The building blocks of charity training at DSC

I have already written about how the Directory of Social Change’s training first began. Our earliest seminars were on fundraising in 1977, followed by campaigning and lobbying in 1978. In 1979 we moved into running mainly one-day courses.

I started these short courses because they were far easier to organise than the large seminars that required hiring a big venue, finding several speakers, designing a full programme and attracting a hundred or so paying participants. A one-day course needed only a room and a course leader. At first that course leader was me, and my early courses focused on fundraising.

The truth is that I knew very little about fundraising at the time. So I relied on the experience in the room. I asked participants to share what had worked for them, to critique each other’s applications, and to imagine life from the donor’s perspective, reading ten or more proposals before lunch every day. Clear and simple cases for support were essential.

One example from those early days still stands out. The British Geriatric Society had been turned down by the Nuffield Foundation. I advised them to reapply, but this time to focus on four points: the growing ageing population, older people’s disproportionate use of health services, the pressure this would create, and the Society’s unique role in identifying solutions as the professional body for geriatric doctors. They followed this advice and received a £60,000 grant, which at the time was a considerable sum. Gradually I came to be seen as something of a fundraising expert. Yet my view has always been that the best fundraising is the kind an organisation eventually no longer needs. Every organisation should look for ways to generate its own sustained income.

The right solution will vary. For some it might be a committed group of regular supporters. More recently, when speaking with the Black Business Residency at Somerset House, which needed about £250,000 for each cohort, the answer seemed obvious to me. Encourage successful alumni to contribute to future cohorts. A culture of reciprocity could reduce or even remove the need for constant fundraising.

At the Directory of Social Change our own answer was to operate as a social enterprise. We generated income through training and publications. The two supported each other. Participants wanted books that helped them apply what they had learned and that served as reminders of the course. We displayed our publications prominently and made them easy to buy. By the time I left in 1995, both the training and publishing sides each had turnovers of more than £1 million in 1995 values. We generated surpluses that allowed us to invest in new initiatives, and we had no need to fundraise at all. Many charities spend up to 20 percent of their revenue on fundraising, so avoiding that cost was significant.

From those first courses, our training expanded into a wide range of topics such as communication, governance, legal responsibilities, impact evaluation and regulatory changes. We created each course with the specialist trainer we hired. When we moved into our converted stables in Hampstead in 1986, the Seminar Room quickly became a busy hub. As demand grew we hired additional venues.

Our geographical reach expanded too. We ran courses across the UK, often partnering with local Councils of Voluntary Service. They provided the venue and refreshments and we supplied the trainers and content. We also collaborated with the Charity Commission for a couple of years to run free evening induction sessions for new trustees. These were well attended, although they did not continue.

In the early years few others were offering this kind of training. Competition eventually increased, but so did the overall demand as the charity sector became more professional. We stayed alert to new needs and created courses in response. When the Charity Commission introduced the requirement for charities to have a Reserves Policy we produced both a course and a handbook.

We also ventured into conferences. Our annual Charity Forum, run with the Charities Aid Foundation, was held at the Royal Society of Arts and regularly filled its 190-seat theatre. One year we even ran two parallel forums at the RSA and BAFTA, with speakers delivering the same talk twice. Later, in 1991, we launched CharityFair at the Business Design Centre, a two-day event with exhibitors and a full programme. It proved popular, especially among people seeking jobs or volunteer roles, but after several years we concluded it stretched our administrative capacity too far.

Looking back, there are a few things I wish we had done differently. We could have charged more and reinvested in the team and the product. We might have created our own accreditation. And we could have run more extended programmes where participants returned over several months and applied what they learned between sessions.

Even so, I am proud of what we achieved. We supported thousands of charities and helped develop the skills of countless staff and volunteers. The Directory of Social Change’s training programme continues today, mostly online, which shows that the need for practical and accessible learning is as strong as ever.