Well, That Was a Sh*tshow: 2024 in Civil Society

A humorous roundup of charity highs, lows, and the even lowers.

It’s time for the Christmas round up. There is almost no practical content whatsoever here today, because frankly it’s the last week before Christmas and we’re bringing toys. It’s all just gags and nihilism.

In the new year, with a slightly less punishing schedule, I will be continuing the news summaries (please do send me articles and news), with some deep dives on, for example: the impact industry, instrumental rationality, and capitalist realism; the tendency for people to act like a load of startled meerkats over risk; the weird technocratic managerialism in voluntary sector critical thinking that just shows our lack of self-confidence…. All that and much much more. See, there IS something to look forward to.

Grantmaking Update

So, it’s worth saying that everybody is pretty miserable, especially fundraisers. I’m not seeing that so much with grantmakers, who, while they obviously recognise the pains of charities, are also just a bit tired of wading through applications and saying no. As pains go, that is certainly the lesser.

So, this one's for all the knackered, fed up fundraisers out there. I called you the irritating Duracell Bunnies of the sector once before, which struck more of a chord than I expected. Duracell bunnies you may be, but at a certain point you just burn your motor out. Then people start cursing you and saying you were badly made, that Duracell batteries are a scam, and you end up looking for a job in the private sector before saying “what does that job title even mean?” Then you look back at Charity Job, and you think “£25k?' Are they joking?”

Anyway, it seems to me that it’s not really a ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ so much as a wistful, slightly nihilistic ‘Fairytale of New York’ vibe around the charity Christmas tree this year.

You know: fairytale of New York vibe. It’s cold, everybody is blind drunk, Kirsty McColl is dead, and somebody’s singing homophobic slurs. Oh wait, it’s just the CSR partner christmas team building event your charity got roped into. You’ll get £50 for expenses and never hear from them again, but your trustees said it was worth it.

But you know, at the end of the day, all you’re really singing is All I want for Christmas is Multiyear Unrestricted Income.

But if your batteries are depleted, it is okay - and necessary - to just take it a bit easier. I've heard just how miserable people are. You're not alone.

BTW The Duracell Company's social media is really good. 😆

@duracellofficialLet me in 🥲 #duracellbunny #funny #corporatebaddie #hustle #officelife

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As for grantmakers. Well, it’s strange to be a sort of austerity Father Christmas isn’t it. And having to raise the bar - like, it used to be that all children who had been good would get a little something. Now Tiny Tim gets a lump of coal and has to sell a kidney to make payroll. God bless, us each and everyone.

Please Sir, may I keep but one of my kidneys? Only one, I swear I shan’t make a fuss.

Anyway, I hear Santa’s Elves will be unemployed in January, along with quite a lot of charity workers, so perhaps they could be drafted in to help read all those backed up letters to Santa/ Garfield Weston.

On a more serious note, grantmakers, let's also please be kind, and make sure we FUND, as well as maybe even thank, fundraisers. You may be surprised to hear anyone say this - which is why it needs saying. But these tireless and unloved members of charity teams are essential to OUR functioning, as well as that of the whole sector. Not least, grantmakers are the recipients of £900m a year of other people's labour, efforts for which we largely refuse to pay, or certainly, refuse to celebrate.

Looking back: the lows and even lower lows of 2024

We’re supposed to look at the highs and lows of 2024. I’ll do my best.

Loads of charities went under. This was very sad. Alongside that, several of the ‘what works’ centres went, which honestly is a bit ironic isn’t it? But what will we do without all those think tanks explaining the blindingly obvious to the totally oblivious?

More concerning was the loss of many valuable infrastructure organisations, and many extremely vital delivery organisations. Even I can’t make that one funny, sorry.

Meanwhile, Cruella Braverman metaphorically cheered on from the sidelines while charity community hubs were wrecked and asylum seeker hotels burned, all with the full support of the right wing press who were suddenly shocked when people, erm, did what they had told them to…

Headline of the year. Yes, it’s real.

Keir Starmer appeared at a conference supporting civil society and we all marvelled at what it could be like to have someone potentially in power who didn’t want us burned at the stake. Starmer said he was hoping to enjoy a partnership with ‘philanthropy’.

“I want to tell you all how much I appreciate everything you do, and especially, the fact it’s free.”

Soon after, several trusts and foundations decided to ‘pause’ for a bit and everybody suddenly discovered why we still need a public sector, and that we’d better not rely on them….

Then Starmer won an election and just made everyone even more fed up, with a sort of Eeyore miserabilism, aided and abetted by Rachel Reeves who honesly always looks like the HR manager delivering redundancy news at 5pm on a Friday before Christmas. Quite appropriately, let’s be honest.

“The Employee Assistance Hotline is still available until the end of the week, and Government schemes are available for your redundancy payment.”

Then football tickets became the new BUT HER EMAILS. The very short honeymoon period for the VCS ended when the budget made us realise that we are actually just small businesses and all that virtue signalling and covenanting won’t save us. And neither will trusts and foundations.

Of course, in the same election, Nigel Farage won a seat and then promptly vacated it. He was last seen protruding from Donald Trump’s lower colon half way across the Atlantic.

Then Donald Trump actually won the election to the surprise of nobody except poor old Rory Stewart, who people were really mean to. Poor Rory, he’s too good for this world. (And the Tory party. What is he doing?)

Meanwhile, the Big Society boondoggles started to come to an end. The end of NCS was announced, with a new strategy to come for young people. Who knows - it may be a new dawn. Big Local and the Local Trust will soon draw to a close after 10 years and a quarter of a billion pounds spent on setting up loads of new charities, social enterprises and groupings, all of which will be desperately hitting the trusts and foundations for continuation funding next year.

The biggest charity highs

I know, I know I’m so NEGATIVE. I’m supposed to also share charity highs. Well, I think this may be your best bet.

I really would like to know who created that. It’s hysterical. (I found it on Instagram…)

Rattling the charity piggy-bank again

More recently, Lisa Nandy has announced plans for a ‘place-based philanthropy strategy’. A more accurate headline might be ‘Lisa Nandy announces desperate ploy to find replacement money for local authorities from anywhere, please god anywhere.’ Good on her for trying - but of course this is why Starmer was sniffing out philanthropy even before the election. The thing is, we always hope that the public sector will see us as expert and essential. Instead, they always see us as a cheap way to deal with the non-essential.

Lisa Nandy announces plans for ‘place-based philanthropy strategy’. 11th December 2024, Civil Society. Emily moss.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has unveiled plans for a ‘place-based philanthropy strategy’ during a meeting of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee this week, at which she also discussed charities’ right to campaign and financial pressures on the sector.

Until next year, I bid you…

Anyway, that’s all I can manage.

I’ve found such a lovely supportive community of freelancers this year, on Linkedin and Substack. Special thanks must go to Caroline Danks who has encouraged my Substack journey, and Jo Jeffery whose energy and kindness has been a real tonic. And of course my client pals (and many of them are pals) who know who they are but I make a point of not naming in case they are identified as co-conspirators.

Have a good break, and I’ll - probably - see you in the New Year for more Sisyphean labours.