If you ask charity leaders what keeps them awake at night, funding is likely to be high on the list.
And understandably so. Across the sector, organisations are facing rising costs, growing demand and cutbacks from funders and supporters, amidst an enduring cost of living crisis in the UK, global turbulence and uncertainty. These are challenges that require constant attention.
As I prepare to leave NCT after six and a half years as chief executive, I’ve found myself reflecting on a different issue. While finances will always matter, I think long-term risk lies in becoming less relevant to the people and communities we’re here to serve.
Accepted wisdom
A loss of relevance doesn’t happen overnight. It’s more subtle than that. You carry on doing things because they’ve always been done that way. You assume you know what people need rather than staying curious, and asking them.
Over time, ways of working, views and assumptions can become so familiar that they’re rarely challenged. Certain ideas become accepted wisdom. The world changes, but the charity struggles to change with it.
And while most charities remain deeply committed to their purpose, over time this can mean that they become less connected to the changing realities of people’s lives.
Deep understanding
Over the years, I’ve become increasingly convinced that relevance is one of the most important responsibilities of charity leadership.
By this I don’t mean we as leaders should be constantly chasing trends or reinventing ourselves every few years. We should absolutely not abandon what makes our charity distinctive.
Relevance means deeply understanding the people you exist to serve. Understanding them well enough to recognise when their needs, expectations and experiences are changing, and being willing and able to respond to those changes authentically.
At NCT, we’ve seen this firsthand. For 70 years, we have supported people through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. During that time, society and our healthcare system have changed significantly. Parents today are navigating a very different world from the one their own parents experienced.
Throughout that time, our purpose has remained the same, but we’ve had to keep asking whether the way we deliver it is keeping pace with the lives of modern pregnancy and parenthood. During Covid, for example, we had to react quickly, moving our antenatal education online and investing in our digital information provision.
Rebrand opportunity
More recently, that thinking informed our work on NCT’s rebrand.
For us, this was an opportunity to ask some important questions about who we are, who we serve and whether women and parents from all backgrounds, cultures, places and pregnancy journeys could see themselves reflected in our charity.
The process was informed by extensive engagement with those who use our services and – as importantly – those who potentially could, but currently don’t. We wanted to understand where we were connecting and where we were falling short in what they needed from us.
We heard a lot about wanting authenticity in representation, about honesty in the “messiness” and realities of modern pregnancy and parenthood. We also heard how time poor our beneficiaries are and how overwhelmed they are in a world of digital (mis)information. We learned that support, free of judgement or ideology was what mattered.
These many insights led to a complete reimagining of our education classes and a renewed commitment to being a trusted health information creator in an age of AI. It also reinforced the importance of local human connection, alongside the platforms to build digital affinity groups.
Listening to people not yet engaged
What emerged reinforced something I’ve learned throughout my career: the most valuable insights often come from listening to the people who are not yet fully engaging with your organisation.
Charities are rightly accountable to a range of stakeholders. We listen to government, funders, trustees, regulators, policymakers, our people and our members. All of those voices matter. But sometimes we spend less time listening to the people who most need our support, particularly those who may not currently see our organisation as relevant to them.
Those conversations that challenge assumptions about who we are and who we are for can be uncomfortable, but they are essential: telling us so much about barriers or perceptions we may not otherwise known existed.
Throughout my time at NCT, I’ve found that deeply understanding people’s lived experiences, without judgement, helps us make better decisions about where to focus our efforts and how to achieve the greatest impact, and I think there is a lesson in that for the wider sector.
Many charities are operating in an increasingly difficult environment. For many, demand for their services is rising and resources are often stretched. But there is a risk that, in dealing with these challenges, we don’t spend enough time considering whether we are still reaching the people who need us most.
Are there groups who don’t see us as being “for them”? Are our services, communications and ways of working truly inclusive, helping us best deliver our mission to everyone?
In my experience, adaptation is not a sign that an organisation has drifted from its purpose. The strongest organisations are often those that are confident enough in their purpose to change how they achieve it. Preserving a mission does not necessarily mean preserving every process or way of working that has developed around it.
Looking back on my time at NCT, I’ve learnt that relevance requires constant curiosity about people’s lives, a willingness to listen, and sometimes the confidence to change course. Financial sustainability matters enormously, but ultimately our purpose is only meaningful if we’re meeting the needs of the people we’re here to support.
