cENTRING LIVED EXPERIENCE, TRIALLING FOUR DAY WORKING WEEKS & DEBUNKING SMALL CHARITY MYTHS

Twitter (sorry, X...) might be on a rapid downhill spiral, but it's still good for some charity sector inspiration. Here's our latest round-up of the best blogs and articles published recently by some ace fundraisers and sector experts...

Chapter Mental Health: Conversational trust funding application
Written by David Burgess and published by SOFII
Trusts & foundations is commonly seen as one of the fundraising areas with the least room for innovation, but it might be time to reconsider thanks to this brilliant example of bid writing from our friends at SOFII! Although this approach might not work for every funder, this example of a conversational format definitely stands out the from the crowd. David's article showcasing Matt Zeqiri's work provides a new perspective on how to make your case for support, and contains some really useful tips for you to take away.

How can charities centre lived experience in a meaningful and impactful way?
Written by Charlotte Lamb & Daniel Seifu and published by ThinkNPC
Increasingly, funders expect to see how charities demonstrate lived experience in their work and projects. While there are some fairly straightforward ways to collaborate with service users to shape activities, meaningfully embedding lived experience throughout your organisation is more challenging. This helpful blog from ThinkNPC outlines what they are doing internally, and includes guidance for charities on where to start, how to resource and fund this work, and how to adapt your organisation’s culture and processes.

How Does a Four Day Work Week Work for Charities?
Written by Karen Harlow and published by CharityJob
We've recently done some work with the brilliant 4 Day Week Campaign, who are campaigning for the introduction of a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss to employees' pay. Research increasingly shows that this can bring benefits for staff, employers, wider society and the planet. So we were thrilled to read this article, which looks at how three charities have been getting on with implementing a four-day week, the changes they've tried to make to their working culture and processes in line with their employees' needs, and the benefits felt for both the organisations and their people. There are sure to be more organisations trialling this soon - could you be one of them?

The Inefficiency Myth - debunking a damaging small charity stereotype
Written by Mary Rose Gunn and published by The Fore
Times are already tough enough for small charities, without having to deal with perennial myths about their efficiency, overlapping services and use of resources. To celebrate Small Charity Week 2023, The Fore - a specialist funder of small charities - put together this list of seven common myths that small charities face, with some pretty compelling arguments to debunk them and explain what the real issues are. We're fortunate to work with some brilliant small charities and know just how much time, energy, and hard work goes into sustaining their work and supporting their service users every day, so this was a great piece to read!

Charity Benchmarks 2022: the results
Written by James Briggs and Alex Srivastava and published by Open
Every year, Open publishes an ambitious fundraising benchmark study, gathering donation data from a broad range of charities to equip fundraisers with some key insights and trends to help them raise more money for their cause. This year's report is as interesting as always, and contains some encouraging news about income growth that we could all do with right now. Have a read of their summary article now, plus download a copy of the full report to learn more about the biggest current challenges and opportunities that fundraisers should know about.