Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, told a sector audience that the charity is careful to be “fiercely protective of our brand” when working with other charities, government or business.

She was delivering the final presentation in the latest Charity Talks series, organised by the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Cass Business School, about working collaboratively. She said that while Citizens Advice works with other charities, government and the corporate sector it was always “fiercely protective of its brand”.

This enables Citizens Advice to “control the message” if it’s a joint campaign or the “quality and standard” if it’s a service.

Guy said that the need to protect its brand was also part of the reason that Citizens Advice “appears to hold ourselves slightly back” when it comes to participating in voluntary sector campaigns, particularly as there are still “many people who don’t know that we are a charity”.

Don’t let collaboration be a cloak for merger

Guy said that the word ‘collaboration’ is “bandied around quite a bit” and is “sometimes a cloak for merger”.

“That is pretty dangerous,” she said. “It is very important to be true to whatever it is that you are embarking on.”

She added that collaboration should have “strategic value” and that it’s always an “active choice to engage”.

One of her examples was a joint project with Macmillan Cancer Support to provide advice services to people with cancer as one where both charities brought something different to the partnership.

“Since 2005 we have helped 184,000 people access support they probably wouldn’t have had access to – that’s what motivates us to overcome any frustrations that there might be and come together,” she said.

Resist the temptation to dominate

Guy also said that as a large charity working in partnership with smaller ones to deliver government contracts Citizens Advice had to “resist the temptation to be domineering”.

She said it was important to keep in mind “what gives us the best outcomes for people receiving that advice” and that it was important to be sensitive to the views of its partners.

“We try to give them access to our support and infrastructure,” she said. “And we don’t need to bring ten people to a meeting just because we can.”

She added that there is a “fine line between working with government and working for government” and that it was important to make sure that we “protect our voice and the voice of the people we represent”.

The best way to do this, she said, was to start with “openness, honesty and clear understanding that we work for our clients”.