Third Sector Podcast

Lucinda and Alina are joined by the diversity, equity and inclusion specialist Natalia-Nana Lester-Bush and Rick Dodds, creative partner at the advertising agency Don’t Panic London. They talk about the need for nuance in the depiction of service users in advertising campaigns by voluntary organisations working in the UK and overseas.They discuss examples of effective and impactful campaigns such as Tearfund’s recent appeal video shot in Burundi, which contradicts and ridicules a more traditional narrative of development support to poor communities abroad, employing comedy to create a more interesting and authentic story.Rick and Natalia-Nana provide guidance on how charities can avoid “context flattening” in their storytelling, such as by ensuring a diversity of perspectives in the creative process, whilst conveying meaningful messages to audiences that inspire action.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda, Alina and Russ mark the Coronation by examining the royal patronage system and possible changes during the reign of King Charles III, with his vision of a slimmed down monarchy. They discuss the various roles of a royal patron, from generating publicity and exposure to removing stigma associated with sensitive charitable causes, and providing public endorsement of recipient charities’ achievements.Alina cites data collected by the voluntary sector consultancy nfpResearch on the popularity of various royal patrons and their influence on donor patterns, as well as a 2020 study by Giving Evidence on the impact of royal patronages on their partner charities.Lucinda provides information on the application process for charities seeking a royal patronage, which contains a heavy emphasis on aligning charitable cause areas with royals’ personal interests. And Russ explores the impact on charities when their royal patrons experience a decline in popularity.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Sarah Denselow, principal for effective philanthropy at the think tank New Philanthropy Capital, and Yvonne Field, chief executive of the Ubele Initiative, to learn about the need to adapt grant-making processes to better serve minority-led voluntary organisations.Yvonne explains why there is a need to overhaul the system to address the disadvantage of small, black and racially minoritised communities. She outlines how funding opportunities such as Propel and the Phoenix Way are seeking to shift the power dynamic in grant-making and stimulate long-term change.Sarah provides a preview of an upcoming NPC guide on how DEI considerations can be embedded within grant-making cycles. She emphasises the need to change perceptions of risk, away from the risk of money wasted to the risk of impact missed if the right charities fail to receive funding.Also in the episode, Russ gives some background to his report on the merits of charities sponsoring football clubs, following the recent collaboration between the NSPCC and Derby County.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda takes a look behind the scenes of Comic Relief’s grant-making team with Poonam D’Cruze, head of the charity’s poverty and injustice programme.Poonam explains the various functions of her team and provides tips for organisations seeking grants from Comic Relief to strengthen their applications.She describes her motivations for entering the funding space after years of working for small charities, driven by a desire to influence the funding landscape and create an ecosystem more responsive to the needs of the communities it supports.She outlines Comic Relief’s use of experts by experience to inform the grant-making process, and the charity’s commitment to interrogate what is asked of funding applicants, in order to shift some of the onus and burden of applying to the grant-maker.Later in the episode, news editor Steven Downes sheds light on the funding crisis facing hospices.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Jonathan Chevallier, chief executive of Charity Digital, and Angus Gregory, chief executive of Biomni, to talk about how the arrival of low-cost natural language AI tools has opened up opportunities for the voluntary sector.Jonathan outlines how ChatGPT could enable charities to deliver services more quickly and cheaply, from improving fundraising campaigns to content generation and information dissemination. He cites examples of charities which are already using AI solutions, including the Brain Tumour Charity, Unicef and Age UK.Angus explains how Biomni’s CharityBot uses language models to access information and carry out repetitive tasks, freeing up human resources for more complex work. He describes how conversational interactions enabled by AI tools help to increase accessibility of charities’ services, enabling them to identify users’ needs through their early engagement with online resources and refine their offering accordingly.Also in the episode, Russ gives his assessment of the Charity Commission’s leadership as chair Orlando Fraser completes his first year in post.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, to discuss her plans for the charity, her views on the need to reform the voluntary sector and the state of mental health in charities.Sarah calls for bravery among third sector leaders in confronting notions of the role and place of charities in society. She identifies the heightened emotional relationship between charity staff and the causes they are fighting for, raising the risk of mental distress, and suggests ways of supporting mental health in the sector. She also discusses some of the challenges facing Mind, including the need to further the charity’s commitment to tackling racism.Also in the episode, Russ and Lucinda talk about the difficulties facing social care charities, following a warning by Leonard Cheshire about the severe financial challenges jeopardising its future.And Lucinda decamps to Third Sector’s C-Suite Summit to speak to some of the speakers and attendees at the event examining the future of the voluntary sector.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of the Royal Voluntary Service, and Matt Hyde, chief executive of The Scouts, to talk about the Big Help Out initiative, which aims to generate excitement about the possibilities of volunteering.Matt highlights the need for innovation in charities’ volunteer recruitment efforts, such as using digital channels to attract volunteers from untapped social groups and communities.Catherine suggests ways in which the sector can maintain the momentum generated by the pandemic for micro community-based volunteering. She stresses that volunteering opportunities need to be mutually beneficial to volunteers, the organisations they serve and their service users.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Meera Wiggett, whose family took comfort in the support provided by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity when her daughter Maia was seriously ill as a newborn baby.Do you have stories of people like Meera and Maia whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Kirsty Marrins, the digital communications specialist and a trustee of CharityComms, to talk about the minefield that social media interactions can pose to voluntary organisations.The discussion follows a consultation by the Charity Commission on new social media guidance, which was prompted by a growing number of complaints about charities’ social media activity.Kirsty summarises the objections from within the sector to the new draft guidance, including the impracticalities of trustees monitoring staff members’ personal social media accounts. She provides pointers for voluntary organisations seeking to refresh their social media policies and stresses the need to consider the mental health and wellbeing of the team members responsible for organisational accounts.Later in the episode, The New Humanitarian’s Isabelle Roughol makes an appearance to plug the publication’s flagship podcast, Rethinking Humanitarianism.To find out more about the Third Sector C-Suite Summit, please click here.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Russ are joined by Priya Singh, chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, who led the NCVO's internal reform after a review in 2020 identified structural racism, homophobia, sexism and classism.Priya describes the role played by the NCVO’s trustee board in guiding the organisation through the process, knowing when to lean in and when to step back. She offers advice for other voluntary organisations embarking on a similar culture change, stressing the need to be open, listen and prepare for “comfortable conflict”.In Charity Changed My Life, we hear from Ben Peters about the invaluable practical and emotional support he has received from the Teenage Cancer Trust since his cancer diagnosis.To find out more about the Third Sector C-Suite Summit, please click here.Do you have stories of people like Ben whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Alina are joined by Georgia Paton, gaming and streaming manager at the British Red Cross, and Tom Downie, UK charity manager at the fundraising platform Tiltify, to discuss ways in which charities can take advantage of the growing livestream world.Georgia describes how the British Red Cross has reached a new fundraising demographic by collaborating with online content creators and their audiences, raising over £1m and gaining more than 6,000 new followers for the charity in four years. She suggests how other charities can get involved and engage creators, starting with immersion in platforms such as Twitch.Tom explains the terms ‘fandom fundraising’ and ‘creator economy’ and provides an overview of how different charities make use of the streaming world. He describes how the tools provided by Tiltify help bring more traditional forms of fundraising into the online space.Also in the episode, Alina talks about her recent interview with Jo Todd, chief executive of Respect, which covered the argument for supporting perpetrators of domestic violence as well as victims, and what Todd might do differently were she to start over.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.