By Tom Berrington
Many small charities have been badly impacted by the pandemic. Not only have they been unable to put on events and activities to fundraise or achieve their charitable goals, but many have also had their main sources of funding stripped from them. But small charities are some of the most adaptive organizations in the world. Through digital innovation, focusing on core costs, and ensuring the community is intrinsically connected with their goals, charities have experienced an increase in demand for a variety of services. The digital world has allowed them to change many processes to not only save them time and money, but to ensure they are increasing their reach. The economic climate is tough, and although the UK has some of the most generous citizens in the world, they want to ensure they are spending their money well, so the need for charities to return to their foundations has led to a closer link between smaller charities, their core objectives, and their communities. This link has allowed a variety of new fundraising methods to be successful, especially when directly supporting the communities they are looking to fundraise from.
Although there is an increase in demand, staffing shortages as well as travel limitations have severely impacted the ability of small charities to cope with this demand. In a time of organisational upheaval, changing work processes online is one thing, but supporting individuals and volunteers online is far more difficult when addressing areas such as depression and anxiety with a 25% increase in prevalence in these issues worldwide.
Those who receive significant support from grant makers may be better off with funding however, as some of the larger grant-giving organisations have worked quickly to provide emergency funding and made their grants unrestricted. This can pose a challenge for small charities who have a limited ability to apply for higher grants, and so end up missing out. Many smaller charities have subsequently needed to reduce costs further to still maintain themselves while they await the re-opening of funds.
Although the situation during the pandemic for many charities has been challenging we have seen many surviving charities come out the other side with a new lease of life, more dedication to their core areas, reduced cost and speedy service delivery through online portals, and a more in depth understanding of their local communities and its needs. As we move beyond the pandemic, using this experience will be a vital way of keeping costs low and demand high going forward.
Effective Third Sector 