By Peter Gilheany, Forster Communications
To the surprise of very few in the voluntary sector, the Charity Commission recently cleared City of Sanctuary UK of any wrongdoing following an investigation triggered by a complaint from former Conservative education minister Gavin Williamson. Why the lack of surprise? Because for charity leaders it all followed a wearying familiar pattern.
What happened to City of Sanctuary UK has all the hallmarks of reputational arson, something charities are increasingly falling victim to as a result of political machinations by parties across the spectrum. Here are the three disarmingly easy steps for doing it:
Step 1: set fire to the reputation of an organisation that you know is outrage catnip to the people you’re seeking to engage. Use extremely flimsy evidence, hearsay or just a completely unsubstantiated fabrication or exaggeration as your kindling.
Step 2: watch the organisation battle the flames you have unjustifiably fanned, wasting huge amounts of time, resource, emotion and energy that could have been spent on making progress on its core cause
Step 3: sit back and count the likes and shares free, in all but the rarest of cases, from any consequences to your actions while the organisation sifts through the embers and starts the slow process of recovery
This isn’t a new phenomenon. For time immemorial charities and the causes they espouse have been used as political footballs, but like many reputational issues it is simply easier to do and causes greater and more rapid damage in the age of social.
So, what can organisations do? Extending my tortuous metaphor to breaking point, I have three recommendations: you can fit an alarm and fire-proof your infrastructure as best you can by removing or safely storing combustible material.
Fit an alarm
You probably have an operational risk register but does it adequately cover reputational issues? Compile and prioritise the biggest reputational risks you face and consider those that come from inside the organisation, such as performance or HR issues, as well as the ones from outside, such as criticism from a politician. The outside ones seem the scariest but it is often those internal liabilities that end up creating the most damage. Once identified, you can think through and take action to mitigate their likelihood and impact.
Have a sprinkler system
You can only mitigate risks, you cannot wholly eliminate them, so if the worst happens, you need to be prepared to respond swiftly, proportionately and with confidence. That means having a pre-agreed response protocol in place, supported by messaging in response to the most likely challenges and questions to you are going to face.
Contain the fire
Climate change has increased the number and severity of wildfires and often those charged with battling them focus less on putting the flames out and more on using fire-breaks to stop them spreading. The same approach is critical for dealing with reputational fires, which often start with audiences who are already hostile towards an organisation or the cause it supports. The temptation is to zero in on putting out those flames, but you are much better off doing everything you can to stop them spreading to the audiences who really matter to you, like your supporters and beneficiaries. There will be some damage to your reputation if you are criticised by audiences who cared little for you in the first place, but that damage will be all greater if those most affected are central to your work.
This might all feel like a huge faff that detracts from your core work, especially now when time, energy and resources are in desperately short supply. That’s an entirely natural reaction but the wrong one. This work isn’t a distraction, it’s an essential foundation to underpin and strengthen your reputation so it is a real asset. Putting this in place will reduce the chances of becoming a victim of reputational arson and the subsequent fall-out if you do, but, more importantly and somewhat counter-intuitively, it will help you communicate much more confidently and powerfully going forward. Thoroughly mixing up my metaphors, if it’s raining outside, you’ll be glad of a coat and a pair of wellies so you can head out and get on with things.