Many stones can form an arch, singly none: (Re‐)establishing trust in charities

Abstract

Trust in charities is critical in terms of the health of the sector, and also in relation to the establishment and maintenance of social cohesiveness. Moreover, lack of trust can not only damage the charity sector (having negative impacts on public perceptions and donor giving) but can also undermine attempts at building social capital. Yet, how trust is defined, the various forms that it takes and how it is established (or re‐established, if lost) is unclear. This paper explores the various conceptions of what trust is, applies them to charities and examines trust in relation to the sustainability of the sector. A key finding is that trust has many dimensions, and charities (and the sector as a whole) need to work on a range of fronts on an ongoing basis to protect and build perceptions of trustworthiness (‘many stones can form an arch’). As a consequence, the paper presents an outline research agenda (in the form of four key questions) that encourages future researchers to enhance understanding of the important interplay between trust and charities more fully. This focuses on the relationship between charities and beneficiaries, how trust‐building activities vary with charity size/area of activity, the potential role of communicating service delivery and what ‘good regulation’ might look like.

The UK COVID‐19 app: The failed co‐production of a digital public service

“…(Public) trust has been defined, in essence, as “a belief in the reliability, truth or ability of something or someone” (Hyndman et al., 2021 , p. 3). Research has acknowledged the dual perspective of trust in the government, which can be considered as both an outcome for co‐production and a prerequisite.…”

“…The concepts of trust(worthiness) and accountability are linked to each other as both “have the potential to underpin each other to create a “virtuous circle” (Hyndman et al., 2021 , p. 7). Like trust, accountability, that is the process to hold someone to account for their actions (Mulgan, 2000 ), is a particular aspect of the social environment (ter Bogt & Tillema, 2016 ; Van De Walle & Six, 2013 ).…”

Governing a union's external stakeholders: A prioritization method based on relationship quality and perceived impact

“…Beyond the theories and frameworks of the research, the concepts studied can also be discussed. Governance is often seen as the process of seeking stakeholder satisfaction: it also relies on trust to diffuse among stakeholders (as shown in Model 3) (Hyndman et al 2021). The lack of direct effect of satisfaction on contribution and impact (or even its negative effect) leads to consider the concept as a relational basis but not an ultimate goal.…”

A Communication Toolkit to Build Trust: Lessons from Northern Ireland’s Civil Society Peacebuilders

“…Trust is fundamentally a means of managing uncertainty and complexity in interactions with others (Lewicki, McAllister & Bies1998) but it manifests differently across scenarios and relationships. Trust may have psychological, rational/calculative, emotional, social or identity bases, and in reality these bases often intersect (Hyndman, Liguori & McKillop, 2021). Trust involves constant (and often unconscious) evaluation of a trustee's words and actions, where each may reinforce the other (Rice & Taylor, 2020;Wong, 2016).…”