Three characteristics of resilient charities

Three characteristics of resilient charities - and how Blume can help develop them 

The most popular webinar we have hosted is Managing workload in charities.  This supports the results of the annual FSI survey in which small charities have cited excessive workload as the biggest challenge they face for five years in a row. 

And of course it is heavily linked to resilience: organisations that do not have the resources to deal with the demands placed on them will find resilience elusive. 

But help is at hand!  There are three characteristics of being a resilient organisation and Blume can help with each of them:

1. Flexible capacity: every charity experiences varying levels of need throughout the year.  Some of this variance is predictable – for example the audit or an annual fundraising event.  Some of it is less so for example if a key member of staff is suddenly unavailable, or if a particular tranche of funding falls through or if there is a sudden spike in demand for services.   

   We can help you build a team of experienced freelancers who will be ready to step in and be immediately effective when you most need their support.

2. Space to think and plan: in her Blume leadership webinar, Rushanara Ali talked about organisations striving to get the right balance between being proactive and reactive.  Resilient charities will have a good mix because they have the time to breathe and think strategically about what they should do next.  Less resilient charities will feel as if they are always fighting fires reactively and are unable to plan effectively.

   Blume can create this space, particularly for CEOs, by enabling them to delegate the time consuming but important tasks to experienced freelancers who will not require handholding to get them done.

3. Good systems: An obvious and immediate way to build resilience is to have systems in place which suit your size and activities.  Good systems save time, avoid mistakes and enable you to make better decisions. 

   Our Blumers can help by reviewing and improving your systems particularly in Finance, HR and Fundraising not just so that they work technically but also so that your team are comfortable using them.

If you want to discuss how we can boost your charity’s resilience please call 020 7411 9050, email contact@blume.life  or book a time.