7 September, 2017

September marks a return to ‘normality’, and not just for children heading back to school after the long summer break. Getting back into the routine has got us thinking about what’s in store for the charity sector as a whole.

Negative media stories about charities have taken a back seat in recent months, possibly due to the political excitement of the last year, at home, linked to Brexit, and in the States, linked to Trump’s Twitter feed. However, according to NFP Synergy’s Journalists’ Attitudes and Awareness Monitor, the majority (71%) of journalists expect the level of critical stories about charities to increase, or stay the same, over the coming year.

And with general data protection regulation (GDPR) coming into effect in May 2018, charities have a lot to do comply with the biggest overhaul of data protection legislation in over 25 years. It will affect not only fundraising but campaigning, marketing and, of course, volunteer management and requires organisation-wide co-ordination.

With non-compliance and data breaches a real threat, it will be even more important for charities to be prepared for this, and other issues, that might put their reputations at risk.

With GDPR, as with managing reputational risks, the wise will be prepared!

There are some really useful summaries of GDPR out there to help get a grip on the implications of the changes, including:

Institute of Fundraising guidance

Information Commissioner’s Office guidance for charities