Brendan Gormley has a major diplomatic job to do as chief executive of a truly unique charity: the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The diplomacy comes in many forms, managing and directing the 13 member charity organisations that make up the DEC and maintaining a leveled focus when defending campaigns the DEC has chosen. Added to this is also recognising that the DEC is not about building long-term relationships, a bizarre situation for a charity.

“We have a leading group of UK charities as our members and the challenge is to add value to what is a very strong group of charities, not to duplicate and not to compete,” he says.

“We are not in the relationship business, which is the core of charity management. Normal charities want to draw people in, so they have a personal relationship and understanding for the charity, so their giving become less restricted and more regular.We are almost the opposite. What we need to do is pop up when certain criteria is met, raise funds effectively, distribute them, then wind up and disappear.”

The structure of the DEC with 13 chief executives from some of the largest international charities and six independent members of the board, rather inevitably must lead to a conflict of opinion between the member charities on campaigns? “We will sometime have a differences of opinion, whether the need is appropriate for a national appeal or whether the normal charity model is the better way.We will have differences of opinion about scale and access in conflicts and it will be a judgement call with our members and partners about the level of understanding and sympathy with the British public.”

Troubled world

The DEC has a three-rule criteria that a campaign must meet before it is embarked upon: unmet need, an ability by DEC members to do something timely and evidence of public concern.

Given the worldwide situation more and more appeals are becoming more relevant and appropriate to the DEC criteria. The DEC has undertaken four appeals in the last 14 months alone: Gaza, Congo, Burma and the Bangladesh cyclone. “The context of a troubled world has meant that over the last few years we have seen an increasing number of localised, but very real, tragedies.We discuss and agonise over the three criteria all the time,” he says.

The more contentious areas is arguing the case for wearing a humanitarian hat in highly political situations. “Prevention is the best solution. And for the DEC knowing there is public sympathy. So there is a tension for going early and preventing further suffering, as opposed to sometimes waiting and having a clear and powerful case.”

Deciding on the campaign is a tough decision, for example Zimbabwe could be saids to fall within the three set criteria. “We have followed Zimbabwe over the last year, but in the end judgement continues to be that the three criteria, with additional private money, was not seen as the answer. Sometimes you need a political solution before you can respond.”

But that could be said of the most controversial of the DEC’s recent campaigns, that of Gaza. “Yes. You have to make that difficult judgement. Should poor people made to wait for a more perfect solution? And clearly underpinning the DEC is the humanitarian imperative, which has to be politically blind, geographically blind, but doesn’t mean we can afford to be lackadaisical in our thinking of being politically aware and sensitive to a better solution.”

He adds: “Many of our members have a dual mandate, but they also have in their own memorandum an agreement, supported by the Charity Commission, that advocacy to strengthen the voice of poor people, to improve their lot is a genuine charitable purpose. That plays out that some of our members will point out what the causes of the suffering. The DEC has kept our mandate tightly humanitarian. But as more situations are political - with a small ‘p’ - that has to be managed.”

Gaza appeal

Although some people will be supporting the DEC in some cases, and especially in the case of Gaza, because it fits in with their overall political outlook. “It is not for us to judge on what motivates people to give. It is for us to help those who are suffering and not be drawn into what was a very polarized context,” say Gormley.

Interestingly, when I ask him if he understood why the BBC and Sky took the view they did in not showing the DEC Gaza appeal he openly replies: “Yes.” Before adding: “And I would go further, it should be clear that they have an absolute right to make their decision. Clearly we regretted it, as we felt the criteria had been met. But they had editorial judgement that made them come down on the other side.”

For him the argument was about one thing: an interpretation of the word, impartial. “There were two interpretations of the word: one side, quite rightly, was saying we need editorial impartiality, which often means balance, whereas impartial for a humanitarian is to be blind except to the need, which can look as if you are partial.”

So, what lessons does he draw from the DEC/broadcasting debacle? “We have had good discussions with all the broadcasters on the back of Gaza, to make sure we understand each other and have contacts at the highest level, if we judge things are going to be difficult.”

Recession proof

Surely, though, the irony was the publicity from the disagreement helped the appeal. “In the sense that we didn’t have the BBC appeal, we did raise more money that we anticipated,” he admits. At the last count the appeal had raised £7.2million.

He also observes that the DEC is almost recession proof. “My judgement is the UK public are stunningly generous when they can see what the problem is and can see that something can be done about it. Based on that and if we stick with our three criteria we don’t think we are likely to be affected by the recession.”

Reinforcing this point he confesses that from a corporate point of view they are also in a strong position. “We have a network of corporate supporters to die for. And I need to mediate between the charity and corporate world. I need to look outwards as well as inwards”

His outlook is the culmination of many years working in the international charity sector. Having left university, he had a childhood ambition to work in Africa, but subsequently starting life as a fundraiser in charity shops in Reading in 1974.

Soon after though, he got his opportunity, and moved to the Africa desk with Oxfam, because he says, he spoke French, and spent the following nine years in West Africa before moving on to Cairo. After having children he decided to return to the UK in 1985 and subsequently became Oxfam Africa director in 1990 and became DEC CEO in 2000.

“The DEC was going through an interesting period in the late 1990s and the trustees created a new governance and new post of CEO.”

So what he has experience taught him?

“You should always keep smiling. You have to be honest with yourself and what drives you, and believe what you are doing to get through the good days and the bad.”

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