Fifth Estate, the voluntary sector group of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, is conducting a survey to assess the extent to which senior communications professionals are allowed to help set strategy within their charities.

The survey, Get Heard, will be used as the basis for a report looking at the way communications is valued at senior management levels within the charity sector.

Gill Dandy, chair of Fifth Estate, said the group suspected that the strategic role of PR professionals within the sector was undervalued.

Yet, she said, “the extent to which communications is fully understood and valued at the most senior levels has the potential to make or break an organisation”.

Comms professionals can take part in the survey here.