25 Years at DSC – What’s changed?

I’ve been at DSC for half of its life. Would you believe twenty-five years?! I’ve been around so long I now walk with a cane and need two pairs of glasses, for reading and everyday!   

In that time, there have been eight Prime Ministers, and at least 18 Charity Ministers of various forms.  We’ve had two Charities Acts; several SORPs, the Lottery Distribution restructures, introduction of Payment by Results (PBR); changes to gift aid; the Social Value Act; tightening of the Lobbying Act; introduction of the Fundraising Regulator…and that’s just a small snapshot of the big changes we’ve had to navigate in that time.   

Then there’s how we operate as charities. 

Back in my day (said in a querulous voice 😉), funding applications were printed. Then someone had to leg it to the Post Office to send them recorded delivery to make sure they got there  #JustInCase. And sometimes (often?) some poor soul would navigate buses and trains in the cold and wet to hand-deliver an application because of panic about missing the deadline.  

Most charities were like us at DSC, with a dial up VPN and only a couple of computers internet ready.  ‘Databases’ were cupboards full of paper files.  

 ‘Digital strategy’ meant having a website that loaded before you retired. Social media wasn’t a thing. If you wanted to start a campaign, all you needed was a petition, a clipboard and a volunteer with comfortable shoes. 

Now? If your website crashes for six minutes, someone tweets about organisational collapse. 

So for me, technology has been the most obvious shift. We’ve gone from paper files and desktop PCs to cloud-based systems, digital fundraising platforms and AI tools that can draft your annual report before you’ve finished your tea! Data has become The Queen of all things. Dashboards. Metrics. KPIs. Impact frameworks with more columns than a Greek temple. 

And that brings me to impact. 

Twenty-five years ago, you could say, “We helped people,” and most funders nodded approvingly. Now they want evidence. Outcomes. Longitudinal data. A theory of change that can withstand cross-examination. In many ways, that’s progress. We should know whether what we do works. We should be accountable. 

But let’s be honest: sometimes we’ve tied ourselves in evaluative knots trying to prove that kindness works. 

Funding itself has changed dramatically. We’ve seen the rise of commissioning, payment by results, social investment, blended finance, match funding, crowdfunding  – and, occasionally, just funding.  

I’ve seen the relationship between charities and the state become more contractual, more transactional. The language of markets crept in. Competition intensified. Collaboration praised in theory and undermined in practice. 

And through it all, demand kept rising. 

The issues charities exist to address  – poverty, inequality, loneliness, exclusion, pollution of natural resources, animal cruelty  – haven’t politely diminished in that time.  Although we’ve achieved big things, austerity, Brexit, a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis have created more need and more pressure. If you were designing a stress test for the sector, you’d struggle to do better. 

And yet. 

The resilience I’ve witnessed over these 25 years has been extraordinary. Staff who care so passionately about the cause that they volunteer their time to fundraise at weekends. Trustees who genuinely take their role seriously and don’t just come to board meetings but rock up at a community event to shake a bucket. And the army of incredible, committed, awesome volunteers who continue to turn up day after day – because they care. 

I’ve seen charities merge, collaborate, digitise, professionalise, diversify. I’ve seen leaders become braver about campaigning for change  – because when the rules hurt the people you serve, silence isn’t neutral. 

We’ve also, thankfully, become more self-aware. Conversations about safeguarding, power, equity and inclusion are louder now. Uncomfortable at times. Necessary always. The sector has had to look in the mirror and ask: are we living our values internally, not just projecting them externally?

So what’s changed? Technology. Accountability. Funding models. Language. Scrutiny. Scale. Complexity. 

What hasn’t changed? The fundamental impulse of human beings to help others.  

Charities are still powered by people who see something wrong and decide not to walk past it.  

And after 25 years, that still gives me hope.