Charity and funder news from NPC
See the stories below for recent news. Or read information about charities, see our views on topical debates, and share your opinions on NPC's blog.
Recent charity news
NPC launches The little blue book, its guide to analysing charities
10 February 2010
A new, practical guide is launched today by NPC, to help charities to improve their work and measure the impact they have on people’s lives.
The little blue book is a guide to analysing charities and is aimed at charities and funders.
‘All charities should strive to be as effective as they can be, and understanding more about your organisation, including what works and what doesn’t, helps charities to improve,’ says NPC’s chief executive Martin Brookes. ‘This guide represents the fruits of more than nine years of analysing charities at NPC and advising donors. We hope that charities and funders will use The little blue book to ensure that charities can achieve as much as possible.’
The little blue book is written with a clear understanding of the day-to-day challenges of running a charity, of managing finances in the turbulent world of fundraising, and of the difficulties of measuring impact. The guide contains examples of how charities and funders can benefit from analysis, and explains NPC’s charity analysis framework, which looks at how charities can assess their own effectiveness in six key areas:
- activities;
- results;
- leadership;
- people and resources;
- finances; and
- ambition.
>>Buy your copy of The little blue book for £10 or download
Exciting new project looking at the impact of community organisations
30 November 2009
An exciting piece of new research - The Impact of community anchors - sees NPC, IVAR, and nine community anchor organisations come together to explore a number of questions. In a dynamic and participative process, the team will tackle the challenge of how to assess the impact of multi-purpose community organisations. The work has been funded by IDe&A, The Education Trust and IVAR's Research Development Fund and runs from Autumn 2009 to Autumn 2010.
>>Click here for more information
NPC's report finds that disabled teenagers are left isolated by a lack of support
12 November 2009
NPC's latest report, Rights of passage, finds that many disabled young people who could lead independent lives are being held back, and that charities are often left plugging the gaps in government services. The report warns that unless transition is taken more seriously and co-ordination between child and adult services improves, then the investment in disabled children made early on in their lives, will be lost.
>>Read the full report
Where should the axe fall with public spending cuts?: Read this story and others in NPC's magazine
4 November 2009
In this edition:
>>Click here to read these articles and more in our magazine.
NPC's latest report finds that charities’ approaches prove successful with unemployed youngsters
13 October 2009
NPC's latest research, finds that charities are often best placed to help youngsters who have left school and are unemployed, providing crucial support to a group that government schemes are struggling to reach. The report, Getting back on track, a guide for funders and charities, reviewed the work of ten charities working with young people. It found they were successful because they were able to provide a flexible approach, often working on a one-to-one basis with young people, using challenging and engaging activities.
Click here to download the report>>
NPC responds to the Office for the Third Sector’s Social Investment Wholesale Bank consultation
6 October 2009
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) broadly supports the idea of the Social Investment Wholesale Bank – a new financial institution for investing in charities and social enterprises – proposed by the Office for the Third Sector.
However, NPC believes that plans for the Bank must more clearly recognise the role in creating an evidence base for impact of social investment. Without giving this attention, the Bank will struggle to be an effective champion for social investment, it will struggle to raise capital and invest it efficiently, and, crucially, will not succeed in building the market.
Click here to see NPC's response>>
NPC publishes its strategy consulting work for the first time
24 September 2009
While NPC has always made its research reports freely available, for the first time ever, we have also now published an example of our consultancy work online. The reports, commissioned in early 2009 by the Bankers Benevolent Fund, a London-based charity, research the needs of the different groups of people the fund supports. This research was then used to help the Fund to review its strategy, and improve the support it provides.
Click here to download the reports>>
Inspiring Scotland and Scottish Government announce children's play fund
12 August 2009
£4m fund designed to improve children’s play in Scotland. NPC produced the fund’s ‘baseline report’ which explored the issue surrounding play and helped to develop the parameters for investment. This will be published when the fund is launched on 19 September 2009. (NB: The fund is now launched. Read more)
Click here for more information>>
New Philanthropy Capital to take over work of Intelligent Giving
12 August 2009
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) will preserve the work of Intelligent Giving, the charity evaluation and donor advice website, after it winds down later this month. NPC will take over the charity’s brand and website and look for ways to develop its message on transparency in the charity sector.
Click here to read more and see the press release>>
Latest edition of Giving Insights, NPC's magazine, is launched
9 July 2009
In this trusteeship-focused edition of NPC's quarterly magazine:
We also debate whether poor parenting is to blame for today’s social problems, and hear from Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, the Paralympic gold-medal winner on how sport can change people’s lives.
Click here to see what other articles are featured in this edition>>