In a somewhat sinister article in Wednesday's Guardian, it is reported that charities may lose funds if they lobby against the Government.
In essence, the report states that a DfID Directive states that: any charity seeking grants from Dfid, will not get any funding if they are involved in any lobbying "for or against activities of particular companies and institutions (which include Government)".
This is despite Cabinet Office Secretary Ed Milliband, saying only recently that funding was certainly NOT dependent on charities taking particular political or policy positions.
Although the Orwellian nature of this announcement is to be condemned - hardly a surprise under a Government that is inherently authoritarian, I cannot help thinking that some of the bigger charities have walked into a trap of their own making.
Not so long ago, Danny Finkelstein wrote in The Times that charities had to be distinguished between those who 'campaign' to change the Government's view, or get the Government to 'do something' and those smaller charities who were at the coal face and deeply rooted in the communities they serve. Iain Duncan Smith has also spoken of the 'Tesco-isation' of the bigger charities. He argues that some have become indistinguishable from Government Departments and primarily rely on Government contracts and Government grants to run their daily affairs, leaving the smaller charities out in the cold. It is these kind of charities that have large 'Public Affairs' or 'Corporate Affairs' sections and spend a lot of time and money trying to achieve campaigning objectives (Christian Aid for example, often sends out literature with a one-sided view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict and usually criticising Israel for one action or another).
So, if charities are to escape being meshed in the Government's all emcompassing web it is time to get back to basics. Less 'campaigning' and more doing. If anything more focus and support should be given to local charities and voluntary groups. These are the real social entrpreneurs transforming lives for the better. They are not suffocated by bureaucracy and they don't have any Directors of Corporate Affairs and yet the positive difference they make in local communities is incalculable.
