How the charity sector can, and should be, innovating
Statistics show that society depends on charities now more than ever.
In the UK, the charity sector spends an incredible £1.6bn on medical research every year.
Meanwhile, food bank users have increased a staggering amount, from just over 25 thousand users in 2008/09 to over 1.33 million in 2017/18. The political and economic trends of the last decade suggest that this will continue for some time, with the uncertainty around Brexit potentially exacerbating this in the short term.
Despite this, the past few years have seen a steady decline in individuals donating to charities. A constantly evolving social and economic landscape requires fresh ideas and new business models.
Innovate vs stagnate
Charities must innovate, or risk stagnating. And when we talk about innovation, we’re not just talking about snazzy new technology plays. Innovation is about helping charities to be better — better in what they do, and better in how they do it. It’s about solving problems, from reducing inefficiencies and improving processes, to transforming internal cultures, to driving entirely new fundraising streams.
Ahead of the game
There are many charities that have already realised the importance of innovation in keeping up with evolving consumer, economic and social demands, and in driving internal efficiencies. A couple of good examples include:
Charity: Water — Charity: water developed a new business model that separated the funding from individual donors from the cost of ‘running’ the charity. The administrations costs instead come from private high-net-worth investors, meaning that 100% of donations go to the field. By emphasising an alternative funding model the charity was able to appeal to increasingly skeptical donors.
Marie Curie Cancer Care — Have set out to engage cross-generational donors and make donating fun by creating a pay-to-play gaming platform which includes puzzles, raffles and their own lottery. By using new technologies the charity was able to reach donors where they already spend most of their time, on their mobile phones.
Starting the journey
For organisations looking to innovate, there are a few foundations to put in place, that will drive truly impactful change, whilst ensuring innovation is more than just an ad-hoc activity:
- Firstly, it’s important to understand what the organisation is and what it isn’t. It’s difficult to innovate at any level of an organisation without a clear sense of what is in or out of scope. A good place to start is to ask the questions: What is our purpose as an organisation? What do we want to explore? What will we definitely not do? Getting all the leadership aligned around this is vital.
- Understand and prioritise where innovation needs to be focused. Which parts of the operating model, which parts of the value chain, and which parts of the market should be targeted? What are the biggest problems that can be solved?
- Consistently measure the progress and performance of innovation in order to identify where to invest time and money, and sometimes, where to stop an innovation that isn’t delivering value or solving a problem that really matters.
Future-proofing
One of the biggest challenges faced by charities is the necessity to justify spending on long-term goals vs the immediate demands of the work. They must see innovation as an investment, learn to embrace experimentation, and try to truly understand their audiences.
Done well, innovation has the power to surface new business models, technology moves, or ways of making (or saving) money so that charities are able to remain relevant and financially viable in a time where their services are needed more than ever.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to innovate to make change that matters in your organisation, join Pollen8’s Consulting Lead and ACEVO in London on the 19th May for an interactive workshop on how to implement innovation in a structured and successful way.
Register now!
