Sector Insights

More behind purpose-driven organisations. More ahead for the communities they serve.

For too long, our sector has treated organisational capability as separate from impact, rather than essential to achieving it.

Maintaining a fresh, dynamic and engaged Board is one of the most important tasks any Board can have.

In my observations, many Boards don’t think and act strategically enough in relation to the culture they want to see flourishing within their organisations.

Instead, they either don’t consider culture-shaping as their remit, or they expect management to take care of it all. Or they behave poorly themselves and wonder why the rest of the organisation ends up copying their lead.

In purpose-driven organisations, the internal environment matters as much as the external mission. The way staff experience work every day shapes the quality of care, service and support delivered to the community.

When I work with organisations, particularly if I am undertaking a high-level governance or risk review, the topic of legislative compliance inevitably comes up.

Most organisations I work with would say they ‘do risk management’…but often, when I dig a little deeper, I find either their practices aren’t adequate, or their systems and processes are letting them down.
And sometimes it’s both!

Burnout isn’t something you can test for. There’s no blood result or scan that tells you when you’ve crossed the line. It’s a personal experience, often noticed too late. We compare ourselves to others or to our old selves and convince ourselves we should be coping better.

We all have a mind that promises relief through control.

Working in fundraising can be deeply rewarding - but also emotionally complex, deadline-driven and under-resourced. Too often, wellbeing advice for fundraisers focuses on self-care: yoga, sleep, switching off. Those things matter, but they don’t address the root causes of workplace stress - what regulators call psychosocial hazards. If left unaddressed, these aspects of work can lead to psychological harm.

For many not-for-profits, the mission is clear, but the financial strategy is stuck in survival mode. Reserves are held in low-interest accounts, reliance on grants is high, and significant investment decisions are often delayed.