Political parties' policies for the sector are vague and lack a clear narrative, and the sector must respond by outlining its own vision of the future, the chief executive of the NCVO told a debate on the election last night.

Sir Stuart Etherington was speaking alongside Neil Cleeveley, chief executive of Navca, and Peter Lewis, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, at a panel discussion on the impact of the general election, hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales.

The panel agreed that neither the Conservative Party or the Labour Party had a clear vision of for the sector ahead of the next election, which created an opportunity for the sector to refocus its attention away from chasing funding opportunities and back to the cause.

Etherington said the policies for the voluntary sector being put forward were “quite vague”. He added that the election campaigns were shaping up to be quite “dirty”.

“They are not talking about policies they are talking about personalities,” he said. “It is quite difficult to create a clear narrative.”

He said the sector needs to think about “how people are going to organise themselves into voluntary action – because it isn’t going to be the same as before” and that  "we need to reconnect with the cause."

He also said that rather than concentrating on one type of funding source, such as social investment, grants or contracts, which he describes as “fashions”, he said: “There needs to be a much more mature debate about the funding mix.”

Lewis said: “Despite there being a lack of narrative they want charities to do more but at the same time there is going to be less public money.”

He added that those charities that are clearly focused on their mission find it easier to fundraise because they have “more confidence” when asking individuals or trusts for funding.

Lewis also suggested that some types of charity, such as those running legal services, would have to consider fundraising for the first time and pointed to America where the equivalent of legal aid was funded mostly by philanthropists.

Cleeveley said that in some ways the cuts to public spending and the prospect of fewer public sector contracts were “quite liberating” and was confident that: “Over time we will find different ways of doing things.”

He said that some “charities started chasing money” and that changes in the landscape could “enable them to reconnect with their values”.