Top business directors think charities are under-utilising their skills
Howard Lake | 4 January 2007 | News
Charities are struggling to use effectively the voluntary business skills of directors, according to a survey of the UK’s top directors by Directorbank in conjunction with Impetus Trust, a charity set up by the private equity industry.
Five hundred of the 2,800 directors contacted responded to the survey, and many acknowledged that the problem was due largely to ‘hand to mouth’ funding, lack of project management capacity and the public perception that donations should go to a cause rather than on administration. More than half of the directors who responded volunteer as charity trustees so have some knowledge of the issues involved. Indeed, 62% of these say that a key motivation was to offer their specialist expertise.
Despite their involvement, directors said that the biggest issues facing charities are financial management (24%), leadership (18%), business acumen (17%) and strategic direction (12%).
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Elizabeth Jackson, chief executive of Directorbank, argues that charities need to re-think how they use the business skills on offer.
She said: “There is a strong sense of frustration among business leaders. They want to help charities but few feel they are making a real difference – which is a wasted opportunity for charities. Clearly there are a lot of issues about how directors can make more of a contribution, which needs addressing.”
Over half of the directors surveyed (52%) stated an interest in offering their skills to venture philanthropy charity Impetus. The Trust only invests in charities that have a clear sense of ambition and distinctive strategy and can show how the investment will achieve “a significant step change”.
Roger Flynn, director of SpringBoard Group and former director of BBC Ventures, is a founder director of Youth Culture Television. Even though he set up this charity, he has found it difficult to use his business skills in such a different environment. He admits that for all his experience and longer range ideas, board meetings often had to revolve around short term funding.
One national charity that Directorbank says has made significant steps in using the skills of directors is Rathbone, which provides education and training for young people. Their chief executive, Richard Williams, has an education background and recruited specific business skills in both executive directors and trustees to complement his own skills. One of these, Barbara Rimmer, is former director of Focus Wickes Group and one of Directorbank’s candidates.
Barbara Rimmer, director of finance at Rathbone, is using her expertise in corporate finance and change management to help the charity refocus and set clear goals. She said: We have agreed a three year strategy and given all directors and trustees specific targets to help us achieve our objectives.
“Already this focus means we are seeing higher success rates in helping young people to achieve qualifications.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.