News that the Charity Commission received a record 1,000 applications to register new charities in July, sparked debate on LinkedIn recently.
David Brindle, former public services editor at the Guardian, used the opportunity to declare that there are too many charities. Predictably, this prompted a flurry of comments in support and to the contrary.
I can see both sides, but in the spirit of trying to promote more suggestions for boosting board diversity (see September’s Governance & Leadership) – beyond making it easier to pay trustees (see July’s Governance & Leadership) – the LinkedIn thread gave me another idea.
Many of those who claim there are too many charities contend that potential new-charity founders ought to channel their energy into supporting an existing charity in the same causal area, rather than setting up a new one which will invariably end up competing for a finite pot of funding and risk diluting the voice and messaging for that cause.
Another argument goes that too many founders rush in and set up a charity with no clue as to the scale of legal and regulatory oversight that is required to run it properly, and inevitably run into trouble (Captain Tom Foundation, anyone?).
However, if someone identifies a problem in society, or a gap in service provision, and has a burning desire to fix it, why should anyone tell them they can’t? There is something wonderful about the fact that our democracy allows the proliferation of new organisations determined to make the world a better place. And let’s not forget, all our biggest and most effective charities began their lives as start-ups.
Yet it is true that sector funding is not unlimited and there is already an inordinate amount of competition for it, without hundreds more organisations joining the fray each month. Duplication of effort is wasteful and too many charities are poorly governed, or personal fiefdoms or, in the worst cases, hotbeds of internecine warfare.
Filling trustee vacancies
So, the best way forward is to continue to allow new charities to emerge, but to ensure that those setting them up are cognisant of their governance duties and legal responsibilities, and have some awareness of other charities operating in their sphere.
The solution? Everyone who wants to start a new charity should have to serve on the board of an existing charity in the same subsector for a period of time first – say, one year. They could join as a full trustee or as an associate trustee.
In this way, thousands of charities (many of which have trustee vacancies) would benefit from new board members brimming with ideas, energy and enthusiasm to make a difference in their sector. Meanwhile, the individual would get a taste of what’s really required to run a charity – including the challenges of fundraising and the realities of meeting a long and growing list of regulatory responsibilities.
Such a “founder apprenticeship” would also solve the growing problem of many charity registration applications being filled in by artificial intelligence. AI can’t turn up to board meetings. So, what’s not to like?
