6 ingredients for systems change

We were delighted to see so many of you at NPC Ignites 2024! This year we examined what it means to take a systemic approach to creating change.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the day about how best to make a positive impact.

Change needs understanding

You need a good grasp of what the problems are before you can begin working on the solutions. It’s always worthwhile taking the time to examine the way systems currently are—including the political system, the economic system, and the charity sector itself.

Paul Johnson noted in his presentation on the economy that the distribution of wealth has become less and less equal in recent years. And on the political side, Danny Sriskandarajah warned that there are increasing levels of voter apathy and a growing feeling that the current political parties are not providing the solutions that people need.

Analysing systems in this way—asking who benefits from the status quo and who doesn’t—can help you to appreciate your place in these systems. This will be vital background information as you plan what you’re going to do within and to these systems. Without this understanding, it’s easy to get lost.

As Danny Sriskandarajah observed:

Interventions typically have a theory of what they hope to achieve through what they’re doing; without that theory, people in the sector are just doing things with no idea of how they’re helping.

Change needs resources

Resources are increasingly hard to come by in the voluntary sector, as exemplified by the number of funders who have recently decided to pause or reduce their giving. So we need to make the most of what we do have.

The ideal donors for systems change are people and organisations who are willing to fund your work on a trusting basis and who take a long-term view. They would see themselves as enablers of change, not just enablers of cash. They would focus on creating richer communities and getting wealth where it needs to be.

Talking more about systems and about justice does carry the risk of alienating potential donors—Sarah Hughes warned that Mind has lost funders because of the stances it has taken on certain issues. But these conversations are necessary for the situation to have any chance of improving. You won’t build a network of supporters unless you ask for support. And you need a network of supporters to keep you going when you’re in danger of burning out.

Monetary resources are not the only resources that matter. Skills and tools are also vital. The voices of those with lived experience can be very powerful, but they can’t keep being trotted out to relive their trauma whenever it suits your organisation—it’s much better in the long-term to invest in people’s development to empower them to go further.

During our breakout session on centring lived experience, Joel Dunn highlighted that charities have a responsibility to ensure that people with lived experience receive training and support to harness their agency and make the most of their expertise. Let people be acknowledged for their skills, not just how they’ve suffered.

Change needs collaboration

When creating change, the ‘how’ matters as much as the ‘what’. Charities have great power in many ways, but are also quite limited in other ways. As Dan Corry warned in his speech, charities are not big enough to change the world on their own. That’s why teaming up with others in the sector is vital.

You need support from your colleagues within your organisation, who can empower you as you embark on your mission. You also need to look outwards at other organisations with similar goals, because you stand a better chance of achieving those goals if you work together. Fozia Irfan urges us to work on the principle of:

no egos, no silos

For collaboration to be fruitful, everyone should be on an equal footing. Radhika Bynon warns that if you’re convening both racially minoritised community leaders and white people in more formal positions of authority (such as police officers), it’s likely that everyone will defer to the people who are assumed to have more power. Others will feel reluctant to get involved in the discussion. Bynon recommends creating space for people to be heard without worrying about being ignored or discriminated against.

If you’re tapping into lived experience, it’s better to bring in a group of people, with a structure around them to support their wellbeing, rather than relying on just one person to voice concerns.

We in the voluntary sector have an opportunity to model new ways of working, and to ensure we’re not just replicating current power dynamics. Keep an open mind to the unlikely suspects. It’s possible to work with people who have views you don’t share, as long as there’s enough overlap on the views you do share.

Once you’ve got good collaboration with your fellow changemakers, you’ll most likely want to partner with people in other sectors who have the most influence over the situation (especially politicians). Benaifer Bhandari warned that there needs to be commitment from those with power and privilege, or else change is unlikely to happen. Therefore, it’s important to see who’s not around the table and to consider how you speak to and about these people.

When reaching out, it’s important to make sure your communication is accessible and gets people on your side; otherwise the only people you’ll reach will be academics who can actually understand your jargon.

As Alistair Fernie pointed out, some of the people you talk to will be reluctant to rock the boat, but others will be open to hearing alternative views and therefore inspired to change the system they’re a part of. Unfortunately, you can’t always tell the difference between the stubborn and the swayable until you talk to them. There can be an element of trial and error in this process.

Which leads us nicely on to the next point…

Change needs patience

To quote Benaifer Bhandari:

the way to make change happen is actually through lots of smaller actions adding up

Systems change often requires a multi-pronged approach (working with schools, courts, local authorities, etc.) with lots of activities happening at the same time. It can also take years before you see the change you want.

For these reasons, patience and perseverance are key. You’ll need to harness the energy of your campaigners and funders for the long term. Where are people feeling weary and miserable? Which areas would most benefit from your inspiring message?

If you keep a record of the positive impact that has been achieved so far, you can use that to offer hope to others and reenergise yourself.

Change needs learning

As you travel down the long journey of systemic change, you probably won’t get everything right straightaway! That’s why it’s important to have in mind a plan for measuring your impact:

• How will you keep track of your progress?
• How will you know when you need to change course?
• How will you know you’ve achieved what you want to achieve?

The evidence you draw on could be internal (e.g. surveys of your service users) or external (e.g. reports written by other organisations). Think about what kinds of data you need to make decisions about the next steps. Don’t just collect data for data’s sake—consider whether you really have the ability to act on the evidence you find.

When leaders value learning and encourage other team members to value learning too, it creates and sustains a learning culture within organisations. Being open about your learning externally will also benefit other organisations, so they don’t make the same mistakes as you!

Change needs bravery

What happens when charities don’t act? Quite simply, people don’t get help. When suspicion reigns, and paternalism takes precedent over empowerment, situations do not improve. David Ford summed this up rather well:

We need brave people to trust other people.

The issues that charities tackle are usually issues of justice—or rather, injustice. Service delivery charities in particular are closer to the action on the ground, and therefore better placed to amplify people’s voices and raise awareness of their experiences.

Where we notice our own privilege, it’s our responsibility to use it for good (especially by speaking out), rather than being scared of it. As Sarah Hughes frequently told her colleagues at Mind:

We’re not the BBC. We can say things!

A robust, healthy society needs multiple inputs. This is true of the digital sphere and other areas. As Rachel Coldicutt warned in her speech on AI, we can’t let the future be decided on our behalf by a few very wealthy individuals.

We need a vision of how we want things to be, and we need to articulate it. Alistair Fernie has observed that:

people are inspired more by a vision than by critique.

We need to take a step into the fray and prepare to ruffle some feathers. We need a plan, we need to support each other, and we need to never give up.

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