Stronger Charities, Stronger Communities Toolkit

This toolkit is for members of The Wheel who would like to participate in our Stronger Charities, Stronger Communities campaign to ensure the community and voluntary sectors issues are foremost in the minds of TDs and candidates whenever the next general election is called.

Budget and Election Preparations Underway

It’s nearly nine months since Budget 2018 was unveiled by Minister Paschal Donohoe and preparations for Budget 2019 are underway in earnest. These preparations will gather momentum as the year progresses with the pace really picking up for the next three months.

While the sense of political uncertainty surrounding the Government has waned since its near collapse late last year, all parties are actively preparing for the next General Election because – with one slip or mistake – it could happen very quickly. Even if it doesn’t happen this year, most expect an election in 2019 so the parties are selecting their candidates and preparing their manifestoes in order to be ready.

Irrespective as to whether there is a General Election or not in 2019, there will definitely be Local and European Elections in late May next year

So, the process of developing Budget 2019 and making the preparations for the General, Local and European Elections, all provide the community and voluntary sector with an opportunity to impress its issues on the political system including:

  1. Lack of a partnership approach in the decision making process i.e. for decisions that directly impact on people in communities;
  2. Insecure funding: community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises struggle to plan, because statutory funding is allocated on an annual basis, instead of a multi-annual basis. We need statutory funding to be allocated on a multi- annual basis to provide for the full costs of delivering services.
  3. The rising cost of compliance and reporting: charities are implementing a growing list of reporting requirements from multiple regulators, funders and state bodies. There is excessive duplication between the various reporting processes, and this is adding to the administrative load on charities. We need Government to streamline compliance requirements and for the costs of compliance to be funded.
  4. Recruiting and retaining voluntary trustees: groups of volunteers called trustees govern all charities. However, organisations are finding it difficult recruit and retain suitable volunteers for their boards. We need comprehensive government supports for the governance of charities.

To be effective in getting these issues across to policy makers, the sector needs your active involvement and that of your members, family and friends. This Toolkit will help you do that job as effectively as possible.

What to Do Now

TDs and Senators very much welcome contact from their constituents – that’s why they have clinics and have public offices in their constituencies. In particular they like to know what’s happening on the ground, what issues are affecting people – indeed, they know this contact helps them to make better policies.

So what the community and voluntary sector needs you to do now is to:

  • Write to or phone your local Oireachtas members and make an appointment to see them
  • Explain why you’re doing it – you want to talk to them about the community and voluntary sector’s issues – such as funding insecurity, the costs-of-compliance and retaining volunteers. You also want to talk about how your own organisation is affected.

Lobbying Options

The best and most effective way to lobby politicians is to talk to them face-to-face by visiting their clinics or their constituency offices – that’s what they are there to do, meet their public.

If you can’t meet them directly on a personal basis – or are nervous about doing it:

  • Call their office and speak to them by phone;
  • Write them a personal letter

It’s really important that you:

  • Contact all Oireachtas members and election candidates in your constituency in the coming weeks – all parties and Independents – giving them all an equal chance to support Stronger Charities, Stronger Communities campaign;
  • Contact them again in the autumn – to confirm their support;
  • Remember to thank them for their time and attention – courtesy is a long term investment.

What to Say

Here are some things that you need to say when you meet, phone or write to your local

Oireachtas members and election candidates:

  • Thank them for meeting you or talking to you
  • Explain that you are concerned about the need for Government to implement an effective strategy supporting the community and voluntary sector
  • Set out how your organisation contributes to your local community – and this is mirrored by thousands of other organisations across the country
  • Explain how uncertainties over funding and the costs of compliance is affecting your organisation and its ability to serve its clients – give practical examples here
  • Also point out that there’s a real justice issue here as community and voluntary organisations have picked up a lot of the slack left by funding cuts imposed as a result of the economic crash
  • Be clear on what you want – you want the Government to implement a clear strategy to support the community and voluntary sector and concrete action on funding, volunteer support and help with the compliance burden
  • Ask them directly for that commitment – you want to see action on that in Budget 2019 and in their party’s election manifesto
  • Remind them that you will be back in touch as preparations continue for the Budget and the elections
  • Thank them for their time and for listening.

It’s very important to remember when you’re engaging with politicians not to blind them with too much detail – keep it simple and focus on how real people are affected by the issues affecting your organisation – in particular your service users or clients (not the staff!).

Advance Preparation

Some other things to be aware of as you’re preparing for your encounters with your local politicians:

  • Nobody’s expecting you to be an expert on the economy
  • They are interested in you as one of their constituents
  • Prepare by thinking about how people on the ground are being adversely affected by the issues hitting your organisation – have funding issues led to cuts in services or opening hours?
  • Also think practically about how they might benefit from the implementation of a strategy for the sector, as well as the easing of the compliance burden and the restoration of funding.

In preparing for your meeting, remember that many politicians may try to evade giving a straight answer – “I’ll do the best I can for you”

So what do you do then?

  • Repeat that you are looking for a clear commitment for action on your issues
  • Remind them that you’ll be keeping in touch to see how that commitment is translated into action in Budget 2019 and their party’s election manifesto.

Persuade, Not Pressure

Remember that the community and voluntary sector is not the only grouping campaigning around the Budget and manifesto preparation processes and so there are multiple demands on the system. We need you to persuade politicians that we’re worth supporting. In this context, it’s really important to remember that:

  • Imposing pressure may seem appealing – but pressure is not nearly as effective as persuasion
  • Exerting pressure is a very high risk approach – most politicians respond badly to being pressured
  • As a result, they may not support us now or in the future
  • We have a strong case so let us use it!

Getting Your Members Active

We also need to get your members active – even if it’s only a small handful of them!

Here are some simple asks for them:

  • They can write a letter to their Oireachtas members;
  • Get them to raise the sector’s issues with canvassers – namely funding restoration, easing the compliance burden and help with recruiting and retaining volunteers.

Coming back to the issue of canvassers, now that the weather is better, and the days are longer, we can expect Oireachtas members as well as other candidates and canvassers to be knocking on doors intensively over the period ahead. The community and voluntary sector can use this process to its advantage by ensuring that as many members as possible raise the need for fair play for the sector and those it serves on the doorsteps by:

  • Asking canvassers if their party and candidate will commit to supporting the sector’s demands in Budget 2019 and including that commitment in the election manifestoes too;
  • Getting members to ask them to get their candidates to confirm their commitments in writing.

All ensuing letters and emails should be forwarded to:

The Wheel
48 Fleet Street
Dublin 2
D02 T883

Or

Lauren@wheel.ie