Small Charity Sector Skills Survey - · PDF fileEstablished by Emma Harrison CBE and Pauline Broomhead to deliver strategic skills to small charities, ... Newcastle, Preston, Manchester,

UK Small Charity SectorSkills Survey

2014/15

Content

Foreword

Executive Summary

Background to Survey

Introduction

Skills Ratings

Recruitment Problems

Key Skills Issues

Causes for Perceived Skills Gaps

Solutions

Final Comment

1

2

3 - 4

5 - 7

8 - 9

10 - 11

12 - 16

17 - 18

23

19 - 22

AUTHORS OF THIS SURVEY

Madeleine MayGSS Voluntary Sector

Placement SchemePauline Broomhead

CEO FSI

About the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI)The FSI was launched in 2007 and has grown to become the UK’s largest provider of free capacity building support services to the Small Charity Sector. Established by Emma Harrison CBE and Pauline Broomhead to deliver strategic skills to small charities, the FSI provides a year-round programme of training and conference learning across the UK. Our aim is to amplify the voice of small charities who represent 97% of the charity sector as a whole, this is achieved through advocacy, research and campaigning. All of our programmes are delivered free of charge to members of the FSI (membership is also free for small charities).

Today the FSI delivers almost £2 million worth of free support opportunities to small charities right across the UK. In 2015/16 we will deliver:

• Training days in central London and other major cities (2014: Newcastle, Preston, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol and Brighton) and it is our intention to extend regional coverage in 2015/16. Training covers all of the major fundraising methodologies and key strategic areas such as leadership, governance and marketing.

• Conference places in central London. The FSI Fundraising Conference brings together experienced speakers to share the knowledge needed to make small charities sustainable. The FSI Skills Conference provides a platform for 20 experts in areas such as Pensions, Law, HR and Governance to impart thevitalknowledgeneededtorunasmallcharityefficientlyandeffectively.

• Advice Clinics. Those working to support small charities have one to one support to discuss organisational and programme strategy or any aspect of their work where advice is needed, including fundraising.

• Small Charity Week. A major celebration of the Small Charity Sector and its impact on every community in the UK. The week is packed with events, awareness campaigns, fundraising and volunteering opportunities and policy activities including the release of research that focuses on the challenges facing the Small Charity Sector.

• The SmallCharityIndex.Providesevidence-baseddatatosupportthevoiceoftheSmallCharitySectorintheUK.TheIndexinformsandinfluencesdecision makers when deciding legislation and policy that will affect the Small Charity Sector.

• Research and Campaigns. Each year the FSI undertakes a key piece of research which looks into the challenges facing small charities and subsequently uses the research to campaign for changes that will positively affect small charities.

• Skills Survey (undertaken every two years). Understanding the skills gaps across small charities is crucial in deciding the training courses, workshop topics and other areas of support that will be needed to enhance their effectiveness.

• The Federation for Small Charities Council. The Council is a membership organisation representative of the sector as a whole by turnover, cause type andgeography.TheCouncilisfacilitatedandsupportedbytheFSIaspartofitsinfluencingactivities.

• PolicyandInfluencing Programme. The FSI is committed to amplifying the voice of small charities through joint consultation on legislative changes, representation on national committees, through the media and via campaigns. We ensure as broad an audience as possible, including policy makers and the general public, are aware of the impact small charities have in every community across the UK.

ForewordSmall charities are a key part of civil society. They play an important role in supporting the economy, in building social cohesion and in integrating those individuals who are in danger of being marginalised from society. Having the relevant skills to undertake this important role is vital to their continued effectiveness and for the development of the Small Charity Sector as a whole.It is important to invest in the development of a thriving and diverse Small Charity Sector as they represent all that is relevant in a healthy democracy – where people come together around the causes they care about to make a difference.

There are many challenges facing small charities at this time. As a result of the reductions in local authority funding there has been an upsurge in demand for the services that small charities offer to the communities they serve. The demand for the services that small charities provide has never been greater, 58% of charities contributing to the Small Charity Index for the months of September to November 2014 indicated that the demand for their services had increased. As a result small charities continue to faceacutefinancialpressurewhilstcontinuingtostrivetomeetthishigherdemand, which has brought its own challenges.

Since the Small Charity Index was launched, small charities have been

consistently reporting reductions in staff. Workload has been highlighted asasignificantchallengeandashavinganegativeimpactonacharity’sability to deliver services. As small charity staff spend more and more time on delivery they must ‘squeeze’ in all of the other tasks related to their role as best they are able.

Many small charity staff must also spend more of their time on fund development as they seek to balance the increased costs of delivering higherlevelsofservicesagainstflatliningincomefromallsources.

These are not easy times and so it is now more important than ever that we taketimetofindoutwhatskillsanddevelopmentopportunitiesareneededin order that small charities are able to continue their vital work.

We hope that this report ignites the debate on how we support small charities to become more effective and self sustaining in order that their doors remain open to the millions who need their support.

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Executive Summary In the fourth edition of our biennial Small Charity Sector Skills Survey, the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) concludes that skills gaps still present a major barrier for small charities across the UK with many basic problems remaining the same.• Fundraisersremainthemostchallengingvacancytofillwithnearlya

third of respondents selecting this option (32%), however, this is down from 57% in the 2012/13 Survey.

• Salaryremainedthebiggestreasonwhyvacancieswerehardtofill(58%), however, applicants’ lack of experience has become more prominent since 2012/13 (9%) with now 25% of respondents selecting this.

• In this Survey we asked about the part Trustees play in fundraising and whilst 51% of respondents reported that their Trustees played an active role in fundraising, 86% of respondents felt that they ought to play an active role.

• The strongest performance ratings* were given to: Research (31%), Health & Safety (47%), Recruitment Practices (48%), Basic IT Skills (70%), Copywriting (43%) and People Management (71%).

• In fundraising the strongest performance ratings were given to Presentation Skills (54%) and Trusts & Foundations (45%).

• The poorest performance ratings* were given to: Lobbying (49%), Utilising Social Media (44%), Structuring Communications (46%) and Latest HR Laws and Practices (27%).

• In fundraising the poorest performance ratings were given to Major Donor Fundraising (64%), Online Fundraising (62%) and Corporate Fundraising (61%).

• Lack of training and development remained the main reason stated for the cause of the skills gaps, closely followed by a lack of time available for employees to attend training.

• As in previoussurveys,theimpactofskillsgapsidentifiedbythelargest proportion of respondents was increased workload across the organisation (61%), although this was closely followed by increased time taken to deliver work (51%).

• Since 2012/13 there has been an increas in the proportion of respondents indicating a decreased ability to take on new work (from 39% to 43%), which is particularly worrying at a time when small charities are experiencing an increased demand for their services.

• In the 2010/11 and 2012/13 Surveys the most common way to address existing skills gaps within a charity was to use volunteers instead of paid employees (46% and 42%). While the percentage of charities proposing to take this action remained similar in 2012/13 (41%), using resources and training from sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies (43%) and further training provision (42%) were the two most cited actions taken.

• The most common reason given for not providing employees with training was the cost of external training.

The demand for further training provision and the relatively low level of training provided for small charitable organisations indicates the ongoing importance of the FSI’s programme of free support services for the Small Charity Sector.

*Anexplanationofhowskillsratingsaredefinedisonpage8ofthissurvey.

Background to the SurveyGiven that the Small Charity Sector has many unique characteristics, we have highlighted some key statistics from previous research below in order to better understand the results of the survey.

• In September 2014 over 164,987 charities hadsubmitted an annual return to the Charity Commission in the last three years of which we estimate that 96% or 159,174 of these were charities with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million. (NCVO/TSRC, Charity Commission)

• Civil society encompasses a diverse range of organisationsfromsmallmicrocharitiesdeliveringspecificprojectswithlimitednumbersofbeneficiaries,right through to larger national organisations with thousands of employees that deliver government contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

• More than eight out of every ten (84%) of voluntary sector employees are based in England, with around a tenth being based in Scotland. (LSF) • There has been an 8.8% overall real term fall in voluntary sector income from government between 2010/11 and 2011/12. (NCVO, The UK Civil Society

Almanac 2014)• GeneratingincomeandachievingfinancialstabilityisthemostpressingchallengeaccordingtoACEVO’s2015SocialLandscapeSurvey.Incomein

respect of small charities has remained relatively static over the 18 months June 2013 to November 2014. (FSI Small Charity Index Quarterly Report)• The UK Giving 2014 Survey reported that the sector as a whole had seen donations drop by £400 million.• Oneinfivesmallcharitiesarestrugglingtosurvive(ACEVO2015SocialLandscapeSurvey).The demand for the services that small charities provide

has never been greater, 58% of charities contributing to the Small Charity Index for the months of September to November 2014 indicated that the demand for their services had increased.

• Civil society organisations are a major employer with an estimated 2.3 million people employed as paid staff, this is the equivalent of 8% of the total UK workforce. (NCVO/TSRC)

• One-fifthofvoluntarysectororganisationsprovidednotrainingatallduring2012/13.(UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2013)• The main impact of skills gaps within the voluntary sector was an increase in the workload of other employees (84%). This was followed by having

difficultyintroducingnewworkingpracticeswithintheorganisation(46%)andhavingdifficultymeetingqualitystandards(42%).(UKCES/UKVoluntarySector Workforce Almanac 2013)

• Voluntary sectoremployeesarehighlyqualified,withmorethanone-third(38%)holdingadegreelevelqualificationorhigherin2011.Thisisslightlylower than employees within the public sector (41%) but higher than employees within the private sector (23%). Overall more than seven of every ten (72%)voluntarysectoremployeesheldanALevelqualification,itsequivalentorhigher(LSF/UKVoluntarySectorWorkforceAlmanac2013)

• Voluntary sector employers, who had skills gaps within their organisation, were most likely to report gaps for administrative/clerical staff (33%) and managers (28%) (UKCES/UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2013)

• The workforce is made up of 66% women and 34% men. 3

• Voluntary sector employees are mainly concentrated in small workplaces. Almost a third (32%) of voluntary sector workers in 2011 were employed in workplaces of less than ten employees. This is noticeably different to both the private and the public sectors (26% and 7% respectively). (LSF)

• It is estimated that the voluntary sector contributes £11.8 billion to the UK GDP.*• The Community Life Survey 19b estimates that UK adults who formally volunteer at least once a month spent more than 2.1 billion hours volunteering

in 2012/13. Using a replacement cost approach, which uses the median wage from equivalent occupational groups to calculate the cost of replacing volunteers with paid staff, the ONS estimate 19c, that the value of voluntary activity is £23.9 billion – this is equivalent to just over 1.5% of GDP.

• £23.9 billion is the estimated value of the output of volunteers in 2012/13. (ONS).

Responding Charities by Location Respondents were asked where they deliver their support. 43% of respondents answered that their charity delivers support locally, almost twice as many as any other response option. (Base: all individual respondents (n=378)

Of those who deliver support nationally; the largest proportion deliver support in England (83%), followed by Wales (10%), Northern Ireland (5%) and Scotland (2%). It is worth noting that 82 respondents selected National as their location, but only 63 went on to specify which nation they deliver support in.

Some people appeared not to answer the question as intended, so if we also take into account free text responses and responses from people who selected local, regional or international in the previous question, we see that 50% deliver services just to England, 16% to the whole of the UK, while 4% deliver in Great Britain.

Other countries that feature more than once in the free text responses include: Uganda (9 responses), Kenya (7 responses), India (5 responses), Malawi and Zimbabwe (4 responses each). Broken down by continent, of the countries listed, 53 are in Africa, 24 in Asia, 3 in North America and 2 in South America.

RecessionOnly 9%ofrespondentsindicatedthattheyhadfounditmoredifficulttoretainstaffasaresultoftheimpactoftherecessionintheUK(followingsixconsecutivequartersofnegativegrowth,theUKeconomyfinallymovedoutofrecessioninthelastquarterof2009. Theeconomyhadmovedintotechnicalrecession in the third quarter of 2008 as GDP fell for a second successive quarter). Respondents were asked to provide reasons if they selected yes to this question.Themajorityoftheresponsescitedfinancialreasonssuchasreducedfunding,whileothersattributedthedifficultytocontractlengthorparttimeworking.Overhalfofrespondents(58%)answeredthattheyhadnotfounditmoredifficulttoretainstaffasaresultoftherecession.(Base: all individual respondents (n=301)

Local

Regional

National

International

43%16%

22% 19%

Where the services were delivered

4* GVA (gross value added) measures the value of output, NCVO developed a method to estimate the voluntary sector’s GVA in consultation with the ONS in the early 2000s.

IntroductionIn this fourth edition of our biennial Small Charity Sector Skills Survey, the FSI concludes that skills gaps still present a major barrier for small charities across the UK.

Aims and objectivesThe survey has been conducted by the FSI as part of its work to promote skills, knowledge and sustainability within the Small Charity Sector.The overarching aim of the survey was to explore and examine the nature and scope of skills shortages and skills gaps in the paid workforce of the Small Charity Sector. These results provide reliable measures to:

1. Identifyhardtofillvacanciesandthefactorsthatcontributetothis.2. Analyse skills gaps in the existing workforce and the reasons for this. 3. Identifycorrelationandthedifferencesbetweenthesefindingsandearlierstudies.4. Consider measures and approaches to deal with skills issues.

Definitions• Skills: We haveuseddefinitionsfromtheUKCommissionforFundingandSkills’:NationalEmployersSkillsSurveyindefiningskills.• Skills ShortageVacancies:Areasubsetofjobvacancieswherearoleishardtofillduetolackofskills,workexperienceorqualificationsinthe

applicants for the role.• SkillsGaps:Arethelackofskills,workexperienceorqualificationsamongworkersalreadyemployedinajob.• Small Charities: In the context of this survey a small charity is a registered charitable organisation with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million. This

definitionisconsistentwiththeapproachthattheFSIusestodefineitsbeneficiarygroup.

Scope of the SurveyThefindings of the survey are based on valid responses from individuals working in registered charitable organisations with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million. The majority of the respondents were in leadership roles or governance positions within these organisations. However due to the limited workforceinmanysmallcharities,agreatnumberofrespondentshadmultipleroleswithintheirorganisations.Accordinglythesurveyfocusedonspecificskillsutilisedbyindividualswithinthesectorasopposedtospecificjobroles.Respondentswereaskedtoanswerquestionsrelatingtoareaswithintheircharity which they had responsibility for, had a strong working knowledge of, or could seek responses from those who had access to the information required to complete the survey.

The survey is intended to highlight the need for skills development within the Small Charity Sector and to inform the development of FSI services. 5

MethodologyThe survey was conducted online and was designed to be consistent with the approach taken in the three previous Small Charity Sector Skills Surveys undertaken by the FSI in order to provide continuity in the results. The survey was disseminated to the FSI’s member database of 3,500 charities and via FSI partner organisations. The 2014/15 Skills Survey generated 414 responses. Three of these were duplicates and were removed - removing these had no meaningful impact on the results.

A further 55 responses were attributed to 25 organisations. We retained the most recent response from each organisation and removed all others from the dataset. This left a sample size of n=381.

Responding Charities by Annual TurnoverOver half of respondents (53%) represented charities with annual turnover of £250,000 or less. This was the case in the 10/11 and 12/13 surveys however the proportion has decreased from 67% to 53% over this period.(Base: all individual respondents (n=381)

0 30 60 90 120 150

£0K - £50K

£51K - £250K

£251K - £500K

£501K - £1M

£1M - £1.5M

78

125

80

69

29

0 30 60 90 120 150

£0K - £50K

£51K - £250K

£251K - £500K

£501K - £1M

£1M - £1.5M

2010/11

2012/13

2014/15

Annual Turnover

6

Responding Charities by Cause TypeChildren and young people still represent one of the most common causes with 17% of respondents (65) selecting this group as their cause, along with 17% (65) who selected Education & Training. Health, which was the second most common cause in 10/11 and 12/13 is now the third most common (16%), replaced by Community Welfare, Advocacy and Rights in third place with 17% (63). (Base: all individual respondents (n=375)

When asked abouttheirbeneficiaries,overhalf(54%)ofrespondentsselectedchildrenandyoungpeople.Aquarter(25%)selectedtheelderly.Fromtheotherfreetextresponses,thefollowinggroupswerethemostcommonbeneficiaries;peoplewithspecifichealthissues,disabledpeople,homelesspeople,local communities and people with learning disabilities. (Base: all individual respondents (n=375)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Children & Young People

Education & Training

Community Welfare, Advocacy and Rights

Health

Disability

Arts & Culture

Environment

Homelessness

Animals

Religion

Sport

65

65

6359

45

2918

14

97

1

Cause Type

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Skills RatingsSkills with strong performance ratings are where 40% or more respondents selected “excellent” or “very good” and skills with poor performance ratings are where 50% or more respondents selected “need some upskilling” or “need significantupskilling”.

Strong Performance RatingsSkills areas where respondents reported the greatest proportion of “excellent” or “very good” skills include: team working (66%), basic computer literacy/ IT (65%), leadership (65%), working in partnership with other organisations (56%) and health and safety (56%). These categories were reported on as skills with strong performance ratings in the 12/13 report, but for most skills, the percentage of “excellent” or “very good” responses has increased, with the exception of basic computer literacy/ IT and working in partnership with other organisations (previously 67% and 57% respectively).

StrongTeam workingWorking in partnership with other organisationsHealth and safetyBasic computer literacy (IT)

Communications (external)Communications (internal) LeadershipFinanceManagement of paid staff Management of volunteersProject Management

NeitherCharity lawFundraisingMonitoring and evaluationLong term strategic planningAnnual strategiesInfluencingpolicy

HR/PersonnelCampaigningProcurement/contract management

PoorStrategic use of ITImpact reportingMarketingEngaging and working with businesses/companies

Performance ratings

Skills with strong performance ratings

Team working

Basic computer literacy/IT

Leadership

Health and safety

Working in partnership with other organisations

9% 58% 13% 20%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Need signi�cant upskilling Need some upskilling Neutral Very good Excellent Not relevant

8

Poor Performance RatingsIn the 12/13 report, 14% of respondents selected that their organisations needed some orsignificantupskillinginfundraising,whileinthelatestresults,only9%ofrespondentsconsideredthatfundraisingskillsrequiredsomeorsignificantupskilling.Similarly,thepercentageofrespondentsconsideringtheneedforsignificantupskillinginlongtermstrategic planning has decreased from 14% in 12/13 to 11% in 14/15.

Skills by IncomeThe difference in the need for skills development in fundraising between charities with smaller and larger annual turnover is less pronounced than in previous reports. 40% of organisations with a turnover of £0-50K recognised a need for upskilling in fundraising, while 43% of organisations with a turnover of £51-250K recognised the same need. Thetableshowsthepercentageofrespondentswhoselected“needsignificantup-skilling” or “need some upskilling” for a selection of skills, by annual turnover.

Note:figuresinorangerepresentthegreatestneedforupskillingwhilefiguresingreenrepresenttheleastneedforupskilling.Thereforethedifferencecalculated is not always the difference between the largest and smallest proportions.

As can be seen from the table above, the largest difference is seen for engaging and working with businesses/companies. 70% of small charities with a turnover of £0-50k recognised a need for upskilling in this area compared with just 58% of organisations with a turnover of £1-1.5m. Interestingly, thepatternwasreversedforinfluencingpolicy;alargerproportionoforganisationswithahigherannualturnoveridentifiedaneedforupskillinginthisarea than organisations with a lower annual turnover.

Fundraising

40.3%42.9%28.6%34.4% 32.0%8.3%

Influencing/

Policy

32.9%30.4%22.5% 32.3%42.3%-9.4%

Finance

22.2% 21.4%18.3% 15.4%11.5%10.7%

Engaging/

Working with companies

69.9%62.7%50.7%39.1%57.7%12.2%

£0-£50K£51K-£250K£251K-£500K£501K-£1M£1M -£1.5MDifference between £0-£50K and £1M-£1.5M

Skills with poor performance ratings

Impact reporting

Marketing

Strategic use of IT

Engaging and working with businesses/companies

9% 20%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Need signi�cant upskilling Need some upskilling Neutral Very good Excellent Not relevant

Fundraising skills by charity’s annual turnover

£0K - 50K

£51K - £250K

£251K - £500K

£501K - £1M

£1M - £1.5M

58% 13%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Excellent Very good Neutral Need some Need signi�cant Not relevant upskilling upskilling

9

Recruitment ProblemsVacanciesFundraisersremainthemostchallengingvacanciestofill,withnearlyathirdofrespondentsselectingthisoption(32%),thatis,overthreetimesasmanyasthenextmostdifficultvacancytofill(volunteermanagersidentifiedby10%ofrespondents).(Base:allindividualrespondents(n=351)

However,comparedwithprevioussurveyresults,thepercentageoforganisationsidentifyingfundraisersasdifficultvacanciestofillhasfallenfrom57%in 2012/13 to 32% in the latest results. It is hard to know exactly why there has been a reduction. It could be variety reasons, fundraising becoming increasingly important due to cuts in funding from other sources and therefore more focus on recruiting fundraisers or more people applying for fundraising positions.

Whichvacanciesdoyoufindhardesttofill?

0 20 40 60 80 100

Fundraisers

Volunteer managers

Marketing/Communications

AdministratorsProject managers

Finance

CEO/DirectorIT support

Youth/Social workersDevelopment workers

Advisors/Counsellors

Heads of department/functions

Information/Research/Policy

HR/Personnel

10233

3024

2323

211818

1716

137

6

Fundraisers

Volunteer managers

Marketing/Communications

Administrators

Project managers

Finance

CEO/Director

IT support

Youth/Social workers

Development workers

Advisors/Counsellors

Heads of department/functions

Information/Research/Policy

HR/Personnel

2010/2011

2012/2013

2014/2015

0% 20% 40% 60%10

In response to being asked how easy respondents feel it is to get suitable staff with the best skills, 4% respondedthattheyfoundit“verydifficult”.Thisisadecreasesince2010/11(11%)and2012/13(5%).However,thenumberofrespondentsfindingit“somewhatdifficult”hasincreasedto31%from23%in2012/13, returning to a similar level observed in 2010/11 (30%). The majority of respondents (42%) felt that recruiting suitable staff with the best skills was “somewhat easy – depending on the role recruited for”. (Base: all individual respondents (n=334)

Reasons for problems recruiting appear to be similar to those observed in previous surveys. Salary remains the most commonly cited reason although the percentage of respondents selecting this has fallen from 58% in 2012/13 to 36% in 2014/15. Not enough funds to advertise widely remains second on the list of reasons, although again the percentage of respondents selecting this reason has also fallen from 45% in 2012/13 to 31% in 2014/15.

20%

0 100% Very easy Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Very di�cult easy di�cult

4% 42%

20%

31%

4%

50%

How easy do you feel it is to get suitable staffwiththebestskills?

Salary

Not enough funds to advertise widely

Applicants’ lack of specialist skills

Few or no applicants

Applicants’ lack of experience

Job only temporary or o�ered on a short term contract

Competition from other organisations

Applicants’ lack of basic skills

Applicants’ lack of quali�cations

Terms and conditions

2010/11

2012/13

2014/15

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

ReasonsforhardtofillvacanciesApplicants’ lack of experience has become more prominent since 2012/13 (9%), with now 25% of respondents selecting this. However, this is still a lower percentage than observed in 2010/11 (38%). Competition from other organisations has increased in prominence since 2010/11 (8%) and is now at 11%.

Other reasons cited for not being able to recruit staff with the best skills includethelocationoftheorganisation,findingapplicantswithvaluesthatmatchtheorganisationandfindingapplicantswithpassionforthesectororrole. (Base: all individual respondents (n=304)

11

Key Skills IssuesThe survey asked respondents to rate skill levels in a range of competencies within their organisation.

NeedsignificantupskillingNeed some upskillingNeutralVery goodExcellentNot relevantTotal number of respondents

Trustee governance

Leadership Formal boardmanagement

3%17%24%46%5%5%321

3%18%23%44%7%5%320

2%20%23%43%7%5%320

GovernanceThese results are similar to those observed in the 10/11 and 12/13 surveys. There is still a split between the expectations for trustees with regards to fundraising and their actual contribution. Formal board management is the area where respondents felt the greatest need for upskilling amongst their trustees - 22% selected either significantorsomeupskillingneeded.

20%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes No Don’t know Not relevant

Take an active role in fundraising?

Should take an active role infundraising?

12

In the Survey we asked about the part Trustees play in fundraising and whilst 51% of respondents reported that their Trustees played an active role in fundraising, 86% of respondents felt that they ought to play an active role.

Do you feel your trustees....


Government relations

Research Lobbying

26%22%38%13%1%0%282

14%18%37%27%4%0%284

25%24%38%11%2%0%286

Public PolicyNearly half of respondents felt that upskilling was required in lobbying (49%) and government relations (48%).


Health and safety knowledge

Health and safety procedures

First aid

2%14%32%39%7%6%321

3%16%28%39%8%6%302

4%16%27%36%10%7%320

Health & SafetyFirst aid skills wereidentifiedby20%ofcharitiesasrequiringfurther development.

13

Table Code

Highest Need for UpSkilling

Lowest Need for UpSkilling


Recruitment practices

Latest HR laws and practices

Payroll management

3%9%30%44%4%10%284

7%20%33%35%4%1%286

2%9%23%37%7%22%282

5%16%28%17%3%31%314

3%15%37%28%4%

13%315

HRLatest HR laws and practices remain the areas where small charities feel the greatest need for upskilling (27%) however this has decreased from 43% in 2012/13.

Benefitsadministration

Talent management


Basic IT skills

Specialist IT skills

IT support/ customer services

1%9%16%49%21%4%310

8%32%24%21%5%10%307

6%17%24%19%5%29%308

11%25%21%14%5%24%307

17%25%18%23%6%11%307

14%30%17%27%7%5%309

ITWhen asked about IT Skills, respondentsidentifiedutilisingsocialmediaasthearearequiringthegreatestupskillingwith44%selectingtheneedforeithersignificantorsomeupskilling.Thiswascloselyfollowedbywebsitedevelopment(42%),similartoresultsinprevioussurveys.Asin2010/11and2012/13,alargeproportionofrespondentsfeltconfidentaboutbasicITskillswithintheirorganisation(70%comparedwith81%in2010/11andjustunder80%in2012/13).

Hardware and network management

Website Development

Utilising social media

14


Copywriting Marketing planning

Structuring communica-tions

6%22%21%37%6%8%310

10%34%28%22%2%4%310

10%36%25%21%2%6%309

6%22%28%35%5%4%309

14%23%23%29%5%6%309

13%29%27%21%2%8%311

14%29%18%30%6%3%311

Marketing & CommunicationsAsseeninprevioussurveys,structuringcommunicationplansandmarketingplanningwereidentifiedby respondents as the areas within marketing and communications that required most upskilling (46% and 44% respectively). These were closely followed by social media (43%) and membership/supporter retention (42%).

Direct com-munications

Website management

Membership/ supporter retention

Social media


People management

Supervision and appraisal of staff

Managing difficultbehaviour

1%8%18%60%11%2%312

3%14%23%46%8%6%312

3%18%30%35%5%9%311

1%8%24%48%9%10%308

3%21%26%40%6%4%311

6%21%21%41%7%4%308

2%12%19%51%13%3%310

ManagementBusiness planning is the area where respondents felt the geatest need for upskilling (27%), a decrease from 33% in 2012/13.

Managing a diverse workforce

Strategic business management

Business planning

Team building and motivation

15


Fundraising strategy

Trusts and foundations

Major donor fundraising

7%28%31%27%5%2%311

9%25%19%36%9%2%311

23%41%19%9%2%6%308

24%38%20%10%2%6%310

11%31%21%26%4%7%311

23%38%18%13%2%6%311

FundraisingAs observed in the 2010/11survey,nearlytwothirdsofrespondentsidentifiedmajordonorfundraising(64%),onlinefundraising(62%)andcorporatefundraising (61%) as areas requiring skills development. In 2012/13 there was an increase to around 70% of each of these areas. The current survey shows three of these disciplines returning to 2010/11 level, major donor fundraising (64%), online fundraising (62%) and corporate fundraising (61%).

Online fundraising

Community fundraising

Corporate fundraising


15%24%21%29%4%7%311

15%16%13%3%1%

52%307

14%29%19%19%3%16%310

15%31%17%25%5%7%309

6%17%21%43%11%2%310

9%26%25%25%6%9%307

Fundraising events

Street and telephone fundraising

Local authority/ government contracts

Developing donor relationships

Presentation skills

Recognition and stewardship

16

Causes of perceived skills gaps Resource issues remainthemostcommonlyidentifiedreasonsforskillsgaps;lackoffundingfortraining(64%)andlackoftimetoattendtraining(56%).However, the percentage for both has decreased since 2010/11 and 2012/13.

There has been an increase in the percentage of respondents identifying lack of training locally as a cause for skills gaps; from 13% in 2012/13 (when thequestionwasfirstasked)to23%inthelatestresults.Since2010/11therehasalsobeenaslightincrease(ofabout2%)intheproportionofpeople,indicating a lack of recognition that training and development are required.Base: all individual respondents (n=302)

Causes for skills gaps

Lack of funding for training and development

Lack of time available for employees to attend training

Lack of training locally

Not been in the role for long enough

Lack of recognition that training and development is required

Lack of suitable training and guidance available internally

Lack of suitable training available from external providers

Paid employees �nd it di�cult to keep up with change

High sta� turnover

Recruitment problems

2010/11

2012/13

2014/15

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 17In 2010/11 we did not ask whether a lack of training locally was the cause for a skills gap.

Impact of skills gapsAs in previoussurveys,theimpactofskillsgapsidentifiedbythelargestproportionofrespondentswasincreasedworkloadacrosstheorganisation(61%)closely followed by increased time taken to deliver work (51%). Both of these percentages have increased since 10/11 when 58% and 48% of respondents selected these impacts respectively.

Since 12/13 there have been increases in the proportion of respondents indicating a decreased ability to take on new work (from 39% to 43%) and no room for the development of services (from 37% to 40%).

Since 10/11 there has been a decrease in the proportion of respondents identifying the following impacts of skills gaps:

• Inability to meet targets (from 22% to 20%)• Decreased quality of delivered work (from 23% to 17%)• Decreased ability to deliver existing services (from 17%

to 13%)Increased workload for colleagues

Increased time taken to deliver work

Decreased ability to take on new work

No room for development of services

Increased costs

Inability to meet targets

Decreased quality of delivered work

Decreased ability to deliver existing services

Services not responding to bene�ciary needs

Nothing

2010/11

2012/13

2014/15

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Impact of skills gaps

18

SolutionsIn both the 10/11 and 12/13 surveys, the most common action for an organisation to take to address existing skills gaps was to use volunteers instead of paid employees (46% in 10/11 and 42% in 12/13). While the percentage of organisations taking this action has remained similar to 12/13 (41%), there were two other actions which proved more common in the latest results. Namely, using resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies (43%) and further training provision (42%). Other popular actions include visits to other organisations delivering similar activities (38%), mentoring (29%) and staff away-days (24%).

When asked about actions they felt could be successful to address skills gaps, nearly half of respondents cited visits to other organisations delivering similar activities (50%), closely followed by further training provision (49%). These were the two most common responses in the 10/11 and 12/13 survey. In the 14/15 survey two new suggested actions were added; connecting with a business and using their skills and experience, and using resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies. The former was ranked the third most successful action by respondents, with 39% selecting this option.

Fewer respondents (31%) felt that mentoring would be an effective solution compared to in the 10/11 and 12/13 surveys (33% and 42% respectively). Similarly, only 19% of respondents thought that re-organising workloads would be effective compared to 26% in both 10/11 and 12/13. 19

Actions to address skills gaps: perceived vs taken

Visits to other organisations delivering similar activities

Further training provision

Connected with a business and used their skills and experience

Mentoring

Used resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies

Management courses with regular follow-up meetings

Peer learning groups

Using volunteers instead of paid employees

Sta� away-days

Management brie�ngs

Reorganizing workloads/people

Thematic learning sets

Using new recruitment methods or channels

Increasing advertising or recruitment spend

None

Perceived

Taken

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

When comparing responses for perceived actions to actions taken, we see that far more people perceive the following actions to be effective that are actually taking them to address skills gaps:

• connecting with businesses (39% perceived but only 17% had taken this action)

• management courses with regular follow-up meetings (29% perceived but only 12% had taken this action)

• peer learning groups (27% compared to 10%)

• thematic learning sets (14% compared with 2%)

The opposite pattern was observed for the following actions:

• using resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies (43% had taken this action but only 31% believed it would be a successful action to take)

• using volunteers instead of paid employees (41% took this action but only 26% perceived it to be successful)• reorganising workloads or people (24% had taken this action while 19% felt it would be effective)

Of the people who had used resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies, 38% went on to say that they felt this could be an effective solution to addressing skills gaps. 62% did not select this response in answer to the question identifying perceived solutions (see graph on page 19).

Actions to address skills gaps: comparison by survey

Visits to other organisations delivering similar activities

Further training provision

Connected with a business and used their skills and experience

Mentoring

Used resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies

Management courses with regular follow-up meetings

Peer learning groups

Using volunteers instead of paid sta�

Sta� away-days

Management brie�ngs

Reorganizing workloads/people

Thematic learning sets

Using new recruitment methods or channels

Increasing advertising or recruitment spend

None

2010/2011

2012/2013

2014/2015

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

20 2010/11 and 2012/13 we did not ask whether charities had connected with a business and used their skills and experience or used resources and training from voluntary sector umbrella and other infrastructure bodies.

TrainingStaff at 88% of organisations had received relevant training in the 12 months prior to completing the survey. Base: all individual respondents (n=313)The majority of respondents (42%) felt that it wasrelativelyeasytofindtherighttrainingfor themselves or staff in their organisations. However, a quarter felt that it was either relativelyorverydifficult.Base: all individual respondents (n=308)Cost and time issues were the two most commonlyidentifiedreasonsforrespondentsand staff at their organisations not providing or participating in training (72% and 60% respectively).

While the majority of organisations represented by respondents have an annual training plan linked to business plan (72%), only 15% have a formal business plan. Just under half (49%) have a training budget and just over a third (38%) formally assess their organisational skills gaps. The percentages of organisations indicating that they have a training budget and formally assess their organisational skills gaps have increased since 10/11 by 6% and 14% respectively. It is also worth noting that the percentage of organisations that have an annual training plan linked to a business plan has increased by 6% over the same period.

Does your charity ............

21

Have a formal business plan?

Have a training budget?

Formally assess your organisational skills gaps?

Have a training and development policy?

Have an annual training plan linked to a business plan?

58% 13%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes No Don’t know Not applicable

Most common reasons for not providing or participating

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Cost - external training too expensive

Time issues - di�cult to take time out of the o�ce

Travel - training is too far away

Supply issues - di�cult to �nd relevant training

Not needed

72%

60%

36%

18%

5%

Business volunteersWhen asked for their opinions on business volunteers sharing time with charities, respondents felt that the most common business volunteering activity was serving as a trustee (57%) followed by support with fundraising (54%) and delivery of a time limited project (50%). When asked which activities would be most useful for their organisation, the most common responses were fundraising (84%) followed by providing trainingonaspecificskillorfunction(69%)anddeliveryof a time limited project (65%).Respondents were asked what the main barriers would be to them taking advantage of business support. The top three reasons given were time and resource (54%), uncertainty about the best way to approach businesses (46%) and no business contacts (35%).

Barriers to receiving business support

Opinions on business volunteers sharing their time with charities

0% 20% 40% 60%

Time and resource

Uncertain about the best way to approach businesses

No business contacts

Uncertain of value it will bring to my organisation

No access to a broker or intermediary to make the connection for me

Don’t know what business can o�er me

Accessing business skills has never occurred to me

Have previously had a bad experience with business volunteers

54%

46%

35%

26%

23%

21%

8%

7%

22

Supporting with fundraising

Providing training on a speci�c skill or function

Delivering on a time limited project

Serving as a Trustee

Mentoring of CEO/Senior Sta�

Help with recruitment practices and policies

Support with Service Delivery

Maintenance and refurbishment of indoor and outdoor space

Useful for my charity

Typical business volunteer

0 50 100 150 200 250

241

154

196

137

187144

175

164

173

118

92

77

77

57

74

123

Final CommentThe demand fortrainingcontinuestobesignificantandclearlyremainsacoreelementinaddressingskillsgapsintheSmallCharitySector.Thesurveyalso revealed that both time and cost remain barriers to acessing training. It is therefore essential to consider what the nature of available training is, and how this can be tailored to effectively address the needs of small charities. Geography will also play a key role in a charity’s ability to access training and therefore it is crucial that the FSI continue to deliver nationally but also increase the number of locations from which training is delivered. As a provider of free training the FSI also addresses the concerns small charities have expressed about the affordability of training.

Training must continue to play an important role in developing skills in the Small Charity Sector and the FSI welcomes the small charity training initiative announced by the Government in the last budget.

Training and development in small charities can only have a lasting effect if there is a permanent shift in the way that small charity trustees view their responsibilities in respect of the training and developing of staff. It was good to see that 72% of charities linked their annual training plan to their business plan, but with only 15% of charities having a formal business plan, it is essential that more charities take a strategic approach to their learning and development programmes.

Ensuring that training and developmentareconsideredasanimportanttooltosupportthecharities’abilitytoaddresstheneedsofbeneficiariesinthemostefficentandeffectivewaywillrequireaculturalshiftwithintheSmallCharitySector.ItisvitalthatTrusteesrecognisetheneedtoinvestinthetraininganddevelopment of their staff.

23

the FSICentre Point, 45 Beech Street,London EC2Y 8AD

020 7953 9846Charity Registration Number 1123384

www.thefsi.org

Documents

Small Charity Sector Skills Survey - · PDF fileEstablished by Emma Harrison CBE and Pauline Broomhead to deliver strategic skills to small charities, ... Newcastle, Preston, Manchester,