# Innovation considered essential to charities’ survival, says Charity Innovation Report

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/06/10/innovation-considered-essential-charities-survival-says-charity-innovation-report/
- Published: 2014-06-10T17:53:31+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Charity staff are well aware of the importance of and need for innovative business
practices, according to the first Charity Innovation Report, published today.

Indeed, 61% of charity staff who responded to the survey said that organisations
would not survive unless they became more innovative. Indeed, 71% believed that,
without an innovative approach, charities would suffer financially by missing out
on opportunities for new and increased income streams.

As a result, new projects and services would not be developed, resulting in charities
failing to fulfil their missions.

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## Charity Innovation Report

The research was conducted by marketing expert Zoe Amar and innovation expert Lucy
Gower, in association with online fundraising platform Guess2Give. The survey ran
from 27 March 2014 to 14 April 2014, and received 298 responses.

Although much has been written on innovative approaches within charities, there 
was little research in how charity staff viewed innovation.

## Benefits of innovation?

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Respondents suggested the following benefits if innovation were allowed to flourish:

 [list type=”check”]

 * creating new sources of income (79%)
 * developing better services and projects (67%)
 * taking more measured risks and not being scared of trying new things (63%)
 * raising more funds from existing supporters (60%)
 * achieving the organisational strategy more quickly and effectively (56%)

 [/list]

 

## How established is innovation in charities?

Survey results showed how many charities had a person or team responsible for innovation:

 [list type=”check”]

 * 37% had a person or team
 * 58% did not
 * 5% did not know

 [/list]

 

## How can charities support innovation?

The survey asked charity staff how charities could support and enhance innovation.
A number of factors were cited:

 [list type=”check”]

 * a culture that supports and encourages innovation (58%)
 * time allocated for creative thinking (58%)
 * leadership from the board and executive team (44%)
 * a better understanding of what organisations’ audiences want (44%)
 * fewer silos and more collaboration (42%)

 [/list]

 

Mark Chandler, CEO of Guess2Give said:

> “Our research shows that innovation holds the future for charities of all sizes.
> Charities need to actively test new approaches to service delivery and income 
> generation to ensure they stimulate their supporters and engage with new ones.”

Full details of the [Charity Innovation Report](http://www.charityinnovationreport.co.uk)
can be downloaded at no charge.

 * **[New £10k grant to encourage social innovation in not-for-profit sector](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/08/06/new-10k-grant-encourage-social-innovation-profit-sector/)**(
   6 August 2014)
 * **[British fundraising suffering from an ‘innovation deficit’](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/28/british-fundraising-suffering-innovation-deficit/)**(
   28 October 2014)
 * **[Culture eats strategy for breakfast lunch and dinner](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/06/18/culture-eats-strategy-for-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner/)**(
   18 June 2015)