What do policy makers think about charities

Charities and policy makers’ need each other. Working together, they can assist each other in making informed decisions that should better support the most vulnerable people in society.  

 

Members of Parliament and civil servants, for example, require access to the latest data on issues, ranging from poverty to mental health, to feed into their decision-making around funding allocations and new laws. 

 

Meanwhile, charity lobbying campaigns are necessary to ensure their beneficiaries are being effectively supported at a local and national level.  

 

Lobbying often involves charities being a “critical friend”, recommending improvements that can be made, some of which can be welcomed by politicians and rejected by others.  

 

Here, we explore the views of policy makers, including local councillors, civil servants and MPs, about their relationship with charities. This includes finding out vital information on how policy makers like to be communicated with to help charities maximise their impact on key decisions. 

 

 

Building relationships 

 

The importance of personal relationships was a big theme that emerged from a report by think tank Pro Bono Economics, which took into account the views of 700 MPs, councillors and civil servants.  

 

The report revealed that policy makers tend to be put off by generic emails and direct mail shots and instead welcome one-to-one meetings, which can be face-to-face or virtual.  

 

This is particularly the case in how they deal with charities. Three in five MPs and two thirds of councillors want more engagement with charities, with events and meetings coming out as the most popular ways to discover good causes.  

 

Almost seven in ten MPs and three quarters of councillors say one-to-one meetings are their preferred method of communication. Around two thirds (65%) of MPs favour meeting charity representatives at events.  

 

Charities that take time to research policy makers’ interests also make a difference in how they are received, with 61% of MPs welcoming charities that ensure lobbying is tailored to their specific interests.  

 

 

Developing trust  

 

Building relationships helps policy makers to trust the information provided by charities and the effectiveness of their work, Pro Bono Economics’ research suggests. The survey found that 62% of Conservative MPs will use evidence and insights by charities they know, rather than those they don’t. 

 

However, policy makers remain unconvinced by the value of the charity sector in service delivery. Just 35% of Conservative Party councillors and only 40% of the party’s MPs say they trust charities to provide services reliably and on budget. 

 

“Every day, policymakers and charities on a local and national level interact in the shared interests of the communities they serve,” said Pro Bono Economics Research and Policy Director Helen Barnard. 

 

However, “levels of engagement between policymakers and charities and their experiences of these interactions vary considerably”, she adds. 

 

Barnard urges charities to improve “their knowledge of policymaking and the way they campaign and communicate with policymakers”, adding that “it also requires better support and understanding from councils, MPs, Whitehall and charity funders who all help to shape the environment in which charities work”. 

 

 

Engaging with civil servants 

 

Charities need to be aware that civil servants like to be communicated with in different ways to policy makers.  

 

Only 55% value one-to-one meetings, considerably fewer than among politicians. Their most favoured form of communication is to be sent written reports from charities, which they can deliberate in their own time. This method is backed by 61% of civil servants.  

 

A similar proportion like to gather information from charity websites, highlighting the importance for charities of maintaining an up-to-date, informative online presence.   

 

Currently, it appears that charities are neglecting communication with civil servants. Only a third said they have had contact with a charity over the previous 12 months, compared to nine in ten councillors and MPs.  

 

When civil servants are a key part of the policy process, and often responsible for what information ministers see, failing to include them in your charity’s communications is a missed opportunity. 

 

 

Volunteering and secondments  

 

As well as arranging meetings and events, charities can also foster relationships by encouraging volunteering and secondments to civil servants.  
 

“This will help meet the government’s commitment to bring in more outside perspectives to Whitehall, help civil servants develop their skills in collaboration, improve their understanding of civil society, and contribute valuable skills and insights to charities they work with,” argues the report.  

 

 

Levelling Up 

 

More than seven in ten MPs and councillors believe that charities are important to the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. This belief is across all main political parties. 

 

This suggests that charities need to emphasise the role they can play in tackling social injustice to improve life in areas of disadvantaged. 

 

Pro Bono Economics’ research suggests charities need to do more to inform policy makers of the sector’s significance to the economy, as ministers seeks to tackle unemployment as part of its levelling up agenda.  

 

While charities directly employ 900,000 people and provide as much training locally as councils, only half (51%) of MPs and even fewer councillors (46%) believe charities can play an important role in supporting the UK’s workforce and economy.