Sam Younger outlines the Commission's new strategy

1. A new relationship
What the Commission’s new
strategy means for charities
Sam Younger, Chief Executive
12 May 2011

2. Why a new strategy?
• Existing strategy covered 2006-2011 –
strategic review was always planned for 2010-11
• Reduction in our budget of 33% over four years –
need to set new priorities
• Times are changing –
Advances in technology and behaviour give us
opportunities to do things differently

3. Listening to you –
the consultation

4. The consultation process
• Full public consultation
3-month consultation which attracted over 300 responses
• Extensive discussions with key stakeholders
Over 80 meetings between Commission and charities, MPs
and other regulators
• Interaction with charities and public
Ipsos Mori focus groups with members of the public
Strategic review blogsite viewed nearly 12,000 times

5. What did we ask?
Our consultation asked people to:
“The Commission should be rigorous
- Identify what they considered thebefore accepting
and questioning main risks
facing sector over next 5 years registrations”
v
“The Commission should encourage
charitable activity through a light touch
- Name their preferred approach to key
registration process”
questions
• Name bodies that could take on functions that we
currently have

6. What did you tell us?
Main risks facing the sector
Funding – by far most frequently cited risk
Rising demand for services
Governance/skills issues
Bureaucracy
Fraud/abuse
Future of ‘charity brand’

7. What did you tell us?
Key expectations of the Charity Commission
Areas of general consensus
• Prevent/ investigate abuse in charities (esp. fraud)
• Ensure charities are transparent with financial information
• Robust registration process
• Uphold charity brand
• Publish advice for charities

8. What did you tell us?
Key expectations of the Charity Commission
Areas put forward by some
• Lobby government on charity issues/ champion the sector
• Provide individual advice to small charities
• Provide information/ research about the sector
• Encourage trusteeship
• Promote charitable giving
• Promote effective use of charitable resources

9. What did CFDG say?
Commission should…
• Ensure we remain able to maintain public trust
and confidence
• consider charging advisers (e.g. lawyers) for
using our services
• maintain advice function for small charities
• charge for late submission of documents?
• strengthen partnerships with umbrella bodies

10. Key principles

11. What did you tell us?
Warm endorsement of role of independent regulator
Endorsement of Commission’s current role and focus
No support for radical change

12. Who do we exist to serve?
the Commission exists to
serve the public

13. Who are the public?
• Donors
• Taxpayers
• Beneficiaries
• Volunteers
• Trustees

14. What should be our focus?
Commission should focus on
things only we can do

15. Rebalancing the relationship:
reinforcing trustees’
self-reliance

16. What this means
for charities

17. Rebalancing the relationship
Trustees will see…
…greater self-reliance – or greater reliance on advisors
…greater accountability to public
…less individual interaction with the Commission
…more independence to take certain decisions
…less hand-holding by Commission

18. Rebalancing the relationship
Commission will…
…make processes more streamlined
…review information required of charities
…produce more tailored guidance
…provide less individual advice (currently ca 30% of our
work)
…take proactive approach to risk assessment
…intervene only in cases of serious and systemic risk

19. What this means for the
sector

20. Umbrella bodies
• Bodies such as CFDG take on enhanced role
in providing one-to-one advice to trustees
• Umbrella bodies as ‘champions of the sector’
• Shared responsibility for upholding
reputation of the sector

21. Peer review programme
• Partnership between Commission and sector
(umbrella bodies and individual charities)
• Identifying areas of greatest risk to sector
• Helping charities develop ways of addressing
risks

22. Any questions