So, you want to make a difference. It seems natural to turn to the charities that you have seen on screen or read about in the news, but what about starting closer to home? Small charities can be a wonderful source of support for people who are vulnerable or are in need… and they are looking for help of a form that you might be able to provide: your time and skills.
To charities like these, all volunteers are welcome, but increasingly one emphasis is on skills-based volunteering. According to data from the voluntary sector network NCVO, skills-based volunteering, where individuals use their professional, occupational and specialist skills to support charities, has risen by 20% since 2019.
Seven out of ten small and medium-sized charities say that they are actively looking for pro bono professional skills to support what they do — but only four out of ten find it.
Lloyds Bank Foundation, a leading source of support for small charities, released a recent report on their experience of skills-based volunteering and it is a positive one, echoing the findings of Pro Bono Economics for Pilotlight that there is a triple dividend from skills-based volunteering, as “it can help employees' wellbeing; support higher productivity for employers; and help charities to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society.”
Skilled volunteering can also be a powerful driver for a more inclusive economy. According to research by Pilotlight, those who volunteer with their skills and the support of their employer are around twice as likely to be people of the Global Majority as the population at large (23% compared to 12%).
The UK Pro Bono Association
In 2021, in collaboration, Cranfield Trust, Pilotlight and Reach Volunteering formed a new collaborative network, the UK Pro Bono Association. This brings together around 30 organisations that promote skills-based volunteering. Some are focused on specific professions, such as law, property or accountancy, others on specific sectors to support, such as education or homelessness.
Members of the Association include charities promoting skills-based volunteering such as Charterpath, DataKind UK, Digital Candle, Getting on Board, ICAEW, Inspiring Scotland, Kilfinan Trust, LandAid, LawWorks, MarketingKind, Media Trust, Pro Bono Economics, Scottish Tech Army, Sported, the OR Society and Whitehall and Industry Group.
Data for the UK Pro Bono Association suggests that skilled volunteers helped to support 8,300 voluntary organisations last year.
Cranfield Trust for example works on around 700 consultancy projects and mentoring assignments a year with small charities, 80% of which have income under £1m and 60% have income under £500k. For Reach Volunteering, small, volunteer-run organisations, not all registered as charities, are seeing rapid growth and are now the largest segment of users of the platform. Applications through Reach are shown below, having grown significantly, along with the number of skilled volunteers, over the last five years.
Using a (conservative) estimate that the profile of small charities supported across the field is two thirds of all charity support, this suggests that around 5,500 small charities are accessing support in the form of skilled volunteering from pro bono intermediaries.
The organisational style of small charities
Small charities are diverse, but the nature of being small creates some consistent patterns of organisational style.
Having no employees or a low level of staffing means that many are volunteer-led. Trustees are typically at the heart of this, so that beyond the non-executive role that is stressed in charity regulation and governance, trustees play an executive role as volunteers. One benefit of this approach is that volunteers may be bringing professional or occupational skills to bear.
Evidence collated by Small Charities Data suggests that there are four volunteers for every one member of staff in small charities, rising to 16 volunteers to each staff member for the smallest charities, those with an income under £100k. Where there are staff, there are also the constraints of low pay, making it harder for small charities to attract and retain talented staff
There are patterns of challenge in this way of working. Forming a volunteer club in effect to advance a charitable cause, for example, gets things done but is no guarantee of being able to operate in a diverse and inclusive way, making this a common challenge. The charity sector is in any case less diverse than the UK average, which is a limiting factor in terms of its capacity to innovate.
In our experience, with little or no organisational capacity, small charities have to be good at problem solving. Practical barriers hold up activity if progress relies on capacity, knowledge and skills being available on a timely basis. Similarly, compliance, for example with charity accounting and regulations, can be a burden.
There are an estimated 159,000 small charities in the UK. This, however, is still only one part of the wider landscape for voluntary and community activity. Alongside initiatives that are registered as charities are a much wider range of voluntary initiatives, formal or informal, incorporated or unincorporated, that are not or are not yet registered as charities. These share some characteristics of practical support needs as small charities.
The skills that small charities have and need
The skills that small charities have and need therefore follow the skills of those who are involved. Data from the FSI suggests that small charities are most likely to rate their skills as 'excellent' in the following areas: basic IT and organisational skills, budgeting around projects and financial management. At the same time, skills in fundraising, for one in three small charities, are in need of ‘significant upskilling’.
In our experience, some key skills can be missing: for example, financial management, where organisations often have limited financial skills and information, but are not geared to improvement or development, due to lack of subject matter knowledge. An important example is lack of financial forecasting, a critical but often absent skill.
The VCSE Observatory has helpful data which clearly shows how stretched organisations are (staff working extra hours etc) while unable to meet growing demand for services. This consistently shows that small charities are overstretched, that raising income, not surprisingly, is the primary concern (69% of charities with an income under £1m) and also that volunteer recruitment is the second most cited concern (48% of under £1m, 50% of under £500k rising to 59% for under £100k).
According to the Charity Digital Skills Survey 2024, close to three-quarters of small charities are looking to improve their website, online presence or social media. At the same time, we find that small charities are not necessarily less advanced in terms of digital operations, because it will vary according to the skills of those involved. This is particularly so where small charities work across a wider geographical area. It is a mistake to assume that small charities are local, they may be international or even global in their reach.
Data from Cranfield Trust on challenges/support needs, across a sample of 1,250 organisations, suggests that:
- 47% are most concerned about income/fundraising
- 17% recruitment of staff and volunteers
- 14% inability to meet demand
- 6% staff development and learning
- 5% staff and personal wellbeing
- 5% board and governance challenges
Skills development for small charities
In terms of skills development, the small charity sector suffers from an acute lack of investment in the learning and development of its staff and volunteers. Research by Pro Bono Economics indicates that only about half of smaller charities have a training budget, compared to almost 90% of larger charities. Nearly one in five small charities did not spend anything on training in the most recent financial year. Lack of time too may be a factor, the research suggests: staff and volunteers are already stretched thin, and they may not have the time to learn new skills or implement new processes.
The research concludes that small charities would benefit from being able to access the same support offered to small and medium-sized enterprises to improve productivity. They would also benefit from increased investment in the infrastructure that supports them.
Research on management and leadership skills by Cranfield Trust report confirms this picture, adding that where there is money allocated to training, the average budget was £6,850, although this varied widely. The research reveals that small charities have a strong preference for management and leadership training that is specifically tailored to the voluntary sector.
While low-cost training options exist, they are often perceived as lacking in quality. High-quality training programs, on the other hand, are frequently financially out of reach for these organisations. This situation is particularly challenging for emerging managers within small charities, as they often lack access to affordable, high-quality training that could enhance their skills and knowledge.
The research also identifies specific training gaps, including: financial strategy; equality, diversity and inclusion; monitoring, evaluation and impact reporting; organisational strategy; change management; risk management; and project management. In addition to this is a need for an introductory training package designed for emerging managers in the voluntary sector, covering essential areas such as resource management, people management, premises, and insurance.
So, what are small charities near me looking for?
They are looking urgently for an input of skills from people who have experience and expertise. And yes, you could be the one that makes the difference.
Giving skills to charities with Pilotlight
Pilotlight helps people and charities to do more for their world by bringing charities together with business and business experts who can tackle the pressing issues charities are facing.
For our pro bono volunteers, whether giving back through their employer or working with us on an individual basis, sharing your skills with charities is not only a way to give back, but also a unique learning experience. The learning outcomes we track, for Pilotlighters and for charity leaders, include:
- coaching and listening skills
- understanding of different leadership styles
- understanding of society and different sectors.
