Third Sector Podcast

In May 2018, three climate activists called time on lukewarm campaigning over the climate crisis. They wanted a different and radical approach.The plan: mass civil disobedience. The name: Extinction Rebellion. And the first major act of the movement? Stage an occupation – of the Greenpeace offices in London. Why is it that charities are so often perceived to be “the opposite of disruptive?” Experts including The Wildlife Trusts’ chief executive, Craig Bennett, and the domestic violence campaigner Janey Starling outline the legislative and political challenges that defang charities’ ability to campaign. Lucinda also speaks to Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, and the Trussell Trust’s Emma Revie about the tussle encountered by charities seeking to both deliver services and advocate for change. With commentary from the philanthropy expert Rhodri Davies.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Philippa Cornish, head of client experience at the Charities Aid Foundation. They discuss the implications of CAF’s report into individual giving, which found a smaller pool of donors giving more led to a total uplift in 2023 in spite of the median monthly figure remaining stagnant at £20 since 2017. Philippa provides suggestions for how charities can encourage donors to adjust their monthly donations in line with inflation, including by enhancing trust, and to contribute to unrestricted funding pots.Charity Changed My Life features the story of a family receiving support from the Martin House Children’s Hospice.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.

Why donate to a charity if you can just help out a fellow human yourself – or buy a piece of premium fashion that promises to generate a similar result?In episode three of The End of Charity, Lucinda Rouse explores two very different alternatives to the charity model: mutual aid theory, and the rise of buzzy “for good” business.The activist and founder of Mutual Aid UK, Eshe Kiama Zuri, discusses mutual aid as an alternative to the “oppressive dynamics” of traditional charitable structures, suggesting that charities could act more effectively and meet community needs by devolving funding to grassroots organisations.Theo Clay, the former policy manager of the think tank New Philanthropy Capital, identifies the UK’s charity "deserts" – causes and geographical areas that receive insufficient funding. And the finance and enterprise development expert Tej Dhami explores the opportunities and pitfalls for businesses looking to capitalise on socially conscious customers while attempting to solve some of the world's biggest problems.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Emily Burt are joined by Dhivya O’Connor, chief executive of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.Dhivya provides insight into her previous experiences as an interim chief executive, describing the pros and cons of holding a short-term leadership role, and stresses the importance of cultivating a healthy organisational culture from the outset.She talks about the foundation’s recent research into the use of artificial intelligence by female entrepreneurs and the need for charity leaders to be mindful of the high potential for women to face abuse in the online space.Also in the episode, senior news reporter Emily Harle shares some snippets from a recent interview with Delyth Morgan, the outgoing chief executive of Breast Cancer Now.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.

Meet Jimmy Donaldson, perhaps better known as MrBeast – the 25-year-old YouTuber who some say is on the verge of sparking a revolution in online philanthropy. With more than 236 million YouTube subscribers and an estimated net worth of $500m, MrBeast has turned his focus from filling houses with Lego bricks to curing blind people and building wells. Lucinda asks Darren Margolias, the executive director of Jimmy’s charitable venture Beast Philanthropy, why MrBeast’s storytelling may have the edge over charities in reaching a younger generation of potential donors. Plus, the philanthropy expert Rhodri Davies and the anti-racism consultant Martha Awojobi ask: is there anything charities could learn from the ways MrBeast taps into the natural human instinct to give back? And exactly how ethical are his approaches to making the world a better place?Listen to The End of Charity: Can MrBeast save humanity? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast platform of choice.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by the fundraising historian Marina Jones to track the development of the fundraising profession and perceptions of charity fundraisers through the ages.Marina, who is leading a history project for the think tank Rogare, traces the roots of fundraising back to the time of Moses. She draws parallels between contemporary fundraising methods and instances of their use centuries before, as well as past mistakes that could be avoided by better knowledge of fundraising history.She recounts some of her favourite fundraising stories, including a cathedral tower which was constructed by incentivising donors through a reprieve on a ban on eating butter during Lent.Also in the episode, Andy and Lucinda discuss the recent appointment of three interim chief executives to lead ActionAid UK, and a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in Comic Relief’s recent Red Nose Day telethon.Read more about Rogare’s history project 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.Subscribe and listen to The End of Charity.Read the transcript to this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year the UK food bank network the Trussell Trust distributed almost 3 million emergency food parcels, 1 million of which were for children, up from 50,000 a decade ago.How has the UK landed in such a severe hunger crisis – and can food banks ever be the solution?In episode one of The End of Charity, journalist Lucinda Rouse hears from the Trussell Trust’s chief executive, Emma Revie, about the need to reimagine our social contract at a time when demand for charities is greater than ever.And the philanthropy expert Rhodri Davies traces the history of charity from its mediaeval and Victorian origins to its present state – where “something is fundamentally broken.” Read the transcript.To listen to the uninterrupted series, subscribe to the End of Charity on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Emily are joined by the digital specialist Zoe Amar and Karen Marter, head of technology strategy at the British Heart Foundation.Zoe outlines key developments in the AI space over the past year and how charities are reacting to them, including the use of virtual assistants in working life. She stresses the need for a sector-level response to the increasing normalisation of AI usage. Karen describes the function of the BHF’s AI working group, which focuses on education, governance and conducting an ongoing value assessment of AI innovations to the organisation.She explains how the BHF is learning by doing, supported by infrastructure and frameworks to ensure safe and ethical AI usage, as well as an informal community set up to share information on the latest developments between colleagues. Also in the episode, Lucinda and Emily introduce The End of Charity, a new six-part podcast documentary from Third Sector which will be launched on 19 March.Fill in the survey for the Charity Digital Skills Report 2024 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.

In a world where need is spiralling out of control and new, radical forces are shaping the landscape for doing good, can charity be the answer to the world’s social and environmental problems?Lucinda Rouse presents The End of Charity, a new podcast series from the makers of Third Sector. Guided by some of the leading voices of the philanthropy world, as well as radicals who believe the current model is on the brink of implosion, Lucinda asks: what are the flaws and contradictions baked into the ways charities work? How has the sector’s problematic past shaped its present? And who are the disruptors – from MrBeast to Extinction Rebellion – who could shake it up for good?The End of Charity launches 19 March. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, to reflect on the voluntary sector’s female-dominated workforce and the challenges facing women on their path to senior leadership positions.Charmaine stresses her conviction that charities need to be representative of the communities they exist to support. She describes heart disease as a disease of inequality, reflected in the fact that only one in eight cardiologists are women. She acknowledges that more work needs to be done to level the professional playing field for women and minority groups within the voluntary sector, but warns there are few quick fixes to effect the necessary culture changes.Also in the episode, news editor Andy Ricketts recounts how an appeal led by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations to uplift public service contracts as costs rise appears to have fallen on deaf ears at the Treasury.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.