A charity think tank is calling on the Government to launch an Impact Fund to help charities measure their results and prove the success of their work.

New Philanthropy Capital also believes new standardised frameworks for reporting results, developed in partnership with charities, would put a greater focus on outcomes and evaluation and save the state an estimated £150m a year.

In its manifesto published today, NPC draws on its experience of working with charities, funders and donors.

Martin Brookes, NPC's chief executive, said: 'The election offers a great opportunity to review the way government works with charities and philanthropists. We believe there needs to be a sharper focus on social impact. Unless greater emphasis is placed on impact, it will be difficult to know whether charities are delivering public benefit and taxpayers' money is being well-spent.'

The development of new standardised frameworks would deal with some of the issues facing charities that provide public sector services.

The charity sector currently receives nearly £8bn a year in the form of government contracts to deliver public services, often helping those most in need.

But with those contracts comes a requirement to report the results of their work.

In the survey half of the charities who responded said that reporting requirements are out of proportion to the size of the grant or contract, and they have never been offered funding for this or received outside support such as training.

Two thirds of charities said they had to tailor the information on the results of their work in terms of content and presentation to each local authority, which took up valuable time.

By having a streamlined reporting process, which could be used by all charities, not just those delivering public services, NPC says the quality of the information would improve and in the long term, the burden on charities would be reduced.

NPC says a new Impact Fund would make a difference and could be paid for by diverting 20% of the current Capacitybuilders budget, providing the fund with £6m a year. NPC also highlights the need for more to be done with any results collected, calling for government to make public the evidence it collects from charities in the same way that it publishes public service performance data.

NPC's manifesto also considers the role of philanthropy and calls for the government to focus not just on encouraging more philanthropy, but on encouraging more effective philanthropy.

In total, individuals, trusts and foundations in the UK give over £13bn to charity every year.

Share Story: