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Boards need public relations skills – now!
We're marking Trustees' Week with daily blogs written by CIPR members on not-for-profit boards. Today, hear from a Chartered PR who sits on the board of a charity that was impacted by the summer race riots.
I’ve written about the correlation of skills in governance and PR before, but it never felt more real than this summer.
The riots that took place across the UK – partly in response to mistruths reported about the killings in Southport, partly due to racism that still sits glowering in our society, partly due to anger caused by inequalities and poverty – were distressing for most people; but the charity I am a trustee for, supports people seeking refuge and asylum.
When a partner charity was made aware that it would be targeted by rioters, we needed to work quickly to:
Establish how we could support our friends and colleagues without putting them at further risk
Understand and clarify the multiple pieces of disinformation spreading online about the riots, for employees and partner organisations
Decide how best to respond publicly, as an anti-racist organisation, while keeping our staff and clients safe
The charity I work with, Connection Support, has a small but strong marketing and comms team. I worked with them and the CEO to establish the risk of every action we took, to decide which risks we were willing to take and to connect them with other charity comms teams who were drafting messaging and activating.
Held to account
We are operating in a complex environment, where issues hit differently and the truth is hard to find. Issues affecting charities, in particular, get messy – fast. The ethics of fundraising and safeguarding, a cost-of-living crisis, the chronic under-funding of councils and support services, all create an environment where charities are held to a different standard and things can go wrong, quickly. This is why it is so important that every charity board needs a public relations professional as a trustee.
While our media relations, branding and reputation-building skills are valuable in this context, the value we offer is far greater (what I like to call ‘the messy stuff’):
Risk assessment and mitigation is critical to the sustainability of every charity. I’m a bit obsessed with risk registers, but for a long time, I’ve taken the view that they act as a ‘cheat sheet’ for the crises we need to prepare for. Imagine how many organisations could have prevented critical issues if they’d paid more attention to risk?
Stakeholder engagement – I refer to the aforementioned funding crisis: meeting ministers to make the case for more funding in the right areas. But also: building relationships with local funders to ensure you actually get paid, building partnerships with other charities and co-creating new ideas.
Strategy development – this work is vital to a trustee board, partnering with the leadership team to develop the organisation’s strategy. It’s also something we do all the time, to the extent that it makes up a third of the CIPR’s chartership assessment.
Facilitation – Let’s be honest, one of the things that we must get good at in communications roles is awkward conversations. I challenge you to find a board where these aren’t necessary at times.
Business development – sounds odd when talking about the charity sector, but the funding environment is such that everyone is having to think about what growth looks like for them and how to generate it. Join the board’s development sub committee, your value there will be huge.
The economy has not been fun this year…not for the past few years. Businesses have struggled, many have restructured, many have closed. It’s the same for charities (some might argue, much worse).
If we want to live in a society that doesn’t let people fall through the gaps, that supports people to live fulfilled, longer, healthier lives – the charity sector needs our help.
If we want to develop ourselves, gain experience and skills beyond what we get access to at work, we need the charity sector’s help.
- Transferring your crisis comms skills to a trustee board
- Shaping a new strategic plan as a new trustee
- Embracing trustee roles: My journey towards community impact
- Life in the 3%: What it’s like for Britain’s young trustees?
- Sitting on a global board - how does it work?
- How to become a charity trustee
- Five of the best trustee-run event and community spaces to hire
Chartered PR practitioner Emma Duke is a communications consultant, trainer and coach. She is co-chair of Connection Support.