The plight of struggling charities has bugged me for some time.

In 2001 I was asked by the then mayor of Hutt City, John Terris, to attend an all-day meeting with a local childrens and families charity. John called the meeting of business people who he thought could brainstorm ideas to assist the charity through some tough financial times.

In a nutshell the problem went like this; the charity relied heavily on contestable government funding to stay afloat. But at best this funding would always leave a significant short-fall, so the organisation needed a top-up from the community or other sources.

Add to this scenario the escalating demand for the charity’s precious services, together with a diminishing ability by the community to commit voluntary support, the picture was grim.

The good news however was that the meeting of business people and charity officials worked out a way to rescue the organistion through its immediate dilemma. But the longer term problems remained largely unresolved.

The sad news for charities almost 10 years later is that little has changed, except that the demands on charitable services have increased, and the resourcing issues remain as difficult as ever.

One of the key lessons for me from the 2001 meeting was the benefit that can be derived from bringing community skills to the table that are often freely available. After all, those involved at the coalface of charities are often not accustomed to working with strategic planning and money matters.

But there are other key areas where it’s clear that charities and all not-for-profit organisations can profit. The internet is now one of the most valuable resources available for communicating, building support, organising and fundraising.  But it still needs an appreciation of the opportunities, the online tools and the skills to use them.

That’s part of the reason at FRESCO we’ve developed Issues.co.nz as a free resource to help charities with these very things.

Maybe John Terris’s inspired request can still have longer term benefits.