The cover theme of G&L March is Campaigning and Political Activity – How charities can influence government policy and election manifestos. As well as case studies of Tommy’s Miscarriage Matters Campaign and Action on Smoking and Health’s campaign to ban smoking in workplaces, we’ve got articles from two lawyers; one looking at what charities need to be thinking about if they want to get involved in campaigning ahead of the general election, and the other taking a view on the current state of charity law as it relates to political activity. Unsurprisingly, the conclusion we draw is that charities can and should carry on campaigning, and should not be deterred by the chill winds that are still blowing from some quarters, notably the Conservative back bench.
March also features a 10-page special report on the second year’s results of the Foundation Practice Rating, which rates 100 of the UK’s grantmaking charities on their approach to diversity, accountability and transparency. Spoiler alert: Things are looking up.
Ben Taylor, CEO of Mind in Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich, writes about the importance of larger service delivery charities to act as supporters and system leaders for their smaller counterparts in local areas to build capacity and improve delivery for clients, and charity podcaster Alex Blake is impressed by a new book that outlines how charities can assess the impact they are having.
The topic of the Core Functions section this month is finance and audit, and finance and tax expert Shashi Sharma outlines how boards can get the best out of their finance, audit and risk committee.
And we also welcome our new back-page columnist, Noelle Rumball, who warns charities against searching for unicorns when recruiting their new chairs.
