The new policy head at the Charity Finance Group, Andrew O’Brien, yesterday labelled as "worrying" comments by Sir Stephen Bubb that there are "too many charities" and that the sector needs more mergers to be effective.
Both men were speaking at the Institute of Fundraising’s first ever New Year debate.
Bubb told the conference that with some “60 per cent of spending cuts still to come” the voluntary sector has to face up to the fact that there are too many charities competing for shrinking revenue streams.
“It is going to be very tough for our sector,” Bubb said. “And one of the things that we do need to think about is the scope for more alliance building partnerships and consortia.
“Part of our response in our arguing our case for a different way of commissioning and delivering public services also means that we need to look at whether there are too many charities and whether or not we should be co-operating more.”
Bubb also told the question asker – the head of fundraising for a small charity – that his organisation “should be merged”.
O'Brien, who took over at the start of the month as CFG’s head of policy and public affairs, said he opposed the idea that there are too many charities.
He said any charity mergers must be driven by the organisations themselves and not by the government, or by those who felt there were too many organisations in the same field.
O’Brien said: “Charity is about social action as much as it is about delivering services. It’s not like a private business where the idea is to out compete each other, with two shops set up next to each other in a fight to the death.”
O’Brien labelled some of Bubb’s comments: “worrying, as it creates this idea that there’s a natural number of charities, or there should be.
“Absolutely we’ve got to make sure there’s no obstacles to merger,” he continued, “but equally this idea that we should be coming together and forcing charities together, I don’t think you’d be saying that about small businesses.”
O’Brien finished by saying that any merger must be initiated by the charity’s involved as opposed to the government. “It has to be right for the charity and it can’t be the government pushing the sector down this road. It shouldn’t be a government driven conversation, it should be an organic conversation. “
