Charities advised to focus on short-term gain of early intervention

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 26 Jul 2010

Charities should focus on short-term savings they can make to local government when making the case for early intervention projects, according to civil servants.

This is the advice that was given to children’s charity Chance UK on engaging with local authorities, says its chief executive Gracia McGrath.

McGrath, who was speaking at New Philanthropy Capital event Intervening early for the Big Society, was answering a question on how charities could show a local authority that early intervention projects were vital:

“We’ve been told by civil servants not just to focus on the long-term,” said McGrath, “but focus on what we can save a local authority this year and the next. Civil servants described it as ‘horizontal integration’ – looking at short-term cost savings.”

Elsewhere, the event also addressed the enthusiasm among charities for franchising projects.

CSV’s director of part-time volunteering Sue Gwaspari said the charity had looked at franchising its Charity Awards-winning project Volunteers in Child Protection based on CSV’s values, but it was concerned it would be tricky to maintain its values in outside projects.

However, former chief executive of NSPCC Dame Mary March said "social franchising" was necessary otherwise successful projects would never get UK-wide reach.

Directory: Community Service Volunteers | National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) | New Philanthropy Capital
Who's Who: Dame Mary Marsh

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