Running a charity is never an easy affair, but run it across 10 countries and that’s just as hard. When managing a global charity, it is like lifting up a multi-tiered cake: each layer representing a different country, and each one with its own ingredients.
Whether it is compliance, cultural sensitivity or budgeting or brand harmony, crossing borders brings an entire additional layer of complexity to the table. Having spent years in charity work, I know from experience how such issues can affect an organisation’s ability to effect positive cross-border change.
The pressures of running an international charity, and a little advice on how to deal with them, are a little in-depth.
Legal Compliance & The Boggle of Regulations
One of the immediate and most pressing issues when operating a charity in multiple countries is legal compliance. There are laws that vary between countries regarding how charities can operate, fundraise and provide aid. The rules can be different from tax deductions to annual reporting, and you may face heavy fines or lose your charity’s official status in that country if you don’t keep up.
Charities in the UK, for instance, are governed by the Charity Commission and have strict governance, transparency and fundraising requirements. But these rules won’t necessarily be the same in countries where your charity is active. You may need to register as a local business in some countries, and limit the use of funds generated abroad. Knowing the laws is important to keep you compliant and out of court.
Tip: Consider legal training for every country you work in. This may include using local legal consultants or international law firms that specialise in international charity work. It is wise to stay up to date with legislative updates and ensure that your charity is up to speed to avoid expensive mistakes.
Culture Confusion & Cascading Bridges
Another major factor in running foreign charities is the cultural difference that can affect the way your work will be perceived in different parts of the world. Culture influences everything from speech patterns and leadership responsibilities to donor communication and beneficiaries’ perceptions of your organisation’s mission.
For instance, charities are viewed in some cultures as a purely religious social obligation; they are viewed in other cultures as less likely to trust international organisations. Appeal events that are successful in one nation could collapse in another because they don’t adhere to the customs or norms of the country.
This cultural variation extends to the in-house work. Team functioning in one country could be totally different to the way teams do it in another. In some cultures, direct feedback and open debate are welcomed, whereas in others hierarchy and authority are preferred.
Tip: Choose employees who are native to the areas you are working in. They will also be your key to making sure you optimise your messages and plans for the local consumers. Also consider providing cultural training for your foreign team members to support smooth collaboration and inclusive dialogue with local populations.
Finance & The Multiple Currencies Puzzle
Having money in different countries brings some problems, especially if you are having to deal with multiple currencies, changing exchange rates and different tax structures. A simple charity campaign from one country might become a problem financially when the funds have to travel across the world, be converted to another currency, and taxed elsewhere.
Other than just monetary logistics, you have the matter of cross-border financial security. Giving donors, particularly major institutional donors, will demand transparent, well-structured information about the spending of their gifts. If your operations span multiple countries, keeping track of all the dollars is more complicated but still essential.
Tip: Set up an efficient financial accounting system that can deal with multiple currencies and give regionally correct reporting. Most overseas charities employ separate charity management software, integrated with accounting platforms to help automate the process. Your financial reporting should be clear and consistent in every country, and you should invest in regular audits to keep donors on side.
Brand Consistency & Delivering a Consistent Message
If you work in multiple countries, it is easy for your charity brand and messaging to become disjointed. All countries will be different in their requirements, their culture and challenges, so it may be tempting to modify your brand for each country. While flexibility and adapting messaging to the needs of local markets are critical, brand consistency is just as important.
Brand is not just a logo, it’s the promise you make to donors and beneficiaries of your charity. If someone’s connecting with your charity in the UK, Africa or Southeast Asia, they need to feel like they are working with the same organisation, with the same mission and values.
Convenience Tip: Create a brand guide detailing your charity’s values, mission and voice, and have all of your countries’ teams follow the same guidelines. Local modifications will be required, but they can’t ever subvert your central message. A steady stream of communications between the local teams and central leadership will help maintain this equilibrium. This can be made a lot easier by choosing a good charity CRM.
Speaking and Coordinating & Getting everyone to the same place in one direction
Multi-time zones, languages and cultures in which charities must communicate are also obstacles for overseas charities. Insufficient communication or coordination between departments in different locations slows down processes, creates confusion or is the cause of expensive mistakes.
The tech is here to connect us all, but we have to set the tools and processes in place to connect everyone. Online chat tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams facilitate real-time communication and coordination, and project management software such as Trello or Asana can keep everyone on the same page with the charity’s goals, deadlines, and work.
Tip: Make sure to hold weekly virtual meetings between local and central teams. Make sure all the teams are using the same communication and project management tools to prevent misunderstandings. This too can also be a significant advantage if you have an employee or team that handles global coordination to ensure that everyone is on the same page and cross-border operations are seamless.
Affecting Public Trust & Building on the Community
In many cases, national charities are treated as aliens to their local societies, as if they’re external to them, with their own set of norms and remedies. Trust is essential for enduring success, but it’s a long process and one that needs hard work. You can get this right by collaborating with local organisations and engaging with community leaders on decision making. Locals who are interested in what the charity is doing and feel connected to it are more likely to support it.
Tip: Make a strong alliance with local organisations and always try to focus on collaboration. Get your projects out into the communities and get their input in the planning and implementation of your work. That will render your charity a friend, not some distant foreign corporation.
The Bottom line
It’s no small task to run an international charity. Legal compliance, cultural understanding, cash flow, brand alignment are all hurdles to cross-border operations that can be overwhelming. But these hurdles can be ridden, and the influence your charity brings can reach across national boundaries, with the right strategies, equipment, and staff.
What will help to achieve this is to know that each country/region is different and to modify accordingly without abandoning your shared vision. Charitable work overseas is difficult to manage, but when executed well it provides enormous opportunity to impact the world. So put your hands up, break through the knots and watch your charity’s footprint unfold worldwide.
