Inspired by Matthew Syed’s Rebel Ideas Board One: The Money Experts The Trustees gather around the table, impressive, professional and confident in their expertise. The charity: Community Progress – a charity that partners with a grassroots partner in the Niger …
Joining as a charity Trustee from the corporate world? Here’s what you need to unlearn.
So, you’re a charity Trustee. You’ve found a role in an organisation whose cause you’re interested in, and you can’t wait to unleash your skills and experience to help this charity thrive. Fantastic! – Let me be the first to …
Unlocking your unknown knowns through external reviews
Donald Rumsfeld famously said: “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There …
Wellbeing – what works and what may not
A recent piece of research published in the Industrial Relations Journal around three weeks ago revealed that wellbeing at work is not impacted significantly by individual level mental health interventions. Time to jettison the EAP and those Friday lunchtime yoga …
Why I call myself the Mary Poppins of the Charity Sector
About a month or two ago, I changed my LinkedIn title from ‘Interim CEO and Charity Consultant’ to ‘The Mary Poppins of the Charity Sector’. It’s something I often say in passing when I describe what it is that I …
Dear Commissioners,
It’s time we had a proper talk. I must warn you – this is not like our usual conversations where you pat us on the head and tell us how wonderful you think we are, and then everything stays the …
The case for paying interim Chairs
Hey – are you interested in a new role? It’s hugely stressful, intense and often thankless. It will involve bearing responsibility for really important work that lots people are depending on. Oh, and it’s completely and utterly unpaid. …Where are …
Dear Donor – we’re sorry we didn’t tell you the truth about overheads.
Dear Donor, I’m writing to say that we are sorry. Over the years, we’ve let you down. You’ve said you wanted to restrict your money to ‘the cause’, and we’ve let you believe that this means your money can only …
How to get a strategic planning process right – a case study with NAPAC
Many charities approach strategic planning with trepidation, not to mention a hefty dose of confusion. The whole idea of Board ‘ownership’ of strategic plans means that some Boards don’t involve staff in the process at all. In others, CEOs who …
Why it’s time we stop using the term ‘critical friend’
Here’s a secret it’s time I reveal: I loathe the term ‘critical friend’. As a term, its intentions are pure: it aims to reflect the balanced approach between challenge and support that a charity Board is supposed to demonstrate towards …