Household-name charities should play a larger part in sector lobbying, a think tank has argued.
Leah Davis, head of policy and external affairs at NPC, said advocacy work was “too dispersed” across the sector to influence government most effectively.
In an essay exploring the relationship between charities and the government, published today, Davis welcomes the work of the Civil Society Group, formed by 50 charity umbrella bodies in 2021 to engage with ministers and officials.
But she says: “With few of the big-name charities getting behind charity sector calls, our influence is just too dispersed.
“We need a collective effort across the sector to focus on our core role and establish it.”
This would allow charities to “be clear to government how we want them to institutionalise those relationships across different departments, whether that be through formal agreements between government and civil society, or whether it’s more informal regular consultation”, says Davis.
In the same essay, she says tension between charities and the government is “integral to a functioning democracy”, but warns: “This can sometimes turn into something much more fractious and, arguably, destructive.
“So-called culture wars are probably the most visible example, but perhaps more insidious is where there is diminishing trust between charities and the state, and a lack of opportunities to find ways to work together to help the very people we’re both here to serve.”