Examples of charity analysis

Making services more efficient: The NSPCC and ChildLine

ChildLine is the famous helpline for children—now merged into the NSPCC—providing a confidential listening service where children can talk about anything worrying them. It receives nearly two million calls a year from children in need of help. For children who have been abused, ChildLine is often one of the only places where they can tell someone what has happened to them.

In 2006, ChildLine, until then an independent charity, merged with the NSPCC due to funding difficulties. Mergers can be difficult times for charities, causing uncertainty within both organisations, but when considering them, it is important for all involved to concentrate on the benefits to beneficiaries; one being that merger can provide an opportunity to review services and examine how to improve them.

Following the merger, the NSPCC was clear that it wanted to make changes to the ChildLine service. It wanted to close unsuitable centres and relocate them to existing NSPCC space, and wanted to expand the service, alongside its own listening services. This expansion plan resonated with the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which agreed to give £30m of funding if the NSPCC matched that with £50m and made improvements to the service.

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