Social Power: how civil society can ‘Play Big’ and truly create change

(June 2018)

The Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) has published ‘Social Power’, its final report for The Social Change Project. The report urges civil society to unleash its ‘social power’ by being much bolder and braver.

Social Power draws out lessons from recent successes in achieving social change, in order to inform future efforts to effect change. The report highlights examples of where civil society has strengthened policy, changed norms, transformed communities, held formal power to account, and righted wrongs.

Social Power argues that civil society holds the keys to tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges, but it is currently being constrained, both within the sector and externally. It identifies the ‘Twelve Habits of Successful Change-makers’ that civil society organisations should adopt, and offers targeted advice for funders, sector leaders, and government and regulators.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) is part of a consortium of funders which has supported The Social Change Project, an initiative which aims to strengthen civil society’s future efforts. It has been led by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, which is the UK’s leading provider of training and support to those seeking to bring about positive social change.