Taking stewardship seriously

  

Since 1938, All We Can has worked at the forefront of relief and development in situations of great need around the world. Inspired by Christian principles, and an integral part of the Methodist family, All We Can takes the special nature of this work and the stewardship of its funds very seriously.

Stewardship of our financial resources

All We Can understands that when people give to our organisation they do so trusting this money will be used wisely and responsibly. We make every effort to ensure that with great care and thought financial gifts are used cost-effectively to ensure the greatest impact possible in some of the world’s poorest communities. All We Can is committed to maintaining high standards of support to those who give donations to us to enable our work around the world to continue. We take seriously the safeguarding of data, the processing of donations and always endeavour to administer donations efficiently, putting the generous gifts of supporters to work quickly. Good governance of funds is not only professional but is in keeping with our Christian values and the Biblical principles of good stewardship.

In 2017-18, 81.7% of our spending was on charitable activities which compares favourably with other organisations in the sector. Through these activities we impacted the lives of more than 655,000 people either living in poverty or facing crisis in a humanitarian emergency. All We Can has established a robust Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system in order to not only track how these funds are used but also to help us identify positive achievements, areas in which we could improve and to measure the overall impact of our work and the work of the local organisations around the world that we support.

All We Can is committed to transparency in all of areas of our work, every year we publish a full account of the Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the charity. The most recent version of this is available on All We Can’s website at allwecan.org.uk/review and is supplemented by useful videos and photo case-studies of the impact of our work globally. As a registered charity, our accounts are independently audited and we report to the Charity Commission, an independent body that regulates activities of charities in the UK. Additionally, All We Can also publish data on some of our projects in accordance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard. IATI is a multi-stakeholder initiative to help implement the transparency commitments of the Accra Agenda for Action, arising from the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. To read more about IATI, please visit the IATI standard website.

Stewardship of our time and skills

All We Can needs the skills and full-time commitment of its small body of paid staff in the United Kingdom and around the world in order to deliver its work effectively, efficiently and with the level of professional expertise required. We are a specialist international development and emergency relief organisation and in order to globally support and strengthen local organisations, churches and emerging initiatives we need to employ the right people to enable that transformative work to take place. Our team of staff in the UK work with these organisations so that they can implement solutions for people living in some of the world’s poorest and least served communities. The situations and circumstances that create poverty and injustice are complex and necessitate in-depth knowledge and understanding when creating practical, effective and sustainable solutions. Large-scale humanitarian emergencies create vulnerability that requires a sensitive but often swift specialist response. The very nature of All We Can’s area of work means that the contribution of paid staff is invaluable.

All We Can is responsible for managing people’s financial giving and we always want to do that in a way that is congruent with good governance, well thought out plans for the future and with accountability and transparency – employing well-qualified, experienced paid staff enables us to monitor that spending well. All We Can is also deeply committed to meaningful and sustainable change in the communities it works with, we believe this is a long-term process that cannot be ‘developed’ or ‘built’ from the outside. This is why we support capacity development with the local organisations we partner with so that they can become all they can be and make a positive and long-lasting difference in the vulnerable and marginalised communities where they work. This kind of sustainable input can only be delivered with a dedicated team that walks in partnership with these local organisations over time in order to build deep, meaningful and professional relationships, systems and solutions for change.

Everyone employed by All We Can chooses to do the work they do because they are passionate about the organisations’ vision and mission. Many of All We Can’s current employees have skills and experience that they could be paid more for in corporate, governmental or private sector jobs but they choose to work for All We Can and in the charity sector because they are dedicated to seeing lives changed and communities able to journey out of poverty. Many staff members not only work for All We Can but also give regularly as individual supporters because they see the difference that giving makes. One member of staff recently said:

“I work for All We Can as member of staff but also choose to give regularly to All We Can via monthly Direct Debit as part of our All Together giving journey – it is my way of remembering that I am part of a big and generous global family. I trust All We Can to use my giving well because I witness that good stewardship in action at work and see the difference my money makes.”

In addition to the dedication of its paid staff, All We Can is supported by an incredible network of volunteers. In 2017-18, these individuals gave more than 6000 hours of their time to help the charity operate, raise funds and deliver public education work around the UK. All We Can could not achieve what it does without the generous support of its volunteers.

Stewardship of our relationships

All We Can seeks to help people – of all faiths and none – to live with respect, and have the opportunity to flourish. We believe that our vision to see every person’s potential fulfilled is only possible when, globally, we all work together. While the commitment and compassion of the inspiring individuals and local organisations we work with around the world means that, more than anyone else, they are best placed to unlock the potential in their communities we also believe everyone has a role to play in seeing this potential realised. As an organisation we are therefore dedicated to providing opportunities for people in the UK and around the world to engage in global education to inform, challenge and motivate people to take a stance against poverty and injustice.

We create specialist resources, in particular for a Christian audience, to inspire them to take practical action for change. We are also committed to providing learning opportunities for the local organisations we journey in partnership with around the world which can take my different forms: Linking local organisations to each other or to mentors and skilled volunteers from their own country or overseas, creating physical and virtual networks for experience and skills sharing, providing relevant training to enable them to work more effectively and by encouraging them to act as role-models within their own communities and countries as well as on an international stage.

Stewardship for the future

All We Can is grateful to all those who loyally support the charity’s work, many of whom have done so for years. We endeavour to continue to find new ways to ensure the trust endowed in All We Can is honoured. All We Can has a Supporter Charter that outlines the different promises we make to those who give. We are always interested to hear the views of supporters and our Supporter Relations team is dedicated to providing the highest standard of service. All We Can wants to continue to find ways to provide transparent and open accounts of our work to give all of its donors certainty that their money gets directly to the places of greatest need.

To find out more about the impact of All We Can’s work in 2017-18 visit allwecan.org.uk/review

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