Parent Charity and Commercial Subsidiary Business Strategies

Parent Charity and Commercial Subsidiary Business Strategies

I regularly come across Charity Annual Reports for UK-registered charities, where one or more commercial trading subsidiaries have been set up in the past. But their financial performance has been poor over time. Eventually, the charity trustees decide to discontinue the commercial subsidiary or subsidiaries altogether. The reasons for poor commercial performance many be variedContinue Reading Parent Charity and Commercial Subsidiary Business Strategies

Linking the Value Chain to Portfolio Management

Linking the Value Chain to Portfolio Management

The Value Chain was outlined by Professor Michael Porter back in the 1980s, including in his ground-breaking book ‘Competitive Advantage’.  Meanwhile, charities have long been conducting portfolio management of beneficiary groups, funder groups and portfolio management of their surplus funds via professional investment firms managing diversified asset classes of investments on their behalf. Options theoryContinue Reading Linking the Value Chain to Portfolio Management

Strategy, charities and the ‘markets’ they operate in

Strategy, charities and the ‘markets’ they operate in

There are many noble causes in the charity sector. However, like it or not, fundraising charities operate (with scarce resources) in competitive markets for; funder grants and donations, the war for (staff) talent and even who human beneficiaries approach to help themselves. Often there are low barriers to imitation for new charity competitors. Some competitionContinue Reading Strategy, charities and the ‘markets’ they operate in

Charity Strategic Plans and Reserves Policies

Charity Strategic Plans and Reserves Policies

A sophisticated Charity Reserves Policy is linked directly to the Charity Strategic Plan. To elaborate, if funders understand your strategic plan well, they shouldn’t have a problem with your Reserves policy having no upper financial limit. Astute funders also expect to partner for a considerable period of time, with a charity that will be resilientContinue Reading Charity Strategic Plans and Reserves Policies

Innovative new sources of net income for charities

Innovative new sources of net income for charities

Permanent Endowments One exciting area to boost charity income on a sustainable annual basis is to set up one or more permanent endowments. For charities who are more interested in helping relatively few beneficiaries, but intensively over a long period of time, then being able to draw on investment income and permanent endowment income eachContinue Reading Innovative new sources of net income for charities

Business Facilities and Flexibility

Business Facilities and Flexibility

Post Covid, demand for office usage continues to be uncertain. Some ways that businesses, government organisations, education institutions and charities can use flexibility to hedge uncertainty are as follows: Install flexible wall partitions, so meetings rooms become variable in their capacity. Exploit demand for shorter term tenancy leases, including one year leases and one dayContinue Reading Business Facilities and Flexibility

Business and Charity Success

Business and Charity Success

Delivering customer or beneficiary benefits requires 4 ingredients; insight, strategic focus, expertise and business flexibility. Understanding customer or beneficiary needs is the insight. Choosing which of them to meet well involves both strategic focus and expertise. Building up and maintaining business flexibility ensures survival of the organisation in an uncertain world. Perennial business brands typicallyContinue Reading Business and Charity Success