How Charities Work
Why a Charity Sitting on Money Is Not Necessarily Hoarding
Reserves attract criticism whenever they are visible and save organisations whenever they are needed. The judgement is about the…
Dhruv Namdeo
Contributing writer, Goodwilly
Dhruv writes about repair, reuse and lending libraries.
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20 articles
How Charities Work
Charity Mergers Happen Less Often Than They Probably Should
Dozens of organisations frequently pursue the same purpose in the same place. Combining them is rational, rare, and blocked by…
How Charities Work
What Non-Profit Does and Does Not Mean
The term describes what happens to surplus, not whether an organisation makes one, pays well, or pursues anything charitable.
How Charities Work
Impact Reporting: Outputs, Outcomes and the Gap Between Them
Most published impact figures count activity rather than change. Telling the two apart is the most useful thing a reader of charity…
Community Projects
The Founder Problem: When a Project Cannot Outlive Its Starter
The qualities that get a local project off the ground are frequently the ones that prevent anyone else from running it.
Community Projects
Starting a Community Group Without Registering Anything
A great deal can be done by a few people with a shared purpose and no legal structure at all. Knowing where that stops matters more…
Community Projects
Finding a Room: The Constraint That Decides Most Local Projects
Access to a suitable space determines what a group can do, when and for whom. It is negotiated early and then shapes everything…
Community Projects
Why Small Grants Come With Disproportionate Paperwork
A modest local grant can require nearly as much work as a large one. The reasons are structural and there are ways to reduce the…
Community Projects
Constitutions, Committees and What They Are Actually For
The governance apparatus of a small group looks like bureaucracy until the first disagreement, at which point it is the only thing…
Community Projects
Working Out Whether a Local Project Actually Worked
Small groups are asked for evidence they have no capacity to produce. A proportionate approach exists and is more honest than the…
Community Projects
Succession Beats Recruitment in Small Local Groups
Most groups respond to losing people by advertising for more. Building replacements before they are needed works considerably…
How Charities Work
Why a Charity Sets Up a Separate Trading Company
A shop chain or a cafe often sits inside a normal company owned by the charity. The structure exists for tax and risk reasons that…
How Charities Work
Safeguarding Failures Are Governance Failures, Not Bad Luck
Serious harm in an organisation almost always follows the same structural pattern. The pattern is visible in advance to anyone who…
Community Projects
Why Free Labour Still Needs a Budget
Volunteer-run projects describe themselves as costing nothing and then quietly spend money. The costs are real, predictable and…
Community Projects
Working With the Council Without Being Absorbed by It
Local authority support brings premises, funding and credibility along with process, timelines and a relationship that can quietly…
Community Projects
The Community Event That Loses Money and Still Works
Judging a local event purely on its takings misses most of what it produced. It also lets groups repeat events that genuinely…
Community Projects
Who Owns the Equipment When a Group Falls Out
Informal groups accumulate tools, keys, money and accounts without ever deciding who owns them. The question only gets asked at the…
Community Projects
Consultation Fatigue: Why Nobody Comes to the Meeting Any More
Communities repeatedly asked for their views and shown no consequence stop responding. The withdrawal is rational and is usually…
Community Projects
Every Local Project Reaches the Same Fifty People First
New community activity attracts the residents already involved in everything else. Getting beyond them is a different task…
Community Projects
Handing a Project to a Bigger Organisation Without Losing It
Transferring a community project to an established charity solves capacity problems and creates new ones. The terms of the handover…