Agenda 2026 - Day One - Third Sector Conference

Reimagining the future of the charity sector in a time of structural change.

The sector is not simply facing a difficult period; it is moving through a structural shift. Funding models are evolving. Public trust and scrutiny are intensifying. Demand continues to rise. Some established ways of working are unlikely to return.

This opening keynote takes a wide lens on what is really changing and what it means for the future of the charity sector. It explores how leaders can move beyond short-term firefighting and instead shape the next chapter: strengthening financial models, deepening cross-sector partnerships, embracing innovation with purpose and rethinking how impact is delivered at scale.

A clear view of the road ahead and what it takes to lead with confidence through change, with ambition and integrity.

Some causes are increasingly politicised, misrepresented or deliberately targeted. In a fast-moving and often polarised media landscape, charities can find themselves defending their legitimacy as much as delivering their mission.

This opening panel brings together sector leaders who have navigated public scrutiny, misinformation or organised backlash. How do you hold firm to your organisation’s purpose without inflaming the situation? When is it right to respond and when is silence more powerful? And how can confident storytelling strengthen supporter loyalty rather than undermine it?

Panellists will explore the intersection between communications, leadership and fundraising, and share candid reflections on what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently.

What the Charity Sector Needs Now

As pressure mounts across funding, delivery and public trust, civil society is being asked to do more with less. This keynote will explore the immediate priorities for the sector, the risks of fragmentation, and the role of collective leadership in shaping what comes next.

Leading with discipline under external Pressure

Charities are operating under sustained pressure. Political scrutiny, funding instability and public challenge are shaping how leaders make decisions. When that pressure builds, organisations can turn inward. Tension rises; trust weakens and focus drifts away from delivery.

This keynote looks at how leaders prevent that slide. It explores how to maintain alignment when stakes are high, how to surface disagreement without letting it become corrosive, and how to keep teams focused on purpose rather than internal noise.

The focus is practical leadership. How meetings change under pressure. How challenge should be handled. And which behaviours from senior leaders create stability when the environment is anything but.

Rebuilding income strategies for a sector under pressure

Charity funding is changing fast. Donor numbers are falling, funds are oversubscribed, access is tightening and costs are rising, leaving many organisations questioning how to plan, prioritise and stay resilient.

This keynote challenges leaders and fundraisers to rethink income strategy in a shifting landscape. It explores what is structurally changing in charity funding, what isn’t coming back, and why financial resilience is now a leadership and governance issue, not just a fundraising one.

Making confident decisions when you are wearing every hat

For small and medium charities, leadership looks different. There are fewer buffers. Fewer specialists. Less room for error. Leaders are expected to think strategically while managing fundraising, finance, people and operations - often all at once.

This keynote speaks directly to that reality. It focuses on how to lead with clarity when everything feels urgent. How to prioritise when capacity is tight. How to protect morale while making difficult financial calls. And how to introduce disciplined innovation without overextending already stretched teams.

Rather than big-picture trends, this session offers practical decision frameworks tailored to smaller organisations - tools for focus, boundary-setting, risk assessment and steady progress.

Attendees leave with renewed confidence and tangible leadership principles they can apply immediately - strengthening resilience, sharpening priorities and leading their organisation with calm authority.

Leading restructures with clarity, dignity and trust

Restructures and redundancies are no longer exceptional events; they are becoming part of the sector’s operating reality. In purpose-driven organisations, the emotional impact can be profound.

This case study explores how one charity led through significant change while protecting staff wellbeing, maintaining trust and sustaining delivery. It examines communication during uncertainty, managing pace and process, handling difficult conversations and rebuilding culture after hard decisions.

Turning a National TV Moment into Fundraising Momentum

When Alan Carr won The Celebrity Traitors and donated his prize to Neuroblastoma UK, the charity experienced a 27,000% surge in web traffic within hours. Overnight, millions of viewers were introduced to a cause many had never heard of.

But visibility alone does not guarantee income.

This candid case study explores what happened behind the scenes: how the team responded in real time, how they converted attention into donations, and what they learned about digital readiness, celebrity advocacy and supporter follow-up.

What systems need to be in place to handle sudden scale? How do you capture data before the moment passes? And how do you turn a spike into sustained support?

If national exposure came tomorrow, would you be ready?

How small charities scale without stretching their teams

This case study shows how a small-to-medium charity used practical partnerships to increase reach, income and resilience, without adding pressure to already-stretched teams.

It focuses on the decisions that made partnerships work in practice: which capabilities were shared, how delivery was structured, and how growth was managed without losing quality or control.

Join us for practical insights you can apply immediately to use partnerships as a tool for sustainable growth, not added complexity.

How charity leaders use AI to gain capacity, set guardrails and lead with confidence

This panel focuses on how senior leaders are making AI work in practice. It explores how charities are using AI to save time, sharpen decision-making and do more with limited resource, while putting clear guardrails in place around data, ethics and accountability. Panellists will examine real examples, including early uses of agentic AI, to show what leadership looks like as systems begin to act with greater autonomy.

Key discussion points

Where AI delivers genuine capacity gains - and where leaders need to slow it down
Setting proportionate guardrails without stifling progress or innovation
What leaders must understand as AI moves from assistance to autonomy

Protecting Income When Your Cause Becomes Political

Political shifts and culture-war dynamics are beginning to shape funding decisions. Corporate sponsors are reassessing visible partnerships. Tech platforms are changing grant policies. Some causes are finding themselves less attractive than they were a year ago.

When income streams cool because your issue area becomes politically sensitive, what are your options?

This panel will explore how fundraising leaders assess whether a withdrawal is temporary or structural, how they model risk when corporate appetite shifts, and how they decide whether to defend, reframe or step away from a partnership.

Panellists will share practical experience on:

Reading early warning signs in corporate and philanthropic behaviour
Stress-testing income concentration risk
Communicating funding changes to boards and stakeholders
Protecting reputation while safeguarding financial stability
Making principled decisions about alignment versus survival

What actually works for small and medium sized charities

Grant funding has become harder to access, harder to predict and harder to resource. Oversubscribed funds, shifting priorities and heavier requirements mean many small and medium charities are trying to secure income alongside everything else, without the time, teams or specialist support larger organisations rely on.

This interactive panel focuses on the practical decisions that make the difference. Drawing on funder insight and real charity experience, it explores how small organisations achieve cut-through with grant makers, make smarter choices about where to focus limited effort, and build fundraising capacity without burning out their people. Live polling will surface the funding challenges in the room and shape the discussion in real time.

The discussion will centre on:

Achieving cut-through with grant makers in crowded funding rounds
Making strategic funding choices when capacity and time are limited
Building sustainable fundraising capacity when fundraising isn’t a dedicated role

The Leadership Behind a £57m National Campaign

In 2025, the Big Give Christmas Challenge raised £57.4 million in one week, supporting more than 1,500 charities.

This case study examines what it takes to lead a national collaborative model. How do you align partners with different capacities and priorities? How do you manage risk when the entire campaign runs within a single, time-bound window? And how do you sustain trust while scaling participation year on year?

The focus will be on governance, decision-making and execution, and on what leaders can apply when running complex, multi-partner initiatives in their own organisations.

How RNLI Converted Public Attention into Fundraising Momentum

When RNLI found itself at the centre of intense public debate over its lifesaving work at sea, media attention increased rapidly. For the fundraising team, the challenge was immediate: how to respond in a way that upheld the charity’s mission while managing a surge in visibility.

This case study will examine how the organisation translated increased attention into supporter action. What digital systems need to be in place to manage sudden traffic? How do you frame an appeal at a sensitive moment? And how do you convert short-term spikes into longer-term relationships?

A practical session on fundraising in a politicised environment and maintaining trust while responding at pace.

Vacancies are lasting longer. Pay pressure is increasing. Management capacity is stretched. For many charities, the workforce model no longer matches operational reality.

This session focuses on the leadership decisions required in a thin labour market. How do you restructure without losing critical capability? When does pay transparency help or hinder? And how do you protect delivery when teams remain under-resourced?

Growing Commercial Income Without Losing Your Purpose

A session for organisations considering commercial routes to scale, and for leaders who want a more business-minded lens on sustainable income.

As funding models shift, earned income is becoming a deliberate part of growth strategy rather than a side activity. This case study offers a candid look at what it takes to generate commercial revenue inside a purpose-led organisation.

How do you decide which opportunities are worth pursuing? How do you test demand before committing significant resource? And how do you balance commercial discipline with charitable credibility?

Making the choices that protect impact

The charity sector is being asked to do more, respond faster and carry greater responsibility — often without the funding, capacity or permission to slow down. In this environment, leadership is not just about ambition. It is about judgement.

This keynote explores the hard choices leaders are now required to make. When saying yes weakens delivery. When being the safety net creates long-term risk. And when clarity, not expansion, becomes the most responsible course of action.

We will focus on intentional leadership: setting boundaries, making confident trade-offs and choosing where the sector can have the greatest impact. A session for leaders navigating complexity with integrity, courage and purpose.

Traditional funding models are under strain. Individual giving is harder. Grants are tightening. Corporate appetite is more cautious. Regulation is increasing.

At the same time, new capital is emerging - impact investment, pooled funds, philanthropic collaboratives, venture-style funding, social enterprise hybrids.

This panel brings together leaders shaping the next era of capital in the sector. How are they thinking about risk? Scale? Accountability? Power?

Discussion will focus on:

Whether unrestricted funding will grow or shrink
The rise of collaborative and blended finance
What makes organisations “investable” in 2026
How power dynamics between funders and charities are shifting

A forward-looking conversation about who will fund the next decade and what that means for how charities are structured and led.