported over 300 small organisations with their people issues: from start-ups needing employment contracts and essential policies to those needing support for restructures, performance management, absence and many other employment issues. Sonia provides free HR phone advice every Wednesday 10:00-12:00 for small charities and social enterprises. If you have a people issue which would benefit from running past an HR professional and is suitable to be resolved through a 20-30 minute call, then contact Sonia. |
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Yasmin Glover, The Olive Training and Consultancy (communications, strategy & staff development)
The Olive Training and Consultancy supports small charities and social enterprises to become more efficient, purpose-driven, and impactful. Through a range of bespoke and ‘off-the-shelf’ packages, The Olive can support with development projects that have been on the agenda for a while, but never quite made it to the top. This may be due to limited capacity or resources, lack of headspace to get into it, or just not knowing where to start. Areas of support include: - Communications - Strategy development - Staff development |
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Rachel Cooper, Welbeck (accounting and finance)
I set up Welbeck in 2014 to provide support on accounting and finance for small to medium sized charities and social enterprises, taking the fear out of finance so that you can focus on delivering your activities. My main interest is in capacity building and supporting people to develop their knowledge and skills – I love watching people grow into their roles, witnessing people’s ‘aha’ moments, and delivering training! Services include: - Mentoring - Training - Facilitating Action Learning Sets - Filling part-time senior finance roles |
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Membership of the Collective and other details:
The Small Charity Friendly Collective is an informal group of people with a shared love for, and dedication to small charities. After much discussion, we have decided at this stage to keep the Collective as a small group to enable effective management and allow us to develop a clear and useful offer to the sector. All members are currently from the previous Small Charities Coalition 'family', with a shared commitment to continuing its legacy.
Our priorities are always in the interests of small charities, and we welcome making links with other like-minded support initiatives and individuals alongside our own efforts. We will continue to monitor and address skills and experience gaps in the original group.
In April 2023, we held our first conference, 'Creativity and communication in the face of uncertainty', a free online event hosted by gunnercooke LLP supporting small charities to manage the impact of the cost of living crisis and other challenges. Over 200 small charities registered for the event, and feedback showed the relevance of content for smaller organisations:
"Invaluable"
"A must see"
"An interesting selection of topics, ideal for small charities and newer charity staff and trustees"
The day also highlighted the importance of coming together and helping each other through challenging times.
We're currently going through the feedback and suggestions for future support, and will soon share more details of what to expect next from the Small Charity Friendly Collective!