Diversifying Charity Business Models: The Changing Role of Legal Counsel at the Intersection of Charity and Social Enterprise

Abstract

When we first thought about drafting this article, in a world prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, charities were already facing dramatic organisational challenges. New players and technologies had disrupted the sector, traditional funding streams were in decline and the competition for funding was ever increasing. At the same time, entrenched inequality and protracted humanitarian crises were driving demand on charities to an all-time high. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has created new operating challenges for charities – as it has for almost all sectors – and has also brought to bear the urgent need for charities to reckon with the pre-existing changes to the political, social and financial context which have been eroding the viability of many traditional forms of charitable operations.