Welcome to Professionals with Purpose

If you are wondering how you can have a more positive impact while you run a business or earn a living, you’re in the right place. Read on for examples of people who have done this or are achieving it.

Our purpose is to prove it is possible and preferable to build a career in which you can achieve both personal success and progressive benefit to the planet.

It’s possible whether you run a business or work for one. Each week we’ll feature inspiring people from a variety of backgrounds - for-profit businesses, charities, social enterprises, government organisations, and startups.

In addition we’ll share opportunities, tools, events and resources to help you in your aims to work with social impact or to find a social impact role or employer.

Howard Lake
Editor
[email protected]

Emma Malcolm: embedding purpose right the way through The Macular Society

At the Macular Society, Emma Malcolm is in the somewhat unusual position of being responsible for both fundraising and services.

Already Director of Fundraising and Marketing, since February this year she’s been Interim Director of Services as well and, she says, “I’m loving it – it makes so much sense to be raising the money, and spending it. The audience’s the same, so having a fundraiser leading our services and our fundraising seems to be working really well.”

“I don’t know if it would work for any other organisation,” she concedes, “but it feels right for us in terms of who we are and what we want to do.”

Not only are most of the Macular Society’s supporters also its beneficiaries, but for the past five years it’s been undergoing an organisation-wide change process to put its purpose – beating macular disease – front and centre.

“We are probably the biggest condition you’ve never heard of,” Emma says. “1.5 million people in the UK are affected by macular disease – everyone from children through to people who are losing their sight through ageing. Because of this, we essentially have one audience.

We’re there for them, and they’re there for us, and together, we will beat it. We really believe that, and crucially, they do too.”

Mission possible

The charity’s mission is to put itself out of business. And until that happens, it wants to reach every single person affected by macular disease and for them to know that it’s there for them, whenever needed.

“As a charity you exist for a reason,” says Emma, “And that isn’t just to raise more money.

It’s to solve a problem. We’re really clear about our purpose, so we have three strategic aims: one is to fund a cure, the second is to provide the best advice and support, and the third is to tell people their vision matters – because we need people to look after their eyes.”

It’s a purpose Emma shares.

“I want to live in a world where it doesn’t matter if you can’t see, or hear, or walk, and we treat everybody the same,” she says. “So if I can play a small part in curing the biggest cause of blindness, that would be pretty epic!”

Starting the change process

The Macular Society’s purpose-driven change programme started with the realisation that doing what it was doing, which was growing a little bigger each year, simply wasn’t enough.

Seeking a way to accelerate its progress brought it to Revolutionise. An initial visit by senior leaders to its Scottish headquarters to learn about the principles of Great Fundraising left them transfixed and transformed by the possibilities. It led to implementing a journey of change covering everything from re-evaluating where to direct its resources and improving how it fundraises, to working to become a better employer – all linked to its objective of achieving its mission.

Embarking on this journey also resulted in bringing Emma on board. Passionate about fundraising, her introduction was seven years at the Royal Academy of Music, culminating in working with Elton John on a concert that raised a million pounds. From there, Emma held roles at Refuge and Diabetes UK, before moving to the then Prostate Cancer Research Foundation as its first permanent member of staff. When she started, the charity’s annual income was £400,000.

And when she left seven years later, having been Chief Exec for five and seeing it through two mergers to being taken over by Prostate Cancer UK, this had reached £21 million.

A desire to get back to what she loves most then led her away from CEO roles to become Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Dyslexia Action, and then to another fundraising role at Rethink Mental Illness – fulfilling a dream of hers to work for this cause, having had her own mental health diagnoses since her early 20s. But then a call from a recruitment consultant told her about the Macular Society role – on the off chance she might be interested.

And the rest, as they say, was history, with Emma joining in 2018 – at the start of its change programme.

Single-minded focus

Continuing the charity’s story, she says: “You name it, we’ve changed it, from making sure that all new starters get an induction training in what great fundraising is and their role in that, to changing our focus to become much bolder. Now we talk about beating macular disease. We are very single minded as an organisation, and really clear about why we exist and that we’d like to get to a point where we don’t need to.”

The charity knows that the only way to put itself out of existence is by funding a lot of research, which, in this area, is massively underfunded globally. At the same time, it’s also making sure it’s there to support people, and that means everything from offering counselling and groups through to helping people learn how to use technology.

“The biggest cohort for us is age-related macular degeneration, and the average age of someone that goes to our groups is 83. Some are very technologically minded; lots of them not so much. So it’s really important that we’re teaching people how to use technology as well as thinking about things that are low tech. For example if you have macular disease and do nothing else, sort your lighting out, and get a really good magnifier. So we’ll support people, whilst we make sure that we fund lots of research and find a cure.”

Reassessing and assessing

To this end, a recent gap analysis has enabled it to work out where its resources are best directed and the charity is now looking to answer a couple of key strategic questions as it plans for the future. One is around training. The charity knows patients often aren’t getting the best support from professionals so is considering whether this is something it should be offering, and what that might look like. Similarly, it’s looking at whether it should be offering services to children and young people, and again what these might look like.

Becoming a better employer

Of course, like any organisation, nothing can be achieved without its staff, so becoming a better employer is also a big part of its change process. Last year the charity took part in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work survey. This wasn’t about a quest to get into the top 100 (although it did) but about finding out what it needs to get better at in terms of supporting its staff.

Emma explains:

“We wanted to know, are we giving our staff what they need to do their jobs? It’s been great because it’s told us what we need to improve. So yes, we’re in the top 100, but actually taking it was more about finding out where can we improve than about the pat on the back.

Because we won’t beat macular disease if our staff don’t believe in us as an organisation and believe that we’re supporting them.”

This has seen the HR team working to help the organisation enhance everything from sick and maternity leave, to its pension scheme, leave days, and flexible working, and proactively asking staff what they think, and what else the charity could be doing.

Proof in performance

And the better it supports its people, internally, and externally, the more support the charity finds it is receiving back. The changes implemented since beginning of its transformative programme have seen income grow 75% in the last five years, which is “phenomenal” says Emma. As a result, it has almost doubled spend on research.

“Last year, we spent £2 million on research and £2.8 million on supporting people with macular,” Emma says. “This isn’t about growth for the sake of it. This is growth because we know we need to reach everybody affected.”

Test, learn – and don’t be afraid to fail

The process of embedding purpose throughout the organisation has brought a number of learnings. The importance of testing, and of using those learnings to improve is certainly one of them. As is the fact that for this to happen successfully, trust among teams is essential so people feel they can speak freely and honestly. Emma’s key piece of advice here however, is not to fear failure.

“We positively encourage it,” she says. “If we get it wrong, as long as we learn from it and don’t do it again, I’m cool with that. I don’t think there’s such a thing as failure per se.”

From her perspective, Emma says: “I’d rather you told me if I’m getting it wrong, because then I can get it right. It’s important to be really open. This isn’t a game; it’s people’s lives: those who work for you and those you support. So don’t be afraid to say you got it wrong – nobody’s perfect.”

Purpose firmly at its core

Summing up, there’s now a clarity across the organisation that everything it now does, or considers doing, has to contribute towards it achieving that vision of ending macular disease and putting itself out of existence. It means that with every single step, Emma says: “We come back to the problem we’re trying to solve and ask how will this help us? And if it won’t, we accept that it’s not what we should be doing and that maybe there are partners we can help do that instead. That’s who we are as an organisation: we’re all about purpose.”

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Resources

Looking to move into the social impact sector? Do you wonder about setting up or growing your own purpose-driven company, or want to gain skills and knowledge in this area? Here are some events, opportunities and funding that might help.

Churchill Fellowship

A Churchill Fellowship is “a once in a lifetime opportunity to lead the change you wish to see”.

If you are selected as a Churchill Fellow you will receive funding to spend up to two months learning from the innovators in your field anywhere in the world, in person or online. The aim is that you come up with some insights that can help improve society in the UK.

Applications are open to all UK adult citizens regardless of qualifications, background or age. Applications are open until the 14 November 2023.

The Tech For All category might appeal to many. It is looking for projects "that explore technology’s potential to work better for everyone. This may be through technical, policy, social, business or other solutions".

Modibodi 2024 Game Changer Grant

The Modibodi Game Changer Grant is “a purpose-driven programme created to foster talent, inspire innovation, and champion long-term social and environmental change”.

Each year, Modibodi funds an extraordinary person, project or organisation making their mark on menstrual equality, menopause awareness, sustainable textile innovation, climate action, textiles and biodiversity regenerative agriculture, and circular design.

This year’s grant is focused on supporting organisations making a significant impact to address period equality, where the grant will include a monetary donation along with professional knowledge from Modibodi.

Applications close on 29 October 2023 and winners will be announced in December.

Green skills bursaries

The City & Guilds Foundation is offering “green skills bursaries”. Developing the skills for the jobs of the future is part of its contribution to supporting efforts to achieve net zero.

Bursaries cover the total cost of studying, so learners can study for their qualifications without worrying about paying anything back. You can apply for a bursary up to £6,000 but “most bursaries granted are for amounts between £2,500 and £5,000”.

You can for funding to study towards a qualification in industries which is facing skills shortages and requires skilled workers now and in the future, including manufacturing, land-based services, engineering, construction, built environment services, and health and social care.

The deadline for applications is 31 October 2023.

Leverhulme International Fellowship

Experienced university researchers have the opportunity to pursue their research outside the UK with a Leverhulme Trust International Fellowship.

Research Fellowships are open to experienced researchers, particularly those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. Priority will be given to applicants whose teaching and administrative duties have significantly impacted their ability to undertake research in the three years prior to their application.

The maximum value of a Fellowship is £65,000 and they can last from three to 24 months.

ChangeNow 2024 - call for solutions

ChangeNow is seeking participants for its 2024 Summit.

The social enterprise “accelerates the environmental and social transition by fostering the deployment of concrete actions and solutions responding to the biggest challenges of our century”.

Its annual Summit brings together “a new generation of entrepreneurs, citizens, artists… innovative minds and sustainability leaders” to “identify promising solutions for the planet and connect them to the resources they need to scale”.

The second round of applications is open until 30 November and a third runs from 1 December to 31 January.

The Earthshot Prize

Do you have a solution that:

🌳 Protects and Restores Nature?

☁️ Cleans our Air?

🌊 Revives our Oceans?

♻️ Builds a Waste-Free World?

🌎 Fixes our Climate?

Share it with Springwise, one of a group of organisations around the world that are an Official Nominator for The Earthshot Prize 2024.

They will be nominating individuals, communities, businesses, and organisations whose solutions make the most progress towards achieving the five Earthshots – simple but ambitious goals that, if achieved by 2030, will improve life for us all.

Find out more about the process, or explore other official nominators in your country.

What we’ve been reading

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What readers say

“For those of you in fundraising, and indeed any professional who has 'purpose' this is a fabulous free resource which isn't getting enough attention, and, indeed, is produced by Howard Lake, whom you all know. Thanks Howard”.
Giles Pegram CBE
8 September 2023

“If Howard Lake created, definitely worth looking at”.
Ian McLintock
Charity Excellence
8 September 2023

"I can’t believe I’ve not come across this before now – it’s a great read."
Liz Rigby
UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub
27 June 2023