How can small and medium sized charities survive the Covid-19 pandemic?
Julian Lomas
Each day it seems we wake up to a new world reality. None of us have ever lived through anything like this and we are all feeling our way personally and professionally. We at Almond Tree Strategic Consulting don’t claim to know any more or better than anyone else. Nor do we have any sure-fire solutions to the issues facing charities as the crisis takes hold.
Of course, every organisation’s top priority should be the safety of their staff and the people they work with. What is also clear from our discussions with clients and the support they are asking for, is that for many, the Covid-19 pandemic is a genuinely existential threat.
Major sources of funding (such as events) are drying up and others are diminishing as markets tumble, reducing the funds available to major donors and charitable trusts and foundations. At the time of writing, the help available for charities from Government is extremely limited. Demand for many services provided by charities is growing (or is set to do so as the consequences of the pandemic unfold). Yet capability to deliver within the confines of social distancing and other guidance from the Government is limited for many.
There is stacks of advice out there for charities on how to deal with the immediate consequences of the crisis (and in some cases on the likely longer term implications). These include:
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
An advice note on financial reporting from the Charities SORP Committee.
Law firms such as Bates Wells
Sector specific support charities such as NAVCA, The Heritage Alliance and more.
Our associate, John Eary of JEC Professional Services, in collaboration with Alan Trup of ADT Business Continuity, has kindly prepared a free, really helpful, simple pandemic business continuity action plan for charities.
Our associate Neal Howard Ltd has prepared a really useful summary of the help available for community business adversely affected by the Covid-19 situation, including some helpful pointers on what to do to protect your finances as best you can. They have also provided range of other resources on the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Help for Self-employed People, cashflow in community businesses and funding.
In addition, Grants Online have made available a free online digest of funders offering grants for projects respond to the impacts of Covid-19 on individuals and communities and the CAF Covid-19 site is also really helpful and includes signposting to emergency funding.
Our focus with many clients is on helping to secure a sustainable future. We are proud that these critical discussions invariably start with questions like: “what does this mean for our beneficiaries?”; “how are their needs changed by the situation?”; “how can we help them now and to recover afterwards?” etc. There is some really creative thinking going on right now about how to support people in meaningful, practical and engaging ways in areas such as safety, mental health, practical support, education and personal resilience.
We are convinced that this approach is not only morally right, it is a key part of the solution to the existential threat many face. Those who can be part of the solution both to meeting immediate needs and supporting recovery will also be well placed to secure funding when it is inevitably made available to meet these needs.
Our advice, therefore, is that all charities should make time, even in the midst of the current turbulence, to identify and predict likely beneficiary needs and both shift existing resources and seek new money (as it is made available) to meet those needs. We are already seeing many funders acting pragmatically and generously in allowing existing funding to be repurposed to ensure the long-term viability ofOur associate Neal Howard Ltd has prepared a really useful summary of the help available for community business adversely affected by the Covid-19 situation, including some helpful pointers on what to do to protect your finances as best you can. You can access it here. services as the crisis eventually abates and demand for support from charities inevitably surges.
If you would like to explore further how your charity can be part of the solution to the needs presented by the pandemic and in turn improve your resilience and sustainability, please do drop us a line at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk.