CharityComms annual report 2013-14

Our vision

Our vision is for effective and

inspiring communications to be

at the heart of every charity’s

work for a better world. 

Our purpose

We improve the standard

of communications and

champion its role in the sector.

We represent, support, inspire,

connect and inform our

members and the wider charity

communications community.

Our 10-year goals for the sector

1) Communications will be recognised across the sector as an

integral part of the effectiveness of charities.

2) The top 500 charities will have SMT/senior board representation

from communications (ie and equal voice at the top table).

3) More and better resources will be available to help charity

communicators improve their skills and the impact of their work.

4) The planning and delivery of charities’ communications will take

place in the context of an integrated brand and organisational

framework.

Key achievements 2013-14: financial

Income: £356,660 (2012-13: £270,103)

Expenditure: £329,146 (2012-13: £244,698)

Balance of funds at year end: £52,615 (2012-13: £25,101)

Cash in bank at year end: £144,801

Key achievements 2013-14: membership

• We now have over 4,000 individuals involved with

CharityComms membership, including 384

organisational (whole charity) members

• Corporate partners grew from 33 to 49 (now 61)

• We facilitated 125 mentoring partnerships

“There is so much knowledge and some great innovations within the sector. CharityComms provides an invaluable network for this to be shared, to the benefit of us all.”

Hannah Essex, director of communications, TeachFirst

Key achievements 2013-14: events

• 34 events held

• Over 2,200 comms professionals attended

• 87% of delegates acquired new knowledge or enhanced skills

relevant to their job

“Genuinely the best conference I’ve been to in a very long time. I would happily have gone to every single breakout.”

Donna Tipping, Integrated communications manager, RNIB

Key achievements 2013-14: AskCharity

Over 2,700 charities have signed up to our free

media-matching service

“AskCharity has given us some exceptional opportunities for national coverage which we might not have had any other way, and has led to some long-lasting relationships with journalists.”

Suzi Browne, media manager, YMCA England

Key achievements 2013-14: content

• We posted 97 original articles on our website

• We produced three new Best Practice Guides: o Harnessing the talent: working with celebritieso A year in the life: guide to annual reportso Perfect pitch: linking voice and values

Key achievements 2013-14: content

• We produced three reports:o What goes where? The place of communications and

digital within charitieso Reading between the lines: trends in digital and printo Delivering digital transformation: how charity IT and

digital teams can work together

• We published our first book: Make it matter:

creating communications strategies in the

non-profit sector

Key achievements 2013-14: Inspiring Communicator Awards

Recognising inspirational communicators in the charity

sector, our inaugural Inspiring Communicator Awards

celebrated

16 worthy winners.

How have we helped?

I’m sometimes a bit cynical about specialised service providers to the third sector, but your organisation really is tremendous value and a force for good.”

Chris Cox, digital communications manager, Mind

At Jewish Care we’d been producing our annual report in the same way for 25 years. CharityComms’ A Year in the Life guide to annual reports helped us take a new and different approach by focusing on what we wanted our annual report to achieve.”

Ellisa Littlestone, assistant director marketing, Jewish Care This year we’ve contributed to a wide

range of publications which CharityComms has developed, learning lots and making great charity contacts along the way.”

Hilary Cross, director of marketing and communications, Macmillan Cancer Support

Feeling inspired already – want to get back to the office and make this happen!”

Andrew Regan, communications manager, P3, the social inclusion charity

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Recent activity

• Working with agencies: how to be a smart client

• CharityComms/TPP Marketing and

communications salary survey

• New networking group:

Internal communications

• The CharityComms Digital Benchmark

Activity for 2014-15 includes:

• CharityComms Inspiring Communicator Awards 2015

• HQ and beyond: effective communications in a dispersed organisation

• One voice: guide to integrated communications

• Team talk: the changing structures of charity communications teams

• Leading a working group to create a new narrative for the sector

• Lots more great events: www.charitycomms.org.uk

Board of trustees

Trustees for 2014-15: