4 reasons public authorities should commission charities, and 4 reasons why they don’t:

People: skilled, experienced people with the interest of the end user at heart want to work for charities, and often do so for a lower than market rate salary due to their commitment to the cause.

Partnerships: local assets are maximized when local organisations and groups are willing to engage and collaborate, something they are more likely to do with a trusted organization committed to their cause.

Engagement: Similarly, many service users and their communities will engage more meaningfully with an independent charity than a corporate or public-authority run service, particularly those from the so called “harder to reach” groups that may have lost trust in public services.

Added value: Charities give a shit, and will go above and beyond where the work aligns with their mission. They may fundraise for work that you will add to services’ impact, have skilled volunteers, campaign for wider policy change and benefit from lived experience – all value that the commissioner gets for free.

...and why they don't....

Risk aversion: Charities are seen as higher risk in terms of outcomes being met, with perceptions of instability or lack of professionalism

Scale: Commissioners can make their lives easier by publishing a single opportunity rather than a series of smaller contracts. Charities that may have a strong specialist or regional offering will struggle to meet the needs of a generalist service or one over a wider geography. They may also be less able to leverage economies of scale to keep costs as competitive.

Influence: While procurement law is designed to eradicate favouritism, there is no denying that people buy people and that those organisations that have been able to properly resource their visibility, networks and relationships will be in a stronger position to influence how a service is shaped and procured in their favour.

Resource: The complexity of public procurement makes bidding into a high resource activity, necessitating intense service modelling, proposal development and compliance paperwork, often demanding that services are bid for and mobilized in compressed timescales. Charities are, by their nature, needing to maximise the use of their resources towards their charitable mission.

A challenge – how can the unique contributions of the charity sector be better valued, and these highly surmountable challenges overcome?