Charity analysis
The little blue book: NPC’s guide to analysing charities, for charities and funders
John Copps & Belinda Vernon
February 2010, 58 pages |
The little blue book is NPC's concise and practical guide to analysing charities, for charities and funders. The guide contains examples of how charities and funders benefit from analysis, and explains NPC’s charity analysis framework, which looks at how charities can assess their effectiveness in six areas:
- Activities: Do the charity's activities address a genuine need?
- Results: Can it demonstrate results of what it has achieved?
- Leadership: Do trustees and management provide high quality leadership?
- People and resources: Does it use staff, volunteers and resources well?
- Finances: Are the finances sound?
- Ambition: Is it ambitious to solve social problems?
The little blue book also contains a grading grid, which can be used to describe a charity’s effectiveness on each part of the framework.
At a time when many charities are having to make tough decisions, The little blue book can help them to assess their own performance, to identify successes and failures, and to understand how they can improve. It can also help funders make thoughtful funding decisions, by better understanding charities’ strengths and areas for development.
Please use The little blue book, share it with others, and let us know what you think by posting a comment on our blog, or calling on 020 7620 4850.
To buy a hard copy of The little blue book, priced at £10 (plus £1.25 postage and packaging), using a credit card or using your paypal account, fill in the number you would like below.
If you would prefer to pay by cheque or bank transfer, please contact jwatson@philanthropycapital.org.
If you would like to download The little blue book as a pdf, please click here.
You can see examples of NPC’s recent charity analysis here. These documents show how analysis gives insights into effectiveness and act as case studies, sharing lessons about effectiveness. You can also find out more about NPC's charity analysis service.
‘I love the fact that NPC is such an advocate of the concept of effectiveness. Charitable effectiveness is about working hard, day in, day out, to deliver the very best services you can, to people that need them. But effort alone isn't enough either, and the thing that stands out for me in our relationship with NPC is the rigour of its approach. This has been inspiring and challenging and going through this process, in itself, has further improved our effectiveness.’
Judith Moran from the charity Quaker Social Action. The charity won a CAF Charity Award as a result of being able to show the effectiveness of its creative financial education project.
>>Click here to read Funding success, NPC's former approach to charity analysis.
Read posts on NPC's blog about the little blue book launch, why we published the little blue book, and issues arising from the little blue book, including financial management, the role of the charity CEO and how to analyse a charity in two hours.