A Theory of Change can be a powerful tool. It can tell the story of how the world can be a better place, what it will take to get there, and how you are going to help make it happen.

Organisational values are powerful tools. They describe who you are and what you stand for. Done right, they provide everyone with a sense of purpose and belonging.

The Charity Commission is the regulator for charities in England and Wales. It is funded by the Treasury but independent of government.

We recently wrote about the death of fundraising and the threat to traditional ideas of charity as people embed ideas of impact and purpose into every aspect of their lives.

Scenario planning is a strategic tool designed to help organisations prepare for a range of possible futures. It is not about predicting the future. Fundamentally, it is about accommodating uncertainty.

Covid-19 has changed the way that we work in an extraordinarily short time. As we enter this new phase, agility and resilience in the face of uncertainty have become the new buzzwords for many leadership teams.

Businesses that are serious about purpose can learn from charities about how to put their values at the heart of their organisation.

When it comes to fundraising income, charities do not compete with other charities. They compete with everything else a person might be trying to do to lead a meaningful life.

Charities are in crisis. An estimated £4bn of income was lost during the first three months of the pandemic.

The current medical and economic crisis in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic confronts companies and social organisations with challenges hitherto unknown both in character and scale.

As organisations move beyond the day-to-day crisis mode of the last few weeks, they are starting to turn to longer term questions.

This article is the third in our series on making strategy in social progress organisations.

The world is changing fast, fundamental assumptions are being challenged, uncertainty is high and many describe tougher market conditions. Traditional strategic plans and tools are not helping them to address these issues.

At Firetail, we spend a lot of time thinking about how organisations interested in social progress should think about ‘strategy’.

Everyone knows mergers in the charity sector are rare. There are 168,000 charities in England and Wales, yet in the last year there were fewer than a hundred mergers. Firetail surveyed 39 Charity Chief Executives and senior leaders from across our network to understand why. We wanted to get a sense of why there are so few mergers in the sector.