Report on low wages in the charity sector
The Living Wage Foundation recently released a report titled “Tackling Low Pay in the Charity Sector: An Action Plan“ in response to a report they released last November which found that 26% of charity workers are paid below the real living wage. The report identifies key barriers to achieving a real living wage in the sector, including lack of awareness and sector cuts and suggests solutions which include behaviour changes for funders, commissioners and charities.
Report on exclusion through digital services
A recent report from Age UK titled”Everything is Online Nowadays“ found that local councils overwhelmingly encourage claimants to apply for housing benefits and council–tax reductions online, even when the applicants are not computer users. The report suggests that this unfairly harms older people in the UK, 4 million of whom do not use the internet.
Key Design Principles for Charitable Services
The Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology has just released a set of ten design principles to help the charitable sector develop better digital services. Their dedicated website can help you develop digital services better tailored to your audience or beneficiaries.
GDPR and demographic data
In “GDPR: Don’t press the delete button just yet“, Tracey Gyateng, the Data Science Manager for DataKind UK, advises nonprofits against deleting or changing all of the collection processes for demographic data that does not directly affect service provision. She argues that although GDPR requires nonprofits to minimise data collection, demographic data is critical for improving outcomes and tailoring services to the groups that use and need them.
New Guidance programme for the chairs and vice–chairs of small charities
The Association of Chairs has recently announced the upcoming launch of “Beacon” a new National Lottery funded programme for chairs and vice–chairs of charities across England with an annual income of under £1 million. The programme will offer events, written resources and networking opportunities to help chairs perform their roles more effectively. You can find out more about the programme and sign up for the e–bulletin here.
Why charities should diversify their volunteering opportunities
This opinion piece from Sir Stuart Etherington, CEO of NCVO, argues that increasing inclusivity and accessability in volunteering is vital for an organisation and for civil society in general. He gives practical advice on increasing diversity and includes links and resources that can help.