7 Steps to Building a Successful Charity

Whisper it quietly: Running a charity is harder than running a for-profit business. Hiring top talent on modest salaries is harder; lack of money makes it harder to move people out with a golden parachute; mergers stumble over egos when the money motive is absent. As a co-founder of eight charities, I have made more mistakes than I care to remember.

Here are the seven key lessons I have learned about building a charity. They may seem obvious, but as George Orwell noted: “to see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle”.

1. Put in strong financial controls
Any good charity entrepreneur will want to focus all their time and effort on the mission. Controls and audits are seen as dull bureaucracy. But ignore them at your peril. Charities need very strong controls—such as to ensure that no single individual can make or authorise payments—and you need to make sure these controls are being implemented. Charities are magnets for fraudsters because they are seen to be soft targets, but most fraud happens with the help of an insider. I have had three close escapes on fraud. Fraud is not something that happens to other people: It can happen to anyone.