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Preoccupied with the continuing coronavirus doom-and-gloom and the added challenge of low temperatures, snow and rain, you may have missed a sad occurrence at the beginning of this month: NCVO is ending its widely used and appreciated Funding Central service.

This has been a vital lifeline for small charities and their advisers for many years and […]

I make no apologies for returning to the theme of Small Charities (i.e. those with an annual income of less than £1 million).

This is not only because we at Minerva work almost exclusively with Small Charities, but also because Small Charities represent 96% of the UK’s 166,000 charities. Their voices and their needs deserve to […]

The decision of Baroness Stowell to stand down as Chairman of the Charity Commission in February 2021 has predictably generated a lot of media comment.

Her appointment in 2018 provoked much controversy, partly because of her political connections with the Conservative Party and partly because she had no previous experience in the charity sector.

However, having a […]

The UK media has rightly highlighted the behaviour of some MPs and other political figures who have flouted coronavirus lockdown restrictions because, apparently, they thought they were above the law.

In the Third Sector, we often think that we are above such behaviour, and that the actions of a few charity executives or trustees in cases […]

As the coronavirus crisis shows no signs of a solution, two valuable surveys of UK charities have recently been published: “What does the future hold for fundraising in the UK?” from UK Fundraising; and ProBono Economics’ joint survey with the Chartered Chartered Institute of Fundraising and Charity Finance Group: “Weathering the storm: PBE Covid Charity […]

If you’re looking for advice on fundraising, it’s unlikely the Church Times would be your first port of call. It is a publication known for informed and independent reporting of Church and world news, but not necessarily for fundraising home truths.

Step forward the Very Revd Dr Michael Higgins, who is a former Dean of Ely […]

It’s a truism in fundraising that you can never say “thank you” too often. Thanks on receipt of a grant or gift; and thanks on later occasions such as the completion of the project or purchase of the equipment for which the grant was made.

I favour thanks as well when a later application for funding […]

Wherever we look – well, perhaps not quite wherever we look – coronavirus seems to be at the top of the charity menu.

Whether it’s the CIOF, NCVO, CAF or NPC, helpful briefing and strategy documents are flowing out, advising us all on how we should be handling the coronavirus now and what we should be […]

Looking back over the last month, it is clear that the doom-and-gloom merchants have not been proved right after all – at least as far as the Third Sector is concerned.

In the same way that an apparent majority of those who have sadly died from coronavirus were suffering from pre-existing conditions, so many of the […]

Last month I wrote about the challenges facing charities during the coronavirus crisis, in particular the small charities that form the majority of Minerva’s clients.

Harold Wilson once said, “A week is a long time in politics” – to which we might now add “A month is a long time in a virus epidemic”.

One of the […]