Recommendations for the sector collectively (including charities, infrastructure bodies, funders and regulators)
- Redefine racism as ordinary, systemic and institutional
Charities should adopt a definition of racism that recognises it as an everyday ingrained system of oppression that operates through institutions and individuals. This will help to move away from racism being associated with ‘bad’ people and allow charities to increasingly take the lead against racism.
2. Conduct an annual sector-wide ‘BAME Barometer’ survey to capture BAME experience in charities
This survey would source experiences of a representative sample of BAME interns, volunteers, staff and trustees in the sector, and comparable data should be collected for white British charity counterparts. The questions should draw on elements of the BAME online survey carried out for this project, and would provide insight into the state of BAME sector experiences over time and identify improvements and areas where action is most needed.
3. Develop independent or third-party mechanisms for reporting and addressing racism in charities
BAME participants expressed considerable dissatisfaction with both in-house processes for reporting racism and internal responses. This can lead to significant harms to BAME people and enable problems to go unchecked. BAME project participant solutions included making available some kind of external or independent whistleblowing and ‘Ombudsman’ function.
4. Develop a plan on the use of regulation to accelerate DEI progress
Infrastructure bodies, regulators, funders, and race equity organisations and advocates should come together to explore what better regulation for DEI might look like. This could cover issues such as board composition, tax breaks to reward good DEI practice, and strengthened DEI requirements on charity reporting. This work would be based on the idea that regulation is not punishment but a possible means by which to deliver better DEI outcomes.
Recommendations for organisational policy
- Integrate explicit race equity goals into charitable work
Charities of all sizes should consider how their work does or does not advance race equity and take steps to ensure that it does. An important start is to conduct a race equity impact assessment of existing work. Even more helpful are race equity impact plans that not only assess the past but look forward to delivering positive outcomes as part of an ongoing process and commitment.
2. Report publicly on internal DEI targets – Charities of all sizes should commit to and publish permanent and minimum targets for DEI that stretch the organisation and reflect their own context, e. g. location. Targets should be backed by implementation plans including details of approaches to the recruitment, development and retention of BAME people. These targets should be reported on as part of the organisation’s key performance indicators (KPIs) (McGregor-Smith, 2017).
3. Publicly report every year on ethnicity pay gap data
In order to introduce greater transparency, accountability and scrutiny about the position of BAME people in the charity workforce, we recommend that charities publish their unadjusted ethnicity pay gap data on an annual basis. The key measure, based on existing requirements on gender pay gap data, is the difference between the average earnings of BAME men and women, expressed relative to earnings of white British men and women. We also encourage experimentation with additional measures, such as the percentage of total salary spend on BAME employees (see Ryder, 2019).
While the above is agreed by ACEVO and Voice4Change England, the organisations hold differing views as to the implementation of this recommendation. Voice4Change England recommends that all charities with five or more full time equivalent staff publish their ethnicity pay gap data alongside a statement of context and future intent; and that this becomes a Charity Commission requirement. ACEVO recommends that ethnicity pay gap data should be published by all charities except where doing so will lead to individual salaries becoming identifiable; and that a charity choosing not to publish ethnicity pay gap data should provide a brief public explanation about their decision not to do so.
4. Change recruitment criteria, e.g. value attributes differently, including lived experience and alignment with institutional vision
Charities of all sizes should change parameters in recruitment by, for example, (a) being open to different ways to test candidates, e.g. other than by CVs and covering letters (see Thorne, 2020, for an example); (b) being attuned to typically less valued attributes, including lived experience and connection to the vision of the organisation; (c) seeing the need to invest in recruits rather than selecting candidates who will ‘fit in’ or be ‘low maintenance’ or those who can ‘hit the ground running’; and (d) being flexible, e.g. using job shares to increase hiring of BAME candidates.
Charities using recruitment agencies should ask and expect them to innovate in their service provision in line with the recruitment approach above.
5. Invest in supporting and safeguarding BAME charity people – including proper complaints procedures
The evidence in this project shows that BAME people inside charities can feel over-scrutinised and unsupported. BAME participants expressed disappointment with experiences of reporting problems, and internal responses need to be strengthened, including to reduce the toll on complainants. BAME support systems can also help (though these networks should not be made responsible for change – that responsibility lies with senior leaders).
Larger charities (those with an income of £1m or more) should support the development of BAME affinity networks to allow BAME staff to share experiences, opinions, concerns and ideas for enhancing DEI inside and outside the organisation. These charities should also consider buying out BAME staff – particularly BAME network co-ordinators – for a certain number of hours per month to allow them to fully participate in a BAME network. Smaller charities with few employees should offer BAME staff opportunities to connect into support networks with BAME employees in other small charities.
6. Work with and pay BAME DEI specialists to improve practice
Charities should engage with BAME organisations and individuals with DEI knowhow for help and advice. However, BAME specialists are often asked to help on a pro bono basis, and they should not be expected to do so. Such input should be paid for financially or through something like a skills swap.
