FAQ
Look through our FAQs to find answers to your queries about taking part in The RACE Report. If there’s anything else we can help with, please get in touch!
ABOUT THE RACE REPORT
What is The RACE Report and what is it trying to achieve?
The RACE Report sets out to collect data on the proportion of people of colour in UK environmental, climate, nature and sustainability charities and not-for profit organisations, and the organisations that fund their work. It also sets out to identify what policies, strategy and action on race equity is being taken within the sector.
We believe that now is the time to work with the sector to agree a standardised reporting protocol for race data and to collect and publish the data on an annual basis. This should serve as a catalyst for meaningful action to tackle the barriers that are preventing more people of colour from working and thriving in the sector.
Following the success and impact of Green 2.0, an American annual league table of staff racial diversity in the top 40 environmental not-for-profits and top 40 environmental foundations in the USA, we have developed a UK version, called The RACE Report which launched in 2022.
Why should organisations take part?
We hope organisations will take part for the following reasons:
- Increasing the diversity of our sector requires individual and collective action by allorganisations in our sector;
- Your participation will help our sector better represent the diverse communities that it serves;
- Being a diverse and inclusive organisation is good for organisational performance and increasing impact;
- Participation, and associated progressive actions, will help tackle racist structures in society that are also present within our sector;
- Organisations acking diversity risk being seen as out of touch, and also not being effective at delivering their goals within diverse communities.
Which organisations are eligible to take part?
Any UK-based environmental, climate, nature or sustainability charity, not-for profit, social enterprise, trust or foundation can participate in the RACE Report and submit their data to us.
Organisations that predominantly work on or fund environmental, climate, nature or sustainability issues are invited to sign up to take part. Our definition of this is that any of these issues forms the main part of their mission statement on their website or charity registration.
The RACE Report is not open to for-profit businesses or social enterprises - our focus is the charitable sector.
We are exploring options for ineligible organisations to join as supporters. Please get in touch so we can discuss this further once details are confirmed.
Is it free to take part?
Yes, there are no costs for organisations to participate in The RACE Report.
What is the intersectional data pilot?
In 2024, we are piloting the collection of intersectional data. We want to do this to further increase the transparency of who is and isn’t represented across the sector.
The pilot will involve cross-tabulating race/ethnicity with otherpersonal characteristics to allow us to understand who is and isn’t represented in the sector in more detail.
The characteristics we hope to analyse the race/ethnicity data against include:
• Age
• Gender
• Disability
DATA COLLECTION IN YOUR ORGANISATION
What data will I need to take part?
We are asking for data in the following categories:
- Organisation characteristics (e.g. total stuff numbers, charity number, organisation sector, organisation activities)
- Broader staff diversity characteristics (e.g. age, gender identity)
- Race/ethnicitystaff characteristics (including overall staff, permanent staff, non-permanent staff, governance/trustee boards, people managers, senior leaders, retentionand promotion of staff)
- Action on diversity (e.g. transparency measures, strategy and targets, management andgovernance, HR processes, practical and positive action) (Optional questions)
In 2024 we are piloting the collection of intersectional data. Please visit the FAQs for this topic for further information.
You can also see all the questions we will ask in our list of data points. Please read through this carefully and gather any data your organisation is able to submit before you access the online form.
What do I need to tell staff in my organisation about what will happen with their data?
Please remember to review your own privacy notice issued to staff when you collect data from them to make sure it allows forsharing of anonymised data. You may wish to reiterate to them that no individual’s names are shared with The RACE Report.
If you have already collected data you plan to submit, please review your organisations’ privacy notices that may have been issued when you collected data from your staff to ensure they allow for sharing of anonymised data.
It’s also important to make your staff aware that whilst they personally will never be named, your organisation's name and the aggregated data for all staff/different categories of staff will be published on your organisation's transaprency card if you meet the relevant criteria for 30 or more employees.
I’d like to take part, but my organisation doesn’t collect any / some of the data requested – what should we do?
We have developed a staff survey template to enable organisations that don’t currently collect diversity data from their staff (or do collect it but not to the definitions of the standardised reporting protocol that we have developed through The RACE Report), to do so. To use this template, please download the template and use the questions to amend existing surveys you may have, or to create a new one. You can also use our Microsoft Forms template if you wish.
Please note – this template includes questions that are additional to what you will be asked to submit to The RACE Report. These are to support your wider work on diversity and inclusion beyond a focus on race and ethnicity. It is up to your organisation to decide which questions you wish to include when collecting data from your staff.
If you are not able to amend or deliver a survey within our submission timeframes, but you still have data you would like to submit, please do so notifying us which data you do and don’t have. The form will allow you to identify where you don’t have data and submit the data you do. Please get in touch with us if you would like any support on collecting your data or submitting your data to us.
Should we collect and submit data on staff outside of the UK?
No, we only need you to report on staff based in the UK. If you have staff that work for your organisation from overseas, please do not include these members of staff in your data.
Should I include trustees/governance bodies in the ‘all staff’ data?
No, trustees are not considered employees and should only be counted in question B12 of the online data collection form.
SUBMITTING DATA TO THE RACE REPORT
When do I need to submit my data by?
Data submissions open on Tuesday 16th April 2024 and close at the end of the day on Friday 11th October 2024. This allows just under six months for organisations to collect and submit the data.
Who should lead on this for our organisation?
The data should be compiled and submitted to The RACE Report by a member of staff who leads on HR and / or equality, diversity and inclusion for your organisation.
We have created a spreadsheet which mirrors the data collection form which must be used to submit your data to help you prepare for making the submission.
How will you collect, process and store the data submitted?
Data submitted to The RACE Report will be collected, processed and stored in compliance with the GDPR. This includes special category data, for example racial or ethnic origin. Data will becollected through SNAP Surveys, who maintain robust and comprehensive data security measures. Submissions will be downloaded and anonymised, so the demographic data cannot be used to identify individuals, as soon as is reasonably possible, but no later than 28days after the end of the data collection period. Data will then be permanently deleted from SNAP Surveys online portal. Data will bestored on SOS-UK servers, and only authorised individuals working directly on the analysis of the data will have access to the folders in which data isstored. Password encryption will be applied to all documents containing contact details for organisations. These will be stored for the duration that participating organisations need to be contacted about the data they have submitted. Data will be archived and stored on SOS-UK servers for five years, should there be questions or concerns arising in subsequent years of participation in The RACE Report or for other verification requests.
How do I submit my organisation’s data?
Organisations should submit their data to The RACE Report using the online data collection form by end of day Friday 11th October 2023.
Please make sure you have read through the copy of data you will be asked to submit in our list of data points.
Please make sure you have gathered all the data you intend to submit for your organisation before starting your submission. You cannot save your submission part way through. Any uncompleted submissions will be lost.
What happens if my organisation signs up but we don't submit any data?
Any organisation that is eligible to participate that doesn’t submit any data – whether they have signed up or not – will appear as ‘did not participate’ in the transparency cards if they meet the definition of a ‘major’ or ‘super-major’ charity according to NCVO definitions.
Eligible organisations are those that predominantly work on or fund environmental, climate, nature or sustainability issues as stated in the main part of their mission statement on their website or charity registration).
NCVO defines charities according to their income. Major charities are defined as having an annual income of between £10m and £100m. Super-major charities are defined as having an annual income of more than £100m.
PUBLICATION OF THE RACE REPORT
What data will you publish and where?
In 2022 and 2023, all organisational data that was submitted to The RACE Report was aggregated and presented as a single figure for each data point. This report will be repeated in 2024, publishing aggregated data from all organisations that submit.
From 2023 onwards we are also publishing:
“online transparency cards for individual organisations, as is done in Green 2.0 [the sister campaign to The RACE Report which operates in the USA].”
The RACE Report data collection form is divided into three areas:
- Section A: Administration and organisation characteristics [e.g. organisation location, FTE staff numbers, headcount staff numbers, organisation main areas of work]
- Section B: Diversity data [e.g. gender identity, age, ethnicity/race of staff and trustees]
- Section C: Policy, strategy and action [e.g. activity delivered by organisations to progress equality, diversity and inclusion]
The table below shows how each of the three sections of the data submission will be used.
In each case, percentages will be used rather than actual number of employees and no overall figure for the exact number of staff overall or within each category will be provided.
For all organisations, no matter how many employees, we will use a percentage range where there are low numbers of staff within a particular ethnic/racial identity. For example, if an organisation has 1 member of staff identifying as ‘Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups – Any other Mixed/Multiple ethnic background’ representing 1% of staff, they would be reported as ‘2% or less’ in their organisation’s transparency card. If the organisation also has 3 members of staff who reported as White – Northern Irish (2%), they would also be shown as ‘2% or less’.
Will I be able to see what will be published prior to publication?
Participating organisations will be able to review the data to be published and provide feedback prior to its publication in February 2025. We will hold feedback sessions at various points in the reporting and publication process to enable this.
My organisation has a small number of staff, how will their identity be protected in the transparency cards?
We are use a cut off of less than 30 staff to define a small organisation. The figure of 30 staff has been chosen as this is a commonly used ‘rule of thumb’ for a sample size in statistical analysis. The table below outlines how data submitted by organisations with fewer than 30 staff members (headcount) will be published.
- Section A: Administration and organisation characteristics [e.g. organisation location, FTE staff numbers, headcount staff numbers, organisation main areas of work]
- Section B: Diversity data [e.g. gender identity, age, ethnicity/race of staff and trustees]
- Section C: Policy, strategy and action [e.g. activity delivered by organisations to progress equality, diversity and inclusion]
What if I still have concerns about protecting the identity of staff in my organisation?
Please read our full FAQs for details of what data will be published and how.
All organisations will be asked to identify any concerns they have about the publication of their organisation’s data, for any section and any size organisation, e.g. if they think a member of staff may be identified when completing the data submission. The RACE Report team will discuss these concerns with the organisation and reach a collaborative solution.
Alternatively, you can raise these concerns with us prior to submitting your data by contacting the team via email.
Where will the intersectional pilot data be published?
Data will only feature in the aggregated main data report – no organisation names will be featured alongside the data. Data from individual organisations will not be published on the organisation’s transparency card.
STAFF PERCEPTIONS SURVEY
What is the anonymised staff perceptions survey and what’s it trying to achieve?
In 2023 we introduced an anonymous staff perceptions survey that will be repeated bi-annually. Organisations can opt into this aspect alongside submitting their diversity data. Participation is optional but strongly encouraged. The next survey will run in 2025.
The purpose of the anonymised staff perceptions survey is to understand how quantitative diversity data collected through the annual data submissions translates to inclusive working environments.
How will the findings of the staff perceptions survey be published?
Key findings will be published in aggregate form to provide across-sector benchmark through which progress can also be tracked over time.
We do not attribute this data to individual organisations in The RACE Report, or on the transparency cards, although it will provide a useful steer on which organisations we can be confident about celebrating and promoting in our case studies.
Organisations will be able to request their summary data from us and it should provide a useful insight for the management of each participating organisation.
How do staff in my organisation complete the perceptions survey and what will they be asked?
Please note, the next staff perceptions survey will run in 2025.
Organisations that opt into the staff perceptions survey will receive a link to an online survey that can be shared with their staff members.
When signing up for The RACE Report, you will be able to opt in to participating in the staff perceptions survey. The staff perceptions survey is available for any organisation participating in The RACE Report.
Organisations that have opted in are responsible for encouraging their staff to complete the survey. The responses from this staff survey will come direct to The RACE Report team, not to the organisation participating in the survey.
The survey will be based on closed questions asking staff to identify their experiences e.g.through agreement/disagreement scales on topics like the provision of a working environment free of discrimination and harassment, if they have witnessed any discrimination, the ability to be themselves at work without worrying about how they will be accepted, their sense of belonging to the organisation, access to opportunities and progression, and organisational culture. A copy of the questions is available on our resources page. This is to enable you to see what questions will be asked - the survey will not be sent to staff as a pdf but will be in the format of an online survey.
Staff will be asked to identify what organisation they work for, and will be asked about their personal characteristics / identity but they will not asked for their name or any contact details.
The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete.
When will the staff perceptions survey take place?
The staff perceptions survey runs biannually and will next run during 2025. You will be able to opt-in during the sign up period for the 2025 RACE Report if your organisation wishes to take part.
Who can take part in the staff perceptions survey within my organisation?
The staff perceptions survey is open to all employees at any level of seniority, and on any type of contract (permanent or non-permanent).
The staff perceptions survey is not applicable to trustees or governance board members. It is also not open to volunteers.
ANYTHING ELSE
What if I have any other questions or concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at race-report@sos-uk.org
The four founding partners of The RACE Report are Hindu Climate Action, Nature Youth Connection and Education, South Asians for Sustainability and SOS-UK. The project is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and and Sychronicity Earth. The accountable organisation is SOS-UK.
Get in touch at race-report@sos-uk.org