With Black History Month (BHM) just ended, it’s a good time to reflect on charities’ progress on equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) issues.
BHM isn’t just about celebrating and appreciating rich cultural diversity in the UK; it’s also an opportunity to inspire, educate and encourage our communities to further the values of ED&I.
Fostering a work environment with these values at its heart is a crucial element of modern business success. Many organisations have clearly stated their intention to go for growth while at the same time being determined to lead with purpose and integrity. ED&I runs through everything they do: culture, outlook and training.
But how are charities doing in their desire to embed ED&I?
It’s a mixed picture. On the plus side, research highlighted by NCVO in July 2021 found 79% of third-sector organisations were planning to address ED&I issues in their workplace, services and volunteer base.
Signs beneath the surface are less positive, however. For instance, a Race Equality Matters survey carried out for the organisation’s 2024 #ListenActChange campaign, discovered 44% of charity-based respondents were told their senior managers were committed to tackling race inequality, but only 21% were acting on their promise.
So, lots of progress has been made on ED&I but challenges lie ahead. The good news is many charities acknowledge that’s the case.
The changing face of charity communications
We are hearing more about ED&I from our charity clients and contacts. Many are just starting their journey while others have already made significant strides. Meanwhile, awards are handed out in recognition of best efforts. Training courses with a specific ED&I remit – such as ‘Introduction to anti-racism in charities’ – are growing in number.
It’s also noticeable that ED&I values are becoming a more common inclusion in charities’ fundraising briefs to marketing agencies. Creative and strategic campaign requirements along the lines of ‘inspiring our audience to be more inclusive’, and ‘moving on from stereotypes that perpetuate racism’ leap off the page.
Organisations are recognising that society’s mainstream views have evolved and the narrow fundraising focus that was prevalent a few decades ago must also be adapted to reflect changing supporter attitudes and beliefs. We welcome this consideration and openness, and the challenge it presents to agencies.
I’ve been observing more charities make a conscious decision to change the way they represent the people they work alongside, worldwide. Partnering not othering. I was impressed to read one organisation’s drive to commit to stop reproducing images and telling stories that are unrepresentative of people’s lived realities, stereotype individuals, or invoke pity. Historically, this led to harmful assumptions about a continent, a country or a particular group of people.
We have come a long way since 1998, when Oxfam changed tack for the charity sector with its groundbreaking TV ad “Give a man a fish” and its message of self-sustained change for communities in the developing world. It was a smart antidote to – sometimes well-founded – accusations about the sector’s ‘white saviour’ complex (a charge which is still cited today).
Yet the same strategic conundrum is true for charities’ external campaigns as it is for their internal championing of ED&I. Behind the scenes organisations wrestle with finding the right approach that will satisfy corporate governance but also carry through to marketing communications in a way that inspires rather than irritates supporters.
Which presents the question: can you find a balance that satisfies all of ED&I’s stakeholders, not least your donors?
The halo effect of authentic and accurate storytelling
The charity sector is right to strive to make ED&I a core value. One could argue that charities – domestic as well as global organisations, international development bodies and NGOs – are expected to lead by example, and therefore the onus is on fundraisers to uphold these values.
Public trust in charities is at its highest level since 2014. Charity Commission Research published in 2024 shows third-sector organisations now score 6.5 out of 10 for trust, up from 6.3 in 2023, and from a low of 5.5 in 2018 following a series of scandals. Moreover, 58% of people have high trust in charities – 7 out of 10 or higher – placing it among the most trusted entities in society, second only after doctors.
Donors rightly have high expectations of the industry: many will feel that if our sector can’t be relied on to make positive change, then who will?
That’s why the pressure is on to respond to the fundamental importance of ED&I within organisations but critically in external communications too.
With the right strategy in place charities can build an internal culture that is seamlessly reflected in storytelling to supporters. A creative approach that is both accurate and authentic.
We hold authenticity as a key aspect of the work we produce for clients. In the stories we tell with our words, images, video, testimony or case studies that we gather. It is incumbent on us to use these stories and represent the lives of the people accurately and with respect. Ultimately, we hope to portray these stories in a way that engages the public, helping to raise money, profile or influence.
Charities – even specific teams within one organisation – may express concern that imbuing creative with ‘too much’ of an ED&I focus, via the core ingredients of authenticity and accuracy, could actually suppress response. But a strong, compelling story well told will do the opposite, connecting with supporters and potential donors while highlighting a real-world need that is the reason the charity exists.
Getting the balance right between strong values and required campaign response is no mean feat. But it’s one worth working towards as charities seek to make ED&I the golden thread running through all they do.
We shouldn’t need an excuse to nurture these values, but the era of ED&I seems the perfect time to do so – for the good of our sector and for society at large.
John Eversley is managing director – agency at WPNC
