Mark Twain – ‘the secret to getting ahead is getting started.’
We started our blog this time last year and an anniversary is a good time to reflect on the first 12 months and look to the next (with renewed commitment). At the recent ACEVO AGM, Sir Stephen Bubb spoke about two aspects of Charity CEOs roles – leadership and social change.
As a second tier organisation whose mission is ‘to help charities help more people more effectively’, I didn’t immediately recognise social change as something we are actively engaged in. I suppose I associated social change with campaigning or policy making, or at least front line services.
However, looking at our 2014 results in view of Sir Stephen’s remark about social change and mindful of Pilotlight’s vision ‘a world in which charities and businesses work together to achieve positive social change’ made me realise we are taking steps in the right direction. This time last year I reflected on the importance of measurement as part of both knowing, and showing, the positive impact charities and social enterprises are making. Our October 2014 survey of business members revealed their experience working with charities and social enterprises through Pilotlight had a significant impact on their knowledge, attitudes or behaviour in relation to the Third Sector:
Knowledge, attitudes or behaviour in relation to the sector that have increased as a result of the Pilotlight experience
It's easy when running a charity to be focussed on keeping services going, and the day to day outcomes that are delivered for service users, which are incredibly important. However it is valuable from time to time to stand back and realise that as part of the wider sector we, and many organisations like ours, are delivering social change on a larger scale, and that this is an important message to get across.
By Gillian Murray, Chief Executive, Pilotlight.