NCVO has said that it was keen to consult its small charities advisory panel (SCAP) on the umbrella body’s controversial recent restructure but was unable to do so fully.
In a social media post on Wednesday, NCVO’s chief commercial officer Saskia Konynenburg said the organisation wanted to engage fully with SCAP, NCVO’s 10-person panel set up in 2023 to uphold the legacy of the Small Charities Coalition (SCC), “about our plans but weren’t able to due to staff confidentiality”.
Concerns have been shared recently about NCVO’s ability to staff its small charity helpdesk, which it inherited from SCC and now plans to “evolve”, after some of its practical support team were made redundant.
Civil Society understands that while SCAP has been consulted on NCVO’s upcoming strategy, it was not aware of the redundancy plans before they were announced publicly.
Konynenburg apologised for a since-changed social media post by NCVO, seen by Civil Society, which stated that SCAP’s co-chairs were “informed prior to the staff consultation”.
“If any of our communications have implied they were involved in decision making or endorsed any plans, I apologise [...] This was not the case,” her post reads.
“We deeply value the contributions of SCAP and would have liked to consult with them fully as it may have helped reduce fears about changes with the service and avoided some of the confusion but it was simply not possible to do this alongside supporting affected staff.
“We continue to listen and learn about how we can do things better in the future.”
SCAP member Olivia Barker White thanked Konynenburg for the public apology, which she said the panel had demanded, but questioned why it was not made by NCVO’s main account.
‘Small but mighty’ apology
NCVO has also been criticised for describing itself as “small but mighty” in its adverts for six new associate director positions, which it is recruiting as part of the restructure, despite recording an annual income of £9.48m in its latest accounts.
SCAP’s page on NCVO’s website defines small charities as those with an income of below £1m and links to a report on SCC’s legacy called Small and Mighty.
On Monday, the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN) said in a letter to NCVO that its use of the phrase in the adverts was “wholly inappropriate”.
SIDCN, of which Barker White is a trustee, urged the membership body to remove the phrase from its communications and apologise.
In a social media post on the phrasing, NCVO chief executive Kate Lee said she was “sorry that has caused offence and I can see why”.
“I used it initially to refer to NCVO’s mind set with government. The changes outlined seem huge and, at times, impossible.
“I wanted to inspire the NCVO team (and new recruits) that compared to the machine of government we don’t have a lot of resources but we can still be effective. It was subsequently taken out of context and for that I’m sorry.”
Civil Society understands NCVO also plans to respond to SIDCN directly on its concerns.
On Monday, Lee also apologised to the umbrella body’s members over “uncertainty and confusion” caused by the recent staff changes.
The associate director video advert and written description both still describe NCVO as a “small organisation but […] mighty”.
