5 Reasons Your Small Charity Should Campaign For Big Change
Small charities hold deep insights into society’s biggest problems, yet very few channel those insights into changing the system.
Many are overstretched and overwhelmed by local need. Others may doubt the use of advocacy, or assume they’d require a big team and budget. Yet from my time leading a small justice charity’s transition from delivery to campaigning — securing real change for 60,000 prison-leavers along the way — I’ve learned these concerns are misplaced.
Being small isn’t a disadvantage, it’s a strength, and more should enter the arena.
Here are five reasons why your small non-profit shouldn’t just work in the cracks of a crumbling system, but start fixing it too.
1. Your insights are more needed than ever.
With society facing such big challenges, there’s an urgent need for fresh ideas.
Small charities’ deep connection to communities offers a rare window into social issues, their root causes and solutions. While developing advocacy for Switchback, I saw the amazing knowledge of mentors supporting young people to change their lives after prison while navigating chaotic public services. Staff knew, intimately, how the system holds people back, how opportunities are missed, how small changes could make a big difference.
At the same time, they showed in practice what a better system could look like, achieving incredible results. Thousands of small charities do the same every day, offering hope of a different future by showing what works. Without this golden insight, national policy suffers.
In countless areas, from homelessness to reoffending, the expertise of small charities is sorely needed to illuminate a way forward.
2. You can amplify voices that need to be heard.
A lack of lived experience in the room is why so much policymaking falters.
One of the most valuable roles I developed for Switchback was supporting young people to reach new audiences — whether on Instagram, in Parliament, on national radio or creating an award-winning podcast. I saw the passion and wisdom of young prison-leavers leave a profound impression on their audience, building their confidence and becoming powerful advocates for change. This was only possible because Switchback had developed trust with young people over time, while acting as a bridge to the distant worlds of politics, policy and journalism.
Small charities have a unique opportunity, perhaps duty, to play this role, amplifying the voice of people who know the issues most personally.
3. Getting started is easier than you think.
When I first began at Switchback, I worked three days per week with responsibility for impact and evaluation as well as launching policy, comms and campaigns. With no team and no budget.
If you’ve worked at a small charity, that might sound familiar. Yet within months our first letter to government secured an event with the prisons minister, our first submission to a select committee earned an invitation to give evidence in parliament, and our team and young people were featured in national media. You don’t need loads of staff and cash to get going. You just need to be smart about your time, create coalitions, and ground your work in lived and learned experience.
While some investment is needed, it’s easier than you think to get started.
4. Small charities can, and do, influence big change.
I’ve learned that being small isn’t a disadvantage for influencing, it’s a strength.
Your agility, evidence of impact, stories, deep connection to communities — these are significant advantages, sought-after by policymakers and the press. Unlock, for example, not only run a vital advice service but have won major changes to the criminal records regime, giving thousands of people better access to employment. And from a starting point of zero influencing experience, Switchback helped deliver real wins like doubling the grant given to prison-leavers (the first rise in 26 years), and securing £220 million of extra support during the pandemic.
It may seem counterintuitive when local need is rising, but looking beyond delivery can be a way to significantly increase your impact.
5. You’ll unlock new doors (and funds).
Starting an influencing function created a ripple effect across the whole organisation I’d never expected.
New sources of funding were unlocked, helping Switchback grow income from £400,000 to £1.3 million within four years and secure £430,000 for influencing alone. An expanded profile and mission attracted better and more diverse job applicants, as well as new partnerships. A fresh shared purpose boosted morale across the team. I witnessed a virtuous cycle, where advocacy injected energy into delivery, and vice versa.
For small charities, advocacy offers a way to dramatically scale your impact without risking quality by over-scaling services. It’s a way to build a future where, rather than plugging holes in the system, you can focus on what you do best: helping people to thrive.
And when so many government initiatives are falling short, the need for more small charities to raise their voice (and for more funders to help them) is greater than ever.
So stay small.
But think big.
Sam is a UK-based campaigner, social entrepreneur and impact consultant. samboyd.co.uk.
Photo credit: Switchback / Benoît Grogan-Avignon
