Why I love small charities

It’s #SmallCharityWeek - so I wanted to share some of the reasons I love the smaller charities and not for profits in the sector!

I’d like to begin by caveating this by saying that I am not an expert on impact assessment in the sector, and these musings are based on my general feeling and engagement with candidates and staff within the charity sector.

They are local –many smaller charities are very local and do an amazing job in providing services and advice to the most marginalised people in the communities which they operate in. I’ve seen numerous examples of small, local charities having a tangible impact on people’s lives, perhaps in a more obvious fashion than larger charities.

They are specialist – small charities often represent niche causes which larger charities may miss, and they are generally built around the philosophy of addressing needs of beneficiaries in the here & now, not the future.

They are hugely values driven –Often small charities are born out of a desperate situation or an extremely strong vision from the founder – this tends to be reflected in the organisation as a whole and often means their core values are prominent and central to what they do.

Working for them is varied and intimate – Smaller charities can be great places to work, particularly for people at the beginning of their career who want to avoid becoming pigeon-holed or too specialist early on. Speaking from my personal perspective of placing finance staff into charities – the work can often offer huge exposure across all areas of finance, plus other areas of corporate resources such as IT, HR, governance and compliance. Smaller charities are also generally very intimate and friendly places to work.

They are less bureaucratic –this probably goes for the wider world, not just charities, but generally smaller organisations are better at getting things done quickly!

Close bonds with donors and beneficiaries – Although funding for smaller charities is an issue, one of the most satisfying parts of working for one is the genuinely close and personal relationships you can build with both donors and beneficiaries. I don’t get the feeling this is as easy to achieve in larger not for profits.

Does anyone have anything else to add to the list of why small charities rule!?