NCVO chair Martyn Lewis today described the attacks on individual charities and the sector at large over the last few months as "frequent and vicious" and the political environment in which they occurred as "febrile".
Opening the NCVO's Trustee conference this morning, Lewis said the charity sector was finally being subjected to the same intense scrutiny that has previously been reserved for other sectors, such as banking, politics, journalism, sport, and religion.
He said charity boards could not afford to be on "automatic pilot" because as well as dealing with the challenging economic climate, charities now must shift their attention to those who are "challenging our ways of working, challenging our motivations, and challenging our place in building a better society".
Because, he warned, "some of them are challenging our very existence".
While he didn't wish to sound "alarmist", especially when charities were still among the most trusted institutions in the land, he told the delegates they would be foolish to ignore the concerns about a number of issues currently being aired in the media, "however badly formed or wrongly assumed they are".
"Charities are coming under greater scrutiny about their staff remuneration, the right to campaign, fundraising practice, value for money and involvement in public services," Lewis said. "Over the summer and autumn, attacks on individual charities and our sector as a whole have been frequent and vicious. There are more challenges to come, we know.
"Now is not the time to hide or to hope that such attacks will recede. In an era where all institutions are under regular challenge, charities and voluntary organisations will continue to be under the microscope – and it is right and desirable that we should be."
Issues such as senior pay and fundraising strategy are, ultimately, all governance issues, he reminded the audience. "As trustees, you have a crucial role to play in considering these issues, upholding public trust and speaking up for the great work that your organisations are doing.
"It really is time to step up to the plate – the buck stops with you. Not with your chief executive, but with you."
