Priority 5: Sustainability
Saving lives today and tomorrow
Our ambition
We build towards excellent delivery today whilst ensuring Samaritans can contribute to fewer people dying by suicide long into the future.
Our challenge
Ensuring Samaritans’ sustainability is central to our strategy to save lives now and in the future. Despite being seen by many as the fourth emergency service, Samaritans is a charity that relies on the generosity of individuals to give their voluntary time to us and we rely on individuals, companies and organisations who make our work possible through their financial support.
Without this, we could not do what we do. But right now, the economic environment is challenging and the way people want to volunteer their time is changing too – we need to respond to both.
How we will achieve this
- We’ll better understand how to attract and retain volunteers of the future.
- We’ll invest in a diverse range of income generation, trialling different ways to get more people to join us as a supporter or leave a legacy to Samaritans to grow and sustain our income.
- We’ll develop a more consistent experience for volunteers and supporters, built on their needs and motivations.
- We’ll work with branches to maximise our collective fundraising efforts regionally and nationally, ensuring that income generated in the name of Samaritans is used to improve and expand our impact.
- We’ll grow our Samaritans’ training and education programme (STEP) for other organisations, equipping them to better support their staff, and generating income for Samaritans.
- We’ll seek out strategic partnerships that will enable real progress for people at risk of suicide.
- By strengthening our understanding and evidence around our impact, we’ll direct our activities where they can make the biggest difference, clearly demonstrating how every pound and every hour donated is working towards our vision.
- We’ll continue to adapt to a difficult economic climate, planning for and responding to challenges to ensure that the scale of our ambition is financially sustainable.
Our impact
By 2036, we will have grown sustainable income across our network that matches our ongoing running costs, with adequate reserves in place. We will have evolved our volunteering offer so anyone who wants to bring their skills to Samaritans is able to do so.
I’ve seen first-hand where the money raised goes, so I’m proud of myself that I’m helping to keep Samaritans listening 24/7, just as I needed someone to listen to me.
Jade