Improving charity Boards Great recent research from the Association of Chairs identifying priorities for development: an overall improvement strategy for the sector, diversity and inclusion, developing a learning culture and establishing clear principles for board behaviour. Valuable reflections from the Decelerator project If you take away just one thing from this blog, let it be…
Abundance and the UK Cultural Sector: Rethinking the Future of Arts and Culture We’re doing a lot of thinking about the future of the sector at the moment, as many others are. This is an interesting piece by Tangram in response to ‘Abundance: How we build a better future’ (Klein & Thompson, 2025) When the…
Demystifying language Really fascinating project if you’re interested in research communication. Everyone in the room was participating in the Demystifying Language Project (DLP), a research and social justice initiative to make scholarship on the politics of language available in public high schools. At that moment, we were all partners in a profound conversation about language and power. Mapping the impact economy…
Toolkits for systems thinking As systems thinking is gaining more currency among funders and policy makers we wanted to share some resources we have found helpful in our own practice HM Government advice for civil servants Systems innovation toolkit from nesta Guidance and a toolkit from NPC The AI glass floor Firms face a twofold…
Motivating futures New research from the Institute for the Future of Work. As AI rapidly transforms workplaces, there is an urgent need – and golden opportunity – to steer it towards greater opportunity, not deeper inequality. As evidenced in our Pissarides Review, better technical skills and ‘AI literacy’ alone will not be enough for young people from low-income…
Spending Review 2025 from IFS This is not an austerity Spending Review, though much of the government’s largesse, such as it is, was focused on the first two years of the parliament. Small charity week 23 to 28 June Small Charity Week is a campaign to empower the UK’s small charities to have an even greater impact…
Using impact strategy to make a bigger difference An interesting piece from NPC about how the National Lottery Community Fund is changing its funding approaches to be more impactful. Susan really liked the idea of an interactive learning bank. Charity sector development report 2025 Recent overview of the charity sector from Grant Thornton looking not…
Decision making in uncertain times Four questions to ask before making a decision in uncertain times What decision today will still make sense a year from now? If a year from now this decision was used as an example of our leadership, what would it teach? What if this isn’t the storm – what if…
Framing the Future: The Political Case for Strengthening the Visual Arts Ecosystem In case you missed the release of this report. Using Strategic Foresight to Create the World We Want Reminder from SSIR in 2024 of the importance of developing literacy in futures thinking with good links and tips. The future begins in the imagination.…
Building Foresight Capabilities: Introducing Futures Platform’s Foresight Maturity Model We’ve been thinking a lot about foresight recently. This blog outlines an interesting Foresight Maturity Model. How can trustees be more adaptive and systemic? For trustees: a free online session with NPC looking at how trustees can be more adaptive and systemic. Charities are becoming…
Response to the Spring Statement from the IFS ‘..overall, this was a holding exercise ahead of the really significant decisions later in the year. The June Spending Review will be where the Chancellor’s tighter spending plans crystallise into specific choices and start bumping up against reality.’ Biases in decision making Advice from McKinsey on four key biases…
Social justice funders ‘not doing enough to support people and communities’ The research reports that new funder initiatives have emerged to invest in work that supports community organisation and the wider infrastructure that is needed to support and sustain it. However, the authors argue that funders are not doing enough to enable this work to…
Andrew Purkis: Paying trustees must not become the norm An ongoing debate particularly as trustee recruitment has become more challenging. This is one perspective on a matter that is worth debating further. There are certainly valid arguments on both sides. Interested in a free content strategy workshop? A great opportunity if you’re looking to refresh…