Duke: donors are confused by too many good causes
William calls for charities to stop being ‘territorial’ and work together
THE growing number of charities in Britain risks causing confusion for donors, competition for funds and “territorial behaviour”, the Duke of Cambridge has warned, as he calls for a “big shift” in the sector.
The Duke, speaking to the Charity Commission, said the ever-growing number of good causes had led to the “siloing of expertise”, with organisations focusing too much on “individual interests” when they should instead be working together.
Calling on the sector to maintain public trust despite living in an “atomised and polarised age”, the Duke said charities must listen to “critical friends” to bring about significant change.
In the speech, in which he paid tribute to the work of his parents and grandparents, he praised the “almost unsurpassed” generosity of the British people and their “largely unseen, but all priceless” acts of compassion.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have signalled that they intend their charity work to focus clearly on bringing organisations together under key themes, including mental health, veterans, homelessness, wildlife and cyberbullying.
Their approach, designed to suit an expanded charity sector of the 21st century, comes in subtle contrast to the work done by older Royal family members, who took on dozens of patronages to best raise awareness of individual organisations.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, described by the Duke as “one of the most tireless public servants of this country”, hold more than 1,000 patronages between them.
The Duke told the Charity Commission’s annual public meeting he had been “encouraged of late by the examples of real willingness to work together”, highlighting seven charities helping the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and two bowel cancer charities who have recently merged.
“Instead of setting up more individual charities in the same fields, I wonder if we could … explore ways of combining forces, working and innovating together?
“Competition for funds, and the confusion it can cause among donors, can lead to the siloing of expertise and, at worst, territorial behaviour.
“But as the challenges of the future begin to bear down on us, I believe that this big shift must begin to happen – the sector must be open to collaborate, to share expertise and resources; to focus less on individual interests and more on the benefits that working together will bring. That, I believe, is where the future lies.”