UK Small Charity Sector Skills Survey 12/13 · The research was conducted via an online survey which was designed to be consistent with the approach taken in the Skills Survey 2007

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Since its inception in 2007, the FSI has grown to become the UK’s largest provider of free capacity building services to the small charity sector. The FSI is a registered charity whose fundraising consists of raised voluntary and earned income.

The FSI was established by Emma Harrison CBE (founding Chairman) and Pauline Broomhead (founding CEO) to deliver strategic skills to small charities through a year-round programme of training and conference learning. The content of this learning programme now encompasses all the disiplines of fundraising, alongside key back office skills, to build sustainable charities ready to adapt to the demands of their beneficaries and communities.

Today the FSI delivers close to £2.2m worth of free services to small charities right across the UK. In 2013, the FSI’s programme will encompass:

• Training days delivered at the FSI’s office in central London. These cover all the major methodologies of fundraising, key strategic areas, and back office functions such as marketing and communications.

• Roadshows across six UK cities, where we present our training and support programme in centres outside London.

• Small Charity Week: This event is a major celebration of the small charity sector and its impact on every community in the UK. The inaugural SCW in 2010 launched with the London Eye turning purple to mark the week, and went on to include events at Westminster, a celebration day in Covent Garden and fundraising and campaigning events right across the UK. In 2013, we will be holding events over six days for the first time, and covering areas from fundraising to volunteering.

• A conference programme comprising the FSI Forum (fundraising-focused, with a major international speaker) and the FSI Workshops (concentrating on back office skills that are key to sustainability).

• Advice clinics where small charity delegates have a one hour slot with a member of the FSI team to discuss organisational and project strategy or any aspect of

their work where advice is needed. • Fundraising events delivered by the FSI for small

charities. The FSI manages each of these projects to ensure that charities can maximise their raised income without the monetary and time costs associated with the administration. The events include the Great Big Small Charity Car Draw (a nationwide raffle for a brand new car) & the FSI 10km Challenge (held in Derbyshire).

• The FSI brings together organisations to elevate the voice of the small charity sector to ensure that it is represented.

• An Affiliates programme that provides small charities (the 5 winners of the Guardian Charity Awards and small charities chosen from an application process) with a year of intensive development support to move that charity to the next level of its life stage.

• The FSI Scholarship programme selects outstanding individuals from the sector and provides them with a professional development programme and support from the FSI team to emerge as an inspirational, informed leader within the small charity sector.

All of the above programmes are delivered free of charge to the participants.

One of our key tools in supporting small charities, both on an individual and sector-wide level, is the FSI Community. This online initiative is a central portal where any small charity can register for free to access FSI services, practical support and create networks with charities in their area or cause. The Community is also a tool for gathering information on key topics and it informs our work in advocating for support for the small charity sector.

The FSI is committed to delivering events and campaigns that demonstrate the work and impact of the small charity sector to as broad an audience as possible, including policymakers and the media alongside the general public. To ensure that this work is representative of the sector, we undertake regular communication and surveys of small charities to gain insight into the issues and trends affecting their work or sustainabilty.

About the FSI

Contents

ForewordExecutive summary and introduction Background to the surveyRecruitment problems and skills shortagesSkills gapsSolutions

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UK Small Charity Sector Skills Survey

12/13

JONATHAN SAVAGE

PAULINE BROOMHEAD

SOPHIE HILL

Small charities are a vital part of the UK economy: 7% of the UK’s population work in the sector and small charities, (those with a turnover of less than £1.5 million) constitute 96% of the entire sector. It is safe to say that they are a huge source of employment and in that capacity alone contribute significantly to the economic wellbeing of the UK overall.

However this contribution, whilst impressive, does little to describe the immense impact that small charities have on society as a whole. Without a doubt small charities are the ‘safety net’ for millions of individuals who desperately need support for whatever reason. They are undoubtedly integral to the protection of the flora and fauna of our planet and a vital source of advocacy for the many causes about which society is so passionate.

From grassroots community led groups to international welfare charities, their efforts and impact ensure the wellbeing of society. They are the social innovators, the advocates and campaigners.

With so much resting on the shoulders of small charities it is important that they attract and retain the very best staff. This report focuses on the skills needed and the problems that small charities face in accessing those skills. With the right support, we believe that small charities will be empowered to go on to support their beneficiaries even more.

Now, more than ever before, we need these small charities to be the very best they can be. At this time when the economy is uncertain, when budget cuts across government departments both national and local are being keenly felt, we need these small charities more. The demand for their services is increasing month on month and to deliver against these needs will require them to respond creatively and innovatively. To do this they will need skilled and committed staff.

We hope that this report ignites the debate on how we support small charities across the UK to become more effective and self sustaining in order that their doors remain open to the millions who need their support.

Pauline Broomhead, Founding CEO

Foreword1

Executive Summary In the third edition of our biennial Small Charity Sector Skills Survey, the Foundation for Social Improvement [FSI] concludes that skills gaps still present a major barrier for small charities across the UK. Since the 2010/11 edition of this survey we have seen both shifts in skills gaps across organisations, and some problems which still remain:

• Fundraisers remain the hardest vacancy to fill according to 57% of respondents.• 58% of respondents stated that salary is the biggest reason for hard to fill vacancies.• Impact reporting, long term strategic planning, and marketing were skills with some of the poorest performance ratings.• Leadership, internal communications, and team working had some of the strongest performance ratings.• Lack of funding for training and development was the main reason stated for perceived skills gaps, indicated by 66% of

respondents.• Increased workload for colleagues and increased time taken to deliver work were the main impacts of skills gaps on

organisations.

The demand for further training provision as a perceived solution to skills gaps has risen since the 2010/11 results of this survey; alongside the continued financial pressure on organisations to provide skills training, this indicates the ongoing importance of free support services for the small charity sector.

IntroductionThis survey explores skills within the UK’s small charity sector. It complements earlier research addressing skills across the entire charitable sector and identifies key skills issues facing small charities. It focuses on significant skills gaps and shortages and discusses approaches to dealing with them. The survey has been conducted by the FSI as part of our work to promote skills, knowledge and sustainability within UK small charities.

In undertaking this survey, we have built on earlier research conducted by the NCVO and UK Workforce Hub, which focused on skills issues across the voluntary sector. In particular, the Voluntary Sector Skills Survey 2007 and Third Sector Skills Research 2008: Further Evidence and Recommendations on Skills Gaps. This survey is intended to complement these publications and provide a more detailed focus on skills issues facing small charities, which constitute over 96% of the sector.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES• Identify key skills gaps and shortages within small charities.• Identify hard to fill vacancies and the factors contributing to this situation.• Analysis of skills gaps in the existing workforce of small charities and reasons for this.• Identify correlation and differences between these findings and earlier studies on skills in the charity sector.• Consider measures and approaches to deal with skills issues.

DEFINITIONS• Skills: We have used definitions from the UK Commission for Funding and Skills’ National Employer Skills Survey in

defining skills.• Skills Shortage Vacancies (SSVs): Are a subset of job vacancies where a role is hard to fill due to a lack of skills, work

experience or qualifications in the applicants for the role.• Skills Gaps: Are the lack of skills, work experience or qualifications among workers already employed in a job.• Small Charities: There are different ways to categorise the size of charities. These include by the size of income, the

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number of employees or the number of beneficiaries. For the purpose of this survey, a small charity is a registered charitable organisation with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million. This definition is consistent with the approach that the FSI uses to define its beneficiary group.

SCOPE OF STUDYThe findings of this survey are based on valid responses from individuals working in registered UK charities with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million. The majority of respondents were in leadership roles or governance positions within these

organisations. However, due to the limited workforce in many small charities, a great number of respondents had multiple roles within their organisations. Accordingly, this survey focused on specific skills utilised by individuals within the sector as

opposed to specific job roles. Respondents were asked to answer questions relating to areas within their charity which they had responsibility for or of which they had strong working knowledge.

As the survey is intended to support the development of FSI services for small charities, there is a particular focus on skills that are important to the sustainability of voluntary organisations.

METHODOLOGYThe research was conducted via an online survey which was designed to be consistent with the approach taken in the Skills Survey 2007 and the FSI’s 2010/11 Small Charity Sector Skills Survey in order to provide continuity in the results. The survey was disseminated to the FSI’s member database of 2,000 charities and via partners. The survey was completed by 308 small charity employees; 30 organisations are represented more than once where employees from the same organisation completed the survey. All data in the survey refers to the base number of respondents.

We aimed to gather data from charities with a diverse range of income groups and cause types. In the following two charts we have broken down respondents by income and cause type.

RESPONDING CHARITIES BY ANNUAL INCOMEYour organisation’s turnover:

Base: All individual respondents (n=308)

The annual turnover of all organisations in this study was less than £1.5 million. Significantly, over half of respondents (58%) had an annual turnover of £250k or less.

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0 20 40 60 80 100 120

£0 - £50k

£51 - £250k

£251 - £500k

£501 - £1 million

£1.01 - £1.5 million 18

39

73

100

78

RESPONDING CHARITIES BY CAUSE TYPECharity cause type:


The charities featured in this survey represent a diverse range of cause types. A significant number of respondents worked for charities in the area of youth, health, or welfare, advice and rights. The beneficiaries of these charities were wide ranging both in the UK and abroad, from young people with disabilities, to individuals living with HIV, and women’s advocacy groups.

Background to the SurveyThis survey focuses on small charities, which form part of the broader voluntary sector as a whole. The survey is intended to build on existing research and provide a particular focus on skills and gaps in small charities. As such, it is important to bear in mind the broader context of the sector as a whole, as well as other skills research into the voluntary sector when examining this report. Given that the voluntary sector has many unique characteristics, we have highlighted some key statistics below in order to better understand the results of the present survey.

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UK CHARITY SECTOR• In 2009/10, there were approximately 765,000 paid staff working in the voluntary sector, which accounted for 2.7% of the

UK workforce (NCVO 2012 Civil Society Almanac). The sector encompasses a diverse range of organisations from small local charities delivering specific projects with limited numbers of beneficiaries, right through to large national organisations with thousands of employees that deliver government contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

• The voluntary sector has continued to grow, and expanded in size by 40% between 2001 and 2010 equating to an increase of 219,000 employees. Over the same period the public sector also experienced an increase in the number of paid employees, whereas the private sector experienced a decrease in this time (NCVO 2012 Civil Society Almanac). However the impact of the recession, as well as cuts to government funding, have reshaped employment in the voluntary sector. According to the February 2013 Labour Force Survey, there are higher levels of part-time work and fixed-term contracts (Skills Third Sector, February 2013).

• Unique characteristics of the voluntary sector remain despite the economic downturn. The workforce is mainly constituted of women (68%), compared to 64% in the public sector, and only 39% in the private sector.

• Underpinning the paid voluntary sector workforce are volunteers, 12.7 million of whom volunteer once per month (NCVO 2012 Civil Society Almanac).

PREVIOUS RESEARCHIn depth research into the voluntary sector’s skills and workforce has been produced most recently by Skills Third Sector’s,The UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011. Prior to this, existing research in this field dates back to 2007 with the NCVO’s Voluntary Sector Skills Survey, and Third Sector Skills Research 2008: Further Evidence and Recommendations on Skills Gaps. These were extensive research projects that engaged with a wide range of voluntary sector organisations. They identified several key issues:

• Voluntary sector employees are highly qualified with 37% of employees holding a degree level qualification or higher. However, Skills Gaps were prevalent across the sector with around one fifth of organisations citing staff with skills gaps (Skills Third Sector UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011).

• The main impact of skills gaps within voluntary sector organisations according to the UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011 was an increased workload for other employees within the organisation.

• Specific skills shortages were identified within the sector; one third of voluntary sector employers with hard to fill vacancies cited a lack of specialist skills in applicants as a reason for difficulties filling the vacancies (Skills Survey 2007).

• Significant numbers of under-skilled staff were reported in marketing and fundraising sections of voluntary organisations. Smaller organisations were more likely to have more acute skills gaps due to the need for staff to multi-task (Skills Survey 2007). In these organisations trustees were utilised to fill many of the skills gaps. (Third Sector Skills Research 2008).

• Lack of time and funding were identified as key reasons behind skills gaps (Skills Survey 2007). Respondents expressed the view that the provision of training was not enough to address skills issues; the situation required a culture of leading with open communication on skills needs between charity employees (Third Sector Skills Research 2008).

• Generally, smaller organisations had a more ad-hoc approach to learning, but some were particularly creative and innovative in dealing with skills gaps (Third Sector Skills Research 2008).

SMALL CHARITIES• The UK has a vibrant small charity sector which is made up of organisations that deliver for a wide variety of causes. Of the

163,763 registered charities, over 96% are small charities falling below the £1.5 million turnover mark.• Precise figures on the number of employees within the small charity sector are not available. However, we know that one

third of voluntary sector workers (31%) are employed in workplaces with fewer than ten colleagues which suggests that significant numbers of the workforce are employees in small charities (NCVO Civil Society Almanac 2012).

• The small charity sector possesses interesting characteristics, including the fact that smaller charities spend less on generating funds than their larger counterparts. This falls from 14% in major charities (>£10m turnover) to 7% in micro charities (<£10,000 turnover) (NCVO Civil Society Almanac 2012).

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Recruitment Problems and Skills ShortagesThe survey asked those with experience of recruitment in small charities to outline the barriers to filling vacancies within their organisations. The responses from these individuals have provided an outline of skills shortages within the sector. Staffing needs remain complex in the small charity sector. Many respondents who cited alternative “hard to fill vacancies” highlighted very specific positions relevant to their field of work, which may indicate a struggle to recruit specialists. However, a recurrent theme was a difficulty in recruiting volunteers and trustees.

Recruitment problems have shifted significantly since our 2010/11 Skills Gap Survey. The number of respondents finding it “very difficult” to recruit suitable staff with the best skills has fallen from almost 11% to around 5%, and the number of respondents finding it “somewhat difficult” has equally fallen from 30% in 2010/11 to 23% in 2012/13. Although the problem of recruitment appears to be less acute, the underlying reasons for hard to fill vacancies remain the same. Salary was the most prominent barrier with 58% of respondents indicating this as an issue, followed by recruitment costs at 45%. These barriers have both become more prominent since our 2010/11 survey. Following these reasons were non-financial factors, including: applicants’ lack of specialist skills, and applicants’ lack of experience.

“As a small charity we only have a small budget to buy in extra skills and support, but we have been very successful at getting pro bono support. This is the key way in which we manage to address our skills gap. When implementing a new database, we would have floundered without expert support and the generosity of our ‘mentor’ has allowed us to get up to speed with the software and make valuable customisations. The level of the interaction and support has been very much heightened because of this expert’s “buy in” to the values of the organisation.” (Caroline Matthews, ERIC)


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DIFFICULTIES IN FILLING VACANCIESReasons for hard to fill vacancies:

Looking at hard to fill vacancies by position, Fundraisers are still the hardest positions to recruit for by far, as indicated by 57% of respondents. This is up from 50% in 2010/11. Looking at the reasons for hard to fill vacancies, many respondents from the smallest charities indicated that lack of funds was a major barrier to recruiting specialists, with voluntary positions playing a major alternative solution.

“One of the main difficulties in the charity was that the skills set of the trustees didn’t match the needs of the charity as it developed, even though they continued to play an active role in the operations of the organisation. As the Fundraising Manager, this hindered me from doing my job. One example of this was with the charity’s website, which was ineffective

at raising funds due to the trustees’ reluctance to take advice from myself or a website specialist.” (Anon)

HARD TO FILL VACANCIES BY SKILLSWhich vacancies do you find the hardest to fill?


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Skills GapsThe survey asked respondents to rate skill levels in a range of competencies within their organisation. It also asked them to provide an assessment of their own skill levels in their primary and any secondary job roles. This allows us insight into the general level of skills across small charities, but also to look at the particular skill development needs within specific job roles.

SKILLS GAPS ACROSS SMALL CHARITIESSkill areas in which respondents reported the greatest number of “excellent” or “very good” levels of skills within their organisation included: Internal communications (48.1%), team working (63.3%), health and safety (46.6%), leadership (50%), basic IT (66.8%), and working in partnership with other organisations (57.2%).

“We rely heavily on volunteers to support the work that we do as a charity; we have around 60 regular volunteers at present. With such a large number of volunteers for a small organisation, there is naturally quite a high turnover. For us, managing volunteers effectively is something that is essential for stability in the charity. We have had voluntary corporate assistance to help support us with HR; however there are obvious limits to how much support external organisations

can provide.” (Sarah, St. Hilda’s Community Centre)

SKILLS WITH STRONG PERFORMANCE RATINGSHow well do you feel your organisation performs overall in terms of:


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100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Intern

al communicatio

ns

Team work

ing

Health &

safety

Basic computer li

tera

cy/IT

Working in

partnership w

ith

other o

rganisatio

ns

Leadership

Not Relevant

Need Signi�cant Upskilling

Need Some Upskilling

Neutral

Very Good

Excellent

Skills with the weakest ratings are particularly concerning as they relate directly to the long-term sustainability of the small charity sector. These include fundraising, with 13.7% of respondents considering that “significant” upskilling was required in their organisation; impact reporting with 18.3%; and long term strategic planning with 14.1%. Weak performance in these areas suggests limitations on the ability for small charities to secure funding, adapt their services, and demonstrate the value of their work.

“BLAGGS is entirely run by volunteers, who are primarily interested in sport. As such, the individual sports reps don’t have any formal training in any leadership or organisational aspects. For example, our website is managed by a volunteer and he is the only one who understands how the technical elements work. This leads us to heavy reliance on individual volunteers. In terms of partnerships with other organisations, we are starting to partner with a mental health charity this year, but we don’t know how to approach businesses”. (Gene Johnson, BLAGGS)


Key skills issues within particular job functions:• 43% of respondents with responsibility for HR indicated that they required some upskilling in the latest HR laws and practices. • One third of management specialists indicated that strategic business management and development, and business planning

were areas in need of skills development.• Just under 80% of respondents felt positively about basic IT skills in their organisation. This is compared to only 30% of

respondents who were confident about specialist IT skills. Both website development and utilising social media were areas in which 50% of respondents indicated that there was a need for improvement.

• The strategic elements of marketing and communications were stated by respondents as being the areas in which the greatest amount of upskilling was needed. 57% of respondents thought that marketing planning was an area in need of upskilling, alongside structuring communications plans (54%).

• Within the field of public policy, small charities expressed confidence in their ability to conduct research, with 46% believing this to be “very good” or “excellent”, whereas in the areas of lobbying and government relations, 53% and 56% of respondents respectively considered that there was a need to improve skills in these areas.

• There is an enduring difference between the expectation of the role of trustees and their role in practice. 89% of respondents reported that they felt trustees should play an active role in fundraising. However, this is compared to only 53% of trustees that actually do.

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SKILLS WITH POOR PERFORMANCE RATINGSHow well do you feel your organisation performs overall in terms of:

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Strate

gic use of IT

Fundraising

Impact r

eporting

In�uencing policy

Marketin

g

Long term

strate

gic planning

Not Relevant



Neutral

Very Good

Excellent

Message from the Report Sponsor

Dear Reader

I am delighted to be able to recommend to you to The Foundation for Social Improvement’s (FSI) biennial Small Charity Sector Skills Gap Survey. The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) are proud to sponsor this landmark report as part of our ongoing commitment to addressing and supporting the needs of the small charity sector.

The IoF and The FSI have an extensive track record of working together successfully. This has been cemented over the last two years through our partnership on the Help for small charities programme, a three year initiative funded by the Office for Civil Society. The programme launched in 2011 with the overarching aim of supporting the needs of charities with an annual voluntary income of less that £1 million. Through this programme the IoF are providing opportunities to access face to face training on a range of key topics, mentoring, on-line learning, webinars and a leadership programme.

This report represents a pivotal opportunity for us all to recognise the wealth of skills, knowledge and experiences that currently exist within the small charity sector. But critically, it also allows us to identify gaps and areas of concern that urgently need addressing if small charities are to continue their essential role in the ‘Big Society’. The findings from this report will help inform our understanding of the impact of our existing Help for small charities programme and support us in championing the need for on-going support from Government.

So, where is further work needed in supporting small charities? The overwhelming answer is with diversifying their income and increasing their sustainability. 48% of respondents have been able to diversify their income streams over the last two years. Examples of this include harnessing on-line donations, expanding services to earn income, events and social enterprise initiatives. However, only 28% of respondents said that they were more sustainable than they were two years ago. This evidence indicates there is still a significant amount of work required to support charities here, so that they can move towards a more sustainable future and be less reliant on funding from Local Authorities, Government, Trusts and Foundations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Trusts and Foundations was the area of fundraising that respondents felt most comfortable with. 35% of the respondents reported their skills in this area as either excellent or very good. In contrast, the report highlights a significant need for support in relation to major donor fundraising with 72% of respondents citing this as a need. Online fundraising was also reported as a gap by 70% of respondents and 69% of respondents need help with corporate fundraising.

Another key finding is that only 53% of respondents indicated that their organisation’s Trustees took an active part in fundraising, with 90% of respondents stating their Trustees should be involved. This demonstrates a clear need to help support fundraisers to engage more effectively with their Trustee Board. This must include help to emphasise the strategic importance of fundraising and the ability to encourage and support Trustees to apply their skills, knowledge and networks to complement existing and additional forms of fundraising activity.

The evolving nature of the voluntary sector combined with the increasing demands for services, means the need for small charities to diversify their income further is more urgent than ever. As the Help for small charities programme enters into its final year of funding from the Office for Civil Society, there is still a significant amount of work required if we are going to achieve a small charity sector with a diverse and sustainable income.

Annie Clarke Head of Learning Development, the Institute of Fundraising

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FUNDRAISING Skills gaps in fundraising appear to be more acute in charities with a lower annual turnover. 66% of organisations with a turnover from £0-50k recognised a need for upskilling. Just under half (44%) of organisations with a turnover from £501k-£1 million also recognised a need for upskilling; however, the remaining respondents appeared neutral or positive on their fundraising capabilities.

“We are a very small grass roots organisation which means that we have very limited capital. In the same way that a company needs capital to progress, so does a charity! We have struggled over the last 2 years as trustees have left. We rely heavily on the skills that trustees can bring both in terms of their expertise in areas such as fundraising, but also to share

the burden of the work”. (Linda, SIKAT)

FUNDRAISING SKILLS BY INCOME How well do you feel your organisation does overall in terms of fundraising:


Within fundraising, the three categories in need of the most upskilling reflect the results from our 2010/11 survey. Around 70% of respondents highlighted that major donor, corporate, and online fundraising were the areas of greatest concern. On the positive side, around 35% of respondents reported that they were confident in their ability to fundraise through trusts and foundations.

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100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

£0 - £50k

£51 - £250k

£251 - £500k

£1.01 - £1.5m

£501 - £1m

Not Relevant



Neutral

Very Good

Excellent

CAUSES FOR SKILLS GAPS IN ORGANISATIONS79% of respondents indicated that they had received relevant training in the past 12 months. However, only around a quarter (26.4%) of organisations formally assess their organisation’s skills gaps, and only 47.5% of organisations have a training budget. Alongside financial restraints, only 12.8% of respondents have an annual training plan linked to a business plan. The ability for small charities to address the skills gap internally clearly has an impact on the ability to address the skills gap in the sector as a whole.

In relation to skills gaps in the recession, 36% of respondents indicated that it had had no effect on staff turnover, compared to 21% indicating that there was an increase, and 15% indicating a decrease in staff turnover.

REASONS FOR PERCEIVED SKILLS GAPS


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13CONSEQUENCES OF SKILLS GAPS ON ORGANISATIONSSkills gaps within small charities have a direct impact on the workforce across the small charity sector. The principal consequence of this according to the present research is an increased workload for colleagues (55%), followed by an increase in time taken to deliver work (50%). This evidently has an impact on both the internal and external functioning of these organisations. Following these factors were a decreased ability to take on new work (39%) and no room for the development of services (37%). These skills shortages have an impact on the functioning of organisations within the market and their ability to find and deliver effective services – an important factor in a market with growing competition.

“We have found that the skills gap in our organisation has resulted in a growing workload for both managers and project managers. For us, this is just the nature of working on a tight budget but it means that there is pressure to prioritise workloads. The major impact of this is on the strategic and management level. We need to ensure that implementation of

our project work is properly supported, which means that time needs to be expended .” (Tracy, Cathedral Arch Project)

IMPACT OF SKILLS GAPS ON ORGANISATIONSWhat do you feel is the impact of the existing skills gaps for your organisation?


7%4%

9%9%

17%14%

23%25%

45%39%

22%19%

48%50%

40%37%

20%23%

58%55%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Nothing

Decreased ability to take on new work

Inability to meet targets

No room for development of services

Services not responding to bene�ciaries needs

Decreased ability to deliver existing services

Decreased quality of delivered work

Increased costs

Increased time taken to deliver work

Increased workload for colleagues

2010/112012/13

14SolutionsSolutions to the skills gaps in the sector must come from both inside small charities as well as through the provision of external support. The survey asked respondents to outline actions taken within their organisations to address skills gaps, as well as what they thought effective solutions to skills gaps within the sector would be.

CURRENT SOLUTIONSThe survey asked what actions organisations had taken to address the existing skills gaps. Using volunteers instead of paid employees came out on top, with 42% of respondents indicating this as a preference. Further training provision was also a major way of addressing the skills gap (38%), and the reorganisation of staff and workloads with 31%. 79% of respondents had in fact received relevant training in the past 12 months. However, the fact that skills gaps persist in spite of the high levels of relevant training may suggest that structural issues within organisations have a role to play in addressing skills gaps.

When respondents were asked what actions they believed to be the most effective solutions to address the skills gaps in their organisation, further training provision proved to be the highest priority with 53% of respondents citing this as a solution. This has increased since our previous 2010/11 survey. Following this in importance was learning from other organisations in terms of visits to those delivering similar services (45%) and mentoring (42%). All of the above suggests that sharing best practice and excellence across the sector is essential to addressing skills gaps.

“Having a young team puts Student Hubs in quite a unique position. It is a real positive that our team have the time and ability to work more flexibly outside of office hours. However our youth means that we always benefit from outside advice to improve our systems and processes. We took an internal audit to identify the areas where there were skills gaps, and as a consequence we have built links with an external mentoring programme, as well as seeking out pro bono support to train up our staff in how to improve the effectiveness of the organisation.” (Anna Machin, Student Hubs)

PERCEIVED SOLUTIONS TO SKILLS GAPSWhat do you feel could be successful actions to address your and your organisation’s skills gaps?


2010/112012/13

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Further t

raining pro

vision

Using volunteers in

stead of

paid employees

Sta� away days

Reorganising w

orkloads/

people

Mentorin

g

Using new recru

itment

methods or c

hannels

Management brie

�ngs

Peer learn

ing groups

Thematic le

arning sets

Management courses w

ith

regular f

ollow-u

p meetin

gs

None of the above

Increasing adverti

sing or

recru

itment s

pend

Visits to

other

organisatio

ns deliverin

g

simila

r activ

ities

45%

45

%

13%

15

%

27%

34

%

15%

25

%

49%

53

%

33%

42

%

24%

31

%

17%

18

%

26%

26

%

24%

21

%

8%

10% 9%

13

%

9%

7%

MOVING FORWARDDemand for training has increased since the FSI’s last Small Charity Sector Skills Survey in 2010/11, rising from 49% to 53%, and it is clear that this remains a core element in addressing skills gaps in the small charity sector. This survey has also revealed that both time and cost remain the main barriers to accessing training. It is therefore essential to consider what the nature of available training is, and how this can be tailored to effectively address the needs of small charities. As a nationwide training provider, the FSI addresses the concerns small charities have expressed about the affordability of training by providing free services. However, it is essential that small charities can effectively convey the evolution of their training needs for services to remain relevant.

According to the results of this survey, training will continue to play an important role in developing skills in the sector. However, the skills in which small charities show real strength at present demonstrate the resilience of a sector undergoing significant change. These areas include team working, internal communication, and working with other organisations. It is integral that these positive attributes are fostered in order to strengthen the sector as a whole.

Training and development in small charities can only have a lasting effect if there is a permanent shift in the way that these organisations operate. It is therefore essential that more organisations take a strategic approach to their learning and development programmes. With only a quarter of charities formally assessing their skills gaps, and even fewer linking this to a business plan, small charities must make training and development a central part of their organisation’s functioning.

A cultural shift within the sector around training and development will help small charities to prepare for, and mitigate against, the risks presented by a rapidly changing funding climate. This survey has revealed that the consequences of skills gaps in organisations impacts on their ability to develop services, increases the workload of employees and, as a result, increases the time taken to deliver services. Investment in, and integration of, skills into the professional environment will serve to improve the efficacy of charities, as well as the quality of services that they can deliver to their beneficiaries.

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We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this Small Charity Sector Skills Survey. The FSI cannot, however, be held responsible for any actions undertaken by an organisation as a result of this information.The FSI, April 2013

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www.thefsi.org

Charity Registration Number 1123384

UK Small Charity Sector Skills Survey was commissioned and compiled by:

Report Sponsors:

Documents

UK Small Charity Sector Skills Survey 12/13 · The research was conducted via an online survey which was designed to be consistent with the approach taken in the Skills Survey 2007