Small Charity Week 2024 aims to spark ‘national conversation’ to build support & drive change
Melanie May | 8 May 2024 | News
This year’s Small Charity Week campaign will be the start of a three-year strategy to address the issues faced by small charities and build wider recognition and understanding of their power, NCVO has announced.
The aim is to empower small charities to play their full role in their communities and increase their impact. Over the three years, the campaign will work to amplify small charities to widen understanding of their role and the issues they and their communities face, and provide more training and toolkits to help them, as well as opportunities to connect and engage more widely.
Small Charity Week runs from 24-28 June this year, and is coordinated by NCVO with support from partners. During the week, activities and initiatives will take place to support and raise awareness of the role of small charities, with a downloadable resources pack available for charities and stakeholders containing resources and key messages they can use to help amplify the campaign.
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Sparking a ‘national conversation’
The week will seek to start a wider conversation about the issues small charities face with the aim of building broader support and driving greater change.
In a blog on the Small Charity Week website, Wayne Murray and Vic Hancock Fell say that while the week will always provide small charities with essential support, there is a “need to light a spark that will start a national conversation around the issues facing charities.” They add: “We need to engage the public at scale in not only the injustices charities face, but also that we have the ability to both highlight it, and to collectively change it”.
As such, they say: “part of the focus for Small Charity Week going forward must be to constantly push the issues into the mainstream”.
Charities are being asked to help by leveraging their marketing and press teams, their celebrity support, and their donors and campaigners to share the messages and calls to action.
More information will follow over the next few weeks about how to get involved.
Commenting on Small Charity Week, Sarah Vibert, NCVO Chief Executive said:
“Small charities provide bespoke support to some of the most vulnerable people but need better support and resources to continue their vital work. They are a lifeline, and the government needs to recognise how reliant many people are on the charities in their local area. That is why NCVO is committed to amplifying the voices of those on the front lines of small charities and telling their inspirational stories. They do so much for so many and this Small Charity Week sustainability, recognition and understanding of small charities will be at the forefront of our campaign.”
This Small Charity Week’s daily themes
Providing support for small charities in key areas, each day of Small Charity Week has a theme. This year, they include funding and fundraising, digital and technology, strategy and evaluation, marketing and communications, and HR and people management.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.