Charity News Alert
'Secret Millionaire' sets up skills-building foundation
Becky Slack
A new organisation that aims to build capacity within small charities has been founded by social entrepreneur Emma Harrison and the former national campaign manager for the NSPCC’s Full Stop appeal, Pauline Broomhead (pictured).
The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) will offer hands-on assistance to organisations working with the socially excluded with the aim of “cultivating new skills and building long-term efficiency and sustainability”. Thanks to investment from Harrison, founder of international training provider 4Ae, the consultancy services will be offered for free, primarily to charity sector organisations with incomes under £5m.
Speaking at its inaugural conference last week, Harrison described how the organisation was formed after she took part in Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme.
“I was going to give a local community group £30,000 but realised that while this was enough to keep them going for a year, they had no fundraising capacity so what would happen to them after the money ran out?” she said.
“I decided that instead of just giving them the money I’d give them Pauline [Broomhead] so she could guide them. The idea then developed into something much bigger which would allow us to reach many organisations, not just one.”
Harrison met Broomhead via the NSPCC’s Full Stop regional campaign of which she was chair. Broomhead, who delivered £56m towards the Full Stop appeal’s £250m total, is to run the Foundation, which already has five charity partners and has provided training to 37.
“We want to help make small organisations even better at what they do,” said Broomhead. “One way we’ll do this is by bringing people together as people can learn a lot from their peers. We are also looking to similar organisations around the world so that we can share best practice on a global scale.”
Patrick Cox, founder and chief executive of the Small Charities Coalition, welcomed the Foundation. He said: “The FSI was founded on what real philanthropy is all about. Any organisation set up to help small charities build capacity is a blessing.”
For more information, visit www.thefsi.org.uk
