Channel News Asia: Money Mind Interview

Tess Mackean, talenTtrust CEO, talks to Channel News Asia

Originally aired Monday 31st August, 10.45am

 *This transcript has been edited for clarity and length*

How is the charity sector faring during the pandemic?

It's been a super tough time. The sector is facing a really sharp increase in the demand for services, at a time when public donations are dropping significantly. So it's definitely a really challenging period for everyone involved. So many people are losing their jobs or having to move to unpaid leave and there just simply isn't the same amount of disposable income available.

Are charities around the world all facing the same challenges?

Largely speaking they are the same. They're trying to service the most vulnerable in their communities. And in order to do that effectively, they need funding, they need resources, they need well qualified staff, and they need a really clear plan in place as to how they're going to execute. I don't think it's massively different outside of Singapore, we're all facing the same sort of challenges at the moment.

How do you see the sector changing as a result of the pandemic?

It's a very vulnerable situation for everyone at the moment. And I think it's highlighted how unprepared many organisations, not just in the charity sector, were for a global event at this scale. Even in traditionally really well funded markets such as the UK whereby you think they have the resources and the plans in place, even in the UK one in 10 charities are predicted to close by the end of this year. When you couple that with the need to be socially distant, many charities just aren't able to provide the physical services or beneficiaries are really depending on. So people are really understanding and realising the urgent need to be more future ready. So I think in our sector, we're gonna see far more emphasis placed on embracing technology, sustainable funding models and strategic planning over the next few years, I think it's the only thing we can do is try to reflect on how we can make it better in the years to come.

Is it necessarily a bad thing if charities close? Does it show that there’s too much duplication of effort?

I definitely think we do see duplication. One of the amazing things about Singapore is the fact that everyone lives in fairly close knit communities, and certainly within HDBs you do see a lot of duplication from one block to another. I would say it largely depends on the scale of the organisation. If it's a small community-based charity that is servicing a very specific group of HDB's, it's really tough if the services become unavailable: you have isolated elderly, you have children who are differently abled, perhaps wheelchair users, and if their local services aren't available, that becomes a really challenging time for them, their parents and their carers. However, if we're talking about larger organisations that are crossing over across different groups, consolidation, on reflection, isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as the beneficiaries aren't the ones who are losing out.

How helpful are Government-led initiatives for charities at this time?

They're enormously helpful. I think one area in which Singapore is so unique the lucky is the government has stepped in so quickly, with some really brilliant initiatives. The Deputy Prime Minister announced the Enhanced Fundraising Programme in collaboration with the Tote Board recently and that's up to $250,000 that charities can access in matching funds. The slight catch is that you have to have people donating in order to tap on those funds so it really is about how much we see individuals starting to reflect and dig back into their own pockets, as well as corporates and other foundations stepping up to try and help fill those gaps.

Many charities are well resourced. Do they still have challenges in running effectively? Do they still need more volunteers?

Yes, absolutely. It's incredibly challenging for charities to run, even when they are well resourced with their own internal employees. So many of them are dealing with really tight bottom lines. So those volunteers that provide that essentially free service is absolutely crucial. And when you're working on the ground with children, with the elderly, those volunteers make all the difference but naturally with, with circuit breaker and people being confined to their homes, it's created some huge problems. And the really heartening thing we've seen is a lot of innovation coming off the back of the shortage of volunteers.

Some of the organisations that were lucky enough to work with are great examples of this; Sing Theatre have started an online zoom choir to bring their services online and keep their beneficiaries feeling connected. Engineering Good were able to help by refurbishing laptops to send to kids who aren't able to go into schools and access volunteer help, so out of a real challenge and volunteering gap we have seen innovation which is very heartening for the sector.

Is it a challenges to find new volunteers at the moment?

It is a challenge but I think what we've seen, which has been great, is a lot of people taking the time especially during circuit breaker to reflect on quite how lucky they are. When you're stuck in your house, sometimes your family, it can feel very challenging but I think COVID has really shone a spotlight on those who are far more vulnerable than many of us, for example, the isolated elderly, unable to access assistance in their homes.

As a result, we've been really amazed at talenTtrust to see the number of inquiries to skills based volunteering increasing. Skills based volunteering is where people don't necessarily have to meet in person to help read to kids or to help paint a wall. They can log in online and offer strategic advice to charities, using their business expertise and skills to help them become more future ready; to help them review their strategic plan; to help them think about their operations, and actually give back in a way that's a lot more manageable especially during circuit breaker and COVID restrictions.

What kind of people are volunteers? What traits do they have in common?

I can't speak to all volunteers, but certainly at talenTtrust, our volunteers are all senior executives who have done really well in their careers, and they come to us at a point in time where they feel really ready to give back, they've been reflecting on everything that has contributed to their success, and they feel like, karmically they are owing things back to society. And as I say, you know, more recently we have heard from a lot of people who have taken this time to reflect on how lucky they are. These volunteers tend to be really kind, flexible and actually what we see is a lot of people who don't want to stop learning. They recognise the opportunity to learn a lot from the charities that they're working with. And they come to us and asked us to help them to kind of realise that.

Do you have to be at a senior level of your career to volunteer or can you start at any time?

Absolutely not, volunteering can start at any level, and there is no shortage of things that charities need help with. So when it comes to that more practical assistance, you know, distributing food, reading to kids I absolutely encourage people to get involved, whatever that skill area. There is a certain need that can be filled by very experienced senior executives. Charities are absolutely brilliantly staffed by experts in their fields so people who are experts at working with, for example, differently abled children, children with autism, the isolated elderly, the environment and they have soft skills in spades. But what they don't have is decades of strategic business experience so if you want an organisation to run really effectively it makes sense that you need those strong business skills. So there is a very strong role that skills based volunteering from senior executives can play at this point in time.

What kind of skills are you looking for in your volunteers?

Skills we look for in volunteers includes areas like strategic planning operational planning, sustainable funding models; A lot of the things that you tend to see becoming challenges in start-ups. Despite being manned by really bright creative people, the nature of charities’ business is that they are responding to urgent daily need from very vulnerable people. Their bottom line is very different to corporates. Their bottom line is focused on whether somebody survives or not, whether the community thrives. So, when you take that into context, they don't necessarily have the time to step back and do that business planning that makes them future ready and perhaps could have helped them to have more options available to them when things like a global pandemic kicks in. As unpredictable as it is, if you have those options and operational diversity, it makes it a lot easier to weather the storm.

Is talenTtrust currently looking for volunteers? What qualifications do they need to have?

We're always looking for new volunteers from a range of different sectors. The wonderful thing about our programmes, is that you're never out there volunteering or mentoring as we call it on your own we put you on a team of other senior executives, four or five people who will have complementary skill sets so that whatever challenges that charity is facing, there is someone in the room who will have some kind of expertise or experience in that area. So if you're interested in getting involved, please go to our website, check out some of our case studies, look at some of our upcoming projects and just use the form to get in touch, we'll get back to you and talk you through the process in more detail.

Do you have charities currently looking for help?

We always have new charities who are looking for assistance. We go in and we work with a charity in advance and we scope out some of the challenges that they're facing so that there is a brief ready for the volunteers to digest before they start. And actually this year we're starting to work with some social enterprises, as well as, as traditional registered charities and there's a real variety of different projects that you can get involved in.

And finally, what trends do you think we’ll see in the sector over the coming years?

I think we'll probably start seeing a greater demand for organisations that work on areas like mental health. I think there's been a real highlight on the challenges that bad mental health can create for people and when people are more isolated and stuck without options during a global pandemic. The demand for these services are really increasing. But more generally I think we're going to have to see people bringing their services online, we're going to see them become more innovative. We're going to need more of that business expertise to drive that innovation, and to form these really strong partnerships with organisations so you get the business, and the charity perspective, I think that should really help to make us all a lot more future proof.