This fella absolutely knocked the issue of charities’ transparency on head.
The gist of his article is to encourage greater engagement with the stakeholders and taking on aboard their criticisms. He also suggested that charities should be open about their activities and heed the criticisms in order to learn from it. He also advocate the use of the internet to faciliate this engagement, which will bring better transparency. I couldn’t put it any better myself.
I refer to the online rumblings that have been ongoing in the D/deaf’s quarters online, such as The Regency and the monster thread at BBC Ouch’s See Hear forum. You can also view another blog by MM, a disgruntled RNID observer/member. I never thought I would see the day when I refer to MM but do read his blog to get some background, if you can seperate the “wheat from the chaff“.
Rothwell ended his article like this:
Although it’s painfully trendy to admit this, the internet greatly magnifies the advantages that transparency can bring. The web makes it easy to communicate with your supporters – and gives them, potentially, almost infinite chances to help you.
Any organisation would be foolish if it passed up this opportunity. But charities – which ultimately depend on their supporters for their legitimacy as well as income – simply cannot afford to let transparency’s potential pass them by.
Amen.
Some background: Sorry if you heard this one before but it is relevant and a good example. Back in 2006, RNID withdrew their public forum as a draconian answer to flame war, that occurred inside forum. In one single swipe, the public have lost their platform to communicate with and within RNID. There is no sign of this forum ever being reinstated, ideally, under a more vigourous moderator. As the result, the majority of supporters have lost their “voice”, where RNID can learn from. This article would indicate that such action is a foolish move and they have ignored pleas to have it reinstated. Ever since, discontent rumbled on on blogs and forums elsewhere and it been reported that RNID are becoming increasingly distant in their ivory towers as members struggle to communicate with the higher hierarchy at RNID. By that stance, they can’t claim it is their legitimacy to represent us Deaf people if we can’t engage with them constructively. More recently, RNID’s Director of Advocacy and Policy have stated, on ThirdSector, that they recognise the importance of the internet for communication. That is rather an equivocal statement. Money. Mouth. Put.
Further reading of my blog (And sorting the wheat from wherever), you Will find Charities and the third sector want an end to grass root representations, and now a political profile, again with no attempt to get a vote from 1 in 7…. where it still exists, because we ‘slow them down’ and ‘deter’ fund givers by opposing charities that raise cash to support them, ergo, we campaigners are causing other deaf people pain by not supporting the RNID, how arrogant is that !
As all deaf representation has been ousted at the RNID, the next move according to the 3rd sector (A corporate job agency/organization based on business), is to divorce grass roots from charities, and wants us only as ‘customers’ or ‘clients’ or ‘stakeholders’ but with no voting rights on actual policy at all, thatis determined by the RNID’s professional spin media section.
Any gripe we may have with the way they dole out support or access or run campaigns has then to be taken up with either the DDA or the EHRC or even the charity commission, yet the DDA has been zeroed, the EHRC in the brown stuff for denying deaf people sign access (!), and the charity commission is in the government pocket so is not backing grass roots representation, because charities are saving them money. Our rights have been sold to the RNID for peanuts…
Cameron of the Tory party wants charities allowed to be run as business’s but without the customer being given a right to influence or even members, even the RIND membership has little or no voting power rights, the Constitution of the RNID says the trustees do the decision making. It’s not worth joining the RNID if you want to make a difference. RNID PLc IS soon to become a reality, when it does, you are OUT…. and for good. This is because the state off-loaded deaf and HI support to charities, logically they have now become run as private enterprise, and want the next step to be taking us out of the equation..
Hello
I just wanted to say that the RNID forums (now Action on Hearing Loss) are back up and running and have been for over a year now. Please come on down.