NCVO is to launch a website explaining how charities work along with a communications toolkit for charities to help them respond to common questions from the public.
Both the public facing website, called "how charities work" and toolkit for charities will launch later this summer. They are the latest developments in the umbrella body’s programme to improve public trust and confidence in charities. And build on the work that NCVO has done in partnership with CharityComms and the Understanding Charities Group.
The Charity Commission recently published research into trust and confidence in charities, which showed that trust had fallen to the lowest point since the regulator started collecting the data in 2005.
Announcing the new projects in a blog on NCVO’s website today, Chloe Stables, external relations manager, said: “NCVO’s underlying analysis is that the public concern is very real, and the media will continue to reflect that until both are convinced charities have changed their ways.”
That is in addition to changes to fundraising, being more transparent and demonstrating effective governance.
"It’s clear we need to talk directly (and more consistently) to the public about how modern charity works and how charities enable them to make a difference to the world around them,” she said.
She told Civil Society News that NCVO "talked to various people from across the sector to get their views on content for the website.” It will aim to give the public clear information about modern charities.
The toolkit for charities was developed in consultation with communications directors by “talking to them about the questions that are routinely asked” .
She added that the aim is that when there is criticism of charities there is “somewhere to signpost to” and somewhere charities can go for advice.
Stables said that both projects are “very much something that will develop over time – we want to see lots of feedback”.
NCVO launched the Constructive Voices programme earlier this year to encourage more positive stories about charities in the media. It will now build on this by producing factsheets about charities and providing training for journalists. This will include information about how charities are governed and how to read charity accounts.
