Really interesting article from Martin Brookes on the loss of the
Cares Family and charity failure.
It chimes with my experience, recent and past.
I think we have an issue, as a sector, of organisational self-deception when it comes to finances. This is fuelled by an environment which doesn’t support openness about financial challenges. Funding bodies acting like shareholders – wanting to ensure their investment is “secure” - means we are often too afraid to be honest about our long term financial position.
This is compounded by a culture of avoiding change – at both the board and exec level – often too the point any change is a serious uphill struggle and requires revolution rather than evolution.
We often go to the wire avoiding going to the wall. And I agree, when we miss, we need to feel the safety – as a sector – to openly share lessons and learn.
This article is about the The Cares Family charity, which went into administration at the end of October. It draws on my experience with Tomorrow's People, where I was chief executive in 2018 when it went into administration. This is the first time I have written about those events. Drawing on my experiences and the demise of The Cares Family, I argue that there are valuable lessons to be learned from failures such as these, but there are no mechanisms to encourage the openness and reflection required to understand and learn. #nonprofit #charity #failure
Who cares?
link.medium.com
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9moWell done on the fundraising. The school choir takes me back...