This blog is a collection of "thoughts" based on some of the issues that Small Charity Support has helped other small charities deal with.

Click on the headings to go to the relevant article.

Advent is upon us – for many, a time of Christmas shopping, parties, wrapping presents and looking forward to happy times with family and friends
It’s easy to overlook that not everyone who is homeless, hungry and alone is so because of their own choices or laziness.
And it’s also easy to overlook that the increase in homelessness, hunger and other difficulties faced by so many, both in the UK and elsewhere, is caused not by “peace and goodwill”, but by the greed, selfishness and callous indifference of too many.
So, alongside taking time to share the joy of well-known Christmas carols, you might also like to take time to share the plight of others less fortunate, as in this less well-known adaptation of “Away in a Manger”, recorded in 2017 by the Stanmore Choral Society {https://www.andartmusic.uk/images/Recordings/ACC-O're_There_is_a_Stranger.mp4}
With thanks and appreciation to the many charities doing their bit to promote peace and goodwill around the world – not just at Christmas but throughout the year.
PS:  To download an illustrated PDF version of this "Thought" {including a hyperlink to the carol), click HERE

To Accrue...    or Not to Accrue ?
Choosing between Receipts & Payments financial reporting and Accruals financial reporting is a between "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" dilemma for small charities !
For a "no-brainer" solution, click HERE.

Gift Aid - A Gift for the Wealthy ?
Two fictional tales – but based on real information.
What do these little tales tell us about our social & financial attitudes to charity, wealth, equity, levelling up ……. and Gift Aid?

Chicken or Egg  -  Which Came First ?
Rummaging through some old e-mails I came across one which I wrote back in 2018 when I was working as a volunteer with another charity.   It seems as relevant now as it did then – if not more so.   So I though I would publish it as a “Charity Thought”.

Charity Financial Reporting Standards - Not Fit for Purpose ?!
This "Thought" is about how charities are currently required to report (and, by implication, manage) their finances and makes the case that current practices are not fit-for-purpose, particularly for the vast majority (>85%) of small charities with annual incomes less than £250,000.
It also proposes a practical feasible alternative and demonstrates it working in practice in the Small Charity Support "Charity Accounts Made Easy" spreadsheet, as used by a number of other small charities.

 The Good Sam
This "thought", was originally published in "The Third Sector" magazine ("members only" section) on 29-Jan-16.   A modern adaptation of the well-known story of "The Good Samaritan", it is based on some real issues encountered by Small Charity Support in helping other small charities.

Charity Bonds Raise £33M
This "thought" originally appeared as a comment (since deleted) in response to an article which appeared in Civil Society News on 17-Mar-17.   The article was reporting on a charity Care Home which had raised £33M by issuing interest-paying bonds.

What is a Charity?
This "thought" on misunderstandings about what organisations can, or cannot, be called "charities" is inspired by Lewis Carroll's description of the encounter between Alice and Humpty Dumpty in "Alice Through the Looking Glass".

18 Top Charities Pay Trustees
This "thought" is about the difficult issue of payments (ie: a wages/salaries) to trustees.

How Small is "Small"?
This "thought" looks at what constitutes a "small" charity? - and why? - and the implications !

Should Private Schools be Charities?
This "thought" - written in 2019 - looks at the implications, and possible consequences, of a suggestion by the UK Labour Party that the resources of private (ie: fee-paying) schools should be taken for distribution throughout the education system,