Insights

Comic Relief’s decision to stop producing ‘white saviour’ appeal films is a positive step for an organisation that does great work, but is clearly alive to the risks of the messiah complex. It should inspire other charities to have a period of self-reflection about their culture, too. In all but a few exceptional cases, the UK’s charities […]

“Tim, we’ve decided to adapt your role in a strategically streamlined way.” Do people really speak like this when announcing job losses to their colleagues?  If a swathe of recent press releases is to be believed, then sadly the answer is ‘yes’. Imagine you’re being made redundant – an upsetting event which millions will face […]

The rapid spread of Coronavirus around the world is already the biggest story of 2020. COVID-19, as it is also known, is making its way steadily towards us, amid mounting concern – often panic – and those concerned with crisis handling are already reporting a dramatic increase in cries for help from organisations and businesses struggling to […]

Why do some organisations respond well to a crisis when others make matters worse with a clumsy response? Reputations can be made or destroyed by a company’s crisis response, so it’s not as if people are blind to the consequences. But the truth is that some people just don’t know where to start, and then […]

As we continue to gaze in our rear-view mirrors at the wreckage of Prince Andrew’s car crash interview, the glare remains on what he did and didn’t say. But for a moment forget the new-found fame for the Woking branch of Pizza Express or the commoners’ curiosity of what actually constitutes “a straightforward shooting weekend”. […]

Yet again a major institution takes a reputational hit because of problems arising from ‘poor culture’. The Charity Commission report into the scandal at Oxfam highlights how individuals took advantage of the charity’s poor culture to exploit young women and children in Haiti in 2011. There are recommendations for improvements and an acknowledgement that things […]

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It has been another challenging year. Widespread dismay over implementation of the Lobbying Act, the trials and tribulations of preparing for General Data Protection Regulation, and, of course, the normal day-to-day competition for those all-important funds. With the nights drawing in, we take a look at top five reputational risks facing the charities sector this […]

Visibility is essential for leaders in times of trouble. For those of us who avidly devour media coverage of major events, certain personalities become indelibly embedded into our memories. In the Manchester bombing, for many it was homeless Chris Parker, who rushed to help victims, or Tony Walsh, the poet whose rendition of his brilliant […]