C O N T E X T 1 1 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 0 49 Director’s cut Help needed for a charitable venture In this column I have occasionally touched on the charitable interests that underpin our work. However, since I started with the IHBC, the organisation has been so preoccupied with our corporate infrastructure that we have not had the opportunity to draw together a clear strategy for building on our charitable status. This is particularly important in light of the new government’s agenda to do more with (a lot) less money, to decentralise, to empower local communities and to diversify the delivery of services. The new government agendas reflect opportunities for the IHBC, especially given the new structures – such as our trading arm – that we now have in place.With the inclusion of this theme as part of our newCorporate Plan 2010–15, we now have a formal platform for developing this strand of our operations. Areas that we might easily begin to explore under a charitable strategy include developing Gift Aid opportunities; enabling wider charitable donations; accessing charitable funds for sector and project development; and partnering with charitable bodies outside the historic environment sector. Our members already support the sector substantially, as their subscriptions help make our services as widely available as reasonably possible. But we can not ask (much) more of members directly. So we need a wider strategy, which in our corporate plan is represented by the development of a dedicated fundraising arm for our charitable works. Public benefit is something that sits right at the heart of who we are and how we operate as a professional body.Yet, a large part of the challenge is to raise awareness (across a sector already impressed by our policy, training and project work) that the IHBC is not only a professional body, but a deserving charity as well. Sector stakeholders need to appreciate better that our charitable objects, of supporting the public good through caring for the historic environment, are intertwined. In discussion with other colleagues IHBC as a unique inter-disciplinary professional body and as a key player in the broad sector represented by historic environment’s non-governmental organisations.We can now look to our council to agree in detail how we will implement the new plan’s corporate aims: to ‘enhance access to charitable structures, operations, activities, capacity and benefits of the IHBC’ (A2), and to ‘develop charitable profile, activities and operations’ (C8). These two aims must develop together. The former reflects the external operation that most will see, as it will facilitate public access to our charitable work. The latter is an internal matter, involving a more substantial addition to our committee structures and, ultimately, our corporate priorities and identity. Operationally, it will be comparatively easy to improve access to our charitable structures – using our membership services and website to encourage donations and Gift Aid, for example. But to draw in funds successfully, people must also see the charitable focus of our work. Crucially, corporate aim C8 will help make sure we have the structures in place to attract and appropriately distribute such funds. So we are looking for individuals who see the potential of our charitable strategy, and who have the capacity to devote some time and effort to achieving it. As with many voluntary activities, work adjusts itself to fit the time, so it is impossible to detail what might be required from such volunteers. The role could be the equivalent of a full-time job and more, or it could simply require focused oversight of a dedicated team of volunteers delivering the strategy. If you can devote time to this important initiative, or if you know of someone who might be able to, whether an IHBC member or not, please let me know. Otherwise keep an eye on how we develop the details of this programme. We will keep everyone updated on our website and NewsBlogs. Seán O’Reilly, [email protected] in the voluntary sector, we see our common purpose over amenity, place, heritage, services and standards. We will not always have the same view as all partners around each table, but we will see both the common starting points for each group and the wider aspirations in support of the public good. For example, we work hard at delivering support for the voluntary contributions of our members; links for our members to the wider community of stakeholder interests in place-making and place-shaping; and tangible results in an environment that is distinguished by low-cost, high-impact outcomes. When I moved from my post as director of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) to that of director of the IHBC, I recognised both organisations as having remarkably similar corporate profiles. They each had a distinct operational scope, history and business context: one boasted distinguished service for nearly half a century on behalf of Scotland’s communities, the other was a stripling trying to define a new standard of built environment professionalism across the UK. But they both benefited from a devolved yet proactive regional structure, and were (and remain) almost totally reliant on the goodwill of volunteers working for a recognised public benefit, our historic places. The commonality of structure and purpose helped highlight for me the synergies between the volunteering professionals in the IHBC and the voluntary community I know from the AHSS. But while the AHSS was widely recognised as a charity, and a suitable beneficiary for support (receiving core funding and a headquarters from Historic Scotland, and donations and bequests from private individuals), the IHBC has never achieved such recognition or goodwill. It is time for a change. Our newly adopted corporate plan provides clear objectives in our development as a charitable body. How we respond to these objectives will shape the future success of the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=