Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and charities are facing a perfect storm, with aid budgets being cut and donations falling as demand for services and costs continue to rise.
In a changed political landscape, their ability to operate in some countries is more restricted. Added to these challenges, the sector has been rocked by recent scandals, underlining the potentially devastating reputational and financial damage if they lose the trust of the public, stakeholders or governments.
In our third Reputation Risk Readiness Survey, we asked 100 senior leaders from NGOs and charities around the world how they are managing their risks. What do they see as the main risks to their reputation? Are they ready to deal with the fallout from a reputational crisis? And how would they cope with the financial impact?
Our findings suggest that confidence in processes for managing risks has fallen since our last survey in 2023. This may leave organizations more exposed to thereputational and financial fallout from a crisis event. However, the results do indicate greater involvement of finance and corporate functions in reputation management.
This suggests a more critical eye in assessing preparedness and a shift in focus from managing reputation as a function of branding to managing reputation as a risk.
About the survey
When: September – October 2024
Who: 100 senior NGOs and Charities leaders responsible for risk strategy across their organization, including directors of finance, risk, HR, and marketing/fundraising.
Where: Countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.
Size: All NGOs and charities had total assets valued over $1 billion with a significant number over $5 billion.
Key findings
Abuse is less of a risk than in 2023
33% of NGOs and charities named customer abuse as one of their top reputational risks, down from 49% in 2023 and 66% in 2022, indicating they are gaining greater control over vetting, safeguarding and safety procedures.
Reputations threatened by cyber-attacks
60% rated the potential fallout from a cyberattack as a top reputational risk, compared to 27% in 2023, reflecting increasing nervousness about the potential fallout, for example if sensitive personal data is breached.
Risk management maturity is declining
Only 9% have a formal process to assess and manage reputational risks that is linked to board level KPIs, while 34% say oversight of reputation-related risks happens at most board meetings, down from 53% in 2023.
Charities engage less often with stakeholders
30% of organizations said they engaged with stakeholders at least quarterly, down from 51% in 2023. 52% said C-suite engaged at least quarterly on social media, down from 80% in our last survey. These results suggest a lack of time and bandwidth as leaders firefight wider challenges.
Financial modelling and resilience are low
Only 2% said they had a great deal of modelling capability to understand the costs and liabilities associated with reputational damage, while just 1% said their resilience to a reputational crisis was very good.
Download your report
To learn more, download your free survey report by completing the short form at the top of this page.
Disclaimer
WTW hopes you found the general information provided here informative and helpful. The information contained herein is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with your own legal advisors. In the event you would like more information regarding your insurance coverage, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. In North America, WTW offers insurance products through licensed entities, including Willis Towers Watson Northeast, Inc. (in the United States) and Willis Canada Inc. (in Canada).
