Joining the dots...

Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a restful and healthy break over the festive period and have returned to work full of hope and optimism about what the new year will bring. I have no doubt there will be some ups and downs ahead but having recently tuned into a podcast on the secrets of happiness (based on Harvard research!), I am determined to start the year off on the right foot....

Just before the Christmas break I set the scene in an article Charity Retail - The opportunities and challenges. Whilst charity retailers are no doubt still reviewing their festive trading results, in the second of three articles, I'm now turning to a second emerging theme I picked up from the discussion held with a select group of charity CEOs. It is striking how many CEOs recognise that their role is to “join the dots” across an organisation, and retail is a huge part of that.

The financial and social value of charity retail is well-known. But there can sometimes appear to be a disconnect between senior management and the retail arm. At its most extreme, you have high-positioned bosses who almost proudly say they don’t know anything about retail – just bring me the cheque.

This is best illustrated by the CEO who admits that when they joined their organisation, retail was seen as an entirely separate operation that was not understood by the SMT and trustees. However, they have worked hard to change that. “New retail staff didn’t come to welcome sessions I ran as it was taking them off the shop floor for an hour. But I needed them to be there to meet the people working in services so that they could then tell the customers who buy the sweater what their money is funding. It has been so important to be able to tell people that 30p of every pound we spend has come from shops.”

A powerful example of this thinking comes in a story they tell where they asked a volunteer in a shop in Hampstead who had been there 15 years, “if I buy that sweater what good does it do?” The CEO explains that the volunteer didn’t know. “That wasn’t his fault, but management’s. I asked the same question last week of a different volunteer, and they quoted back our strategy as the answer. We should celebrate retail. We communicate with shop teams about what we do. You need buy in across the whole senior team into retail. And trustees need a voice around the table who understands it.”

For some of the CEOs, this discussion is preaching to the converted, but they are keen to get the message out to other charity CEOs not in the room. “Our purpose is helping people live as long and as well as they can. I think about older volunteers in shops and social isolation. I would like them to be more connected to the work of the charity. We make sure retail staff are on our charity induction programmes and are seen as part of the overall team. And the care team go into shops as part of their induction so they can see how shop staff are raising money to pay their wages.”

The CEOs are clear that visible leadership is really important to the retail operation, and helping with a connection and joining those dots. A CEO visiting stores is one highly-effective way of connecting retail back to the purpose of the charity.

As one puts it: “The role of the CEO is vital to the retail team understanding what our charity does. I visit all of my shops. That visible leadership is really important. I buy stuff, and only wear clothes bought from our shops. Everyone knows that. And supporting shops in that way makes a real difference. Carving out time to say thank you is appreciated and reminds staff why they are there. Our shops are successful because retail staff are committed to the cause and connect with shoppers and those who donate.”

And I couldn’t help but be impressed by the passion evident in one final testimony, from the CEO who says that every time they visit a shop they are moved to tears by what they see. “I have seen volunteers whose lives have been turned around. I want my retail staff to walk tall as equal members of the charity’s whole team, and to know that they are helping to change lives every day.”

If you would like to talk more about your charity retail strategy, and explore how leadership can help integrate your retail operation into your overall charitable mission then please do get in touch with me, or one of the team.

Watch out for the third article and please do sign up for our charity retail tracker which is available to charities who participate and who want to see the sector trends and how they can benchmark themselves.

Sarah Hillary Laura McNaughton Jill Halford Angela Cross John Angood Ross McWhir Helen Berry Parul Anand

#bdocharityretail #bdonotforprofit