Governance & Leadership has teamed up with the Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) to launch a joint survey of trustees, to gauge their attitudes to charities speaking up about matters of importance in society.
The Charity Reform Group of charity chief executives, hosted by SMK, wants to help charities take their place in the national conversation. In its first report (Speak up, we need you!, February 2023), it found a strong appetite among people from other sectors (public, business, legal, arts, politics) to hear more from charity CEOs in public discourse.
SMK’s research suggests, however, that one of the barriers to this happening is a lack of clarity, and perhaps confidence, among charity trustees as to what charities can – or should – legitimately speak about, and how.
So, in collaboration with SMK, we want to take the temperature of trustees’ attitudes to this issue, and on broader attitudes to charity campaigning. The survey will ask you about your understanding of/attitudes to charity campaigning in general, as well as the approach taken in a charity you are involved with as a trustee.
The results will help us and others understand what trustees think, where extra information or support would be helpful, and whether changes might be needed. Ultimately, our aim is to help charities speak up about the issues that are important to them with greater confidence.
We estimate it will take about 20-25 minutes to complete. Your answers are entirely anonymous but you will be given the opportunity to provide an email address to be included in our prize draw to win a year’s free subscription to a Civil Society Media subscription of your choice.
The survey is targeted at charity trustees only. If you are a chief executive or other staff member, we would urge you to please tell your trustees about it and encourage them to complete it.
Results will be reported in November’s edition of G&L, and all survey participants will receive a copy of the article by email.
The survey opened on Tuesday 29 August and will close on Friday 22 September, so please ensure you have your say before then. You can find the survey here.
Thank you in advance.
