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Routes to Sustainable Funding

By Julie Hunt , Funding Information and Advice Officer,

NCVO's Sustainable Funding project aims to provide a first-stop shop encouraging and enabling voluntary and community organisations to explore and exploit a full range of funding and financing options to develop a sustainable funding mix. 3 members of Community Links Bromley's staff attended the NCVO Train the Trainer workshop. The article below is a review of that session with information and links to other resources.

Event: Cascade training from NCVO
Date: Friday 16/07/08
Venue: Princess Diana Rooms , Westminster
Title: Sustainable Funding Project workshop

The NCVO Sustainable Funding Project workshop

This workshop has been developed by NCVO's Sustainable Funding Project. As part of a South London Partnership initiative, three members of the Community Links Bromley team and a volunteer mentor attended the workshop in London.

The Project is a first-stop shop encouraging and enabling voluntary and community organisations to explore and exploit a full range of funding and financing options to develop a sustainable funding mix. The aim of the session is to equip infrastructure agencies with the skills, resources and information to enable them to provide sustainable funding advice to frontline organisations.

The Train the Trainer workshop is designed to provide practical methods to cascade information about exploring income streams and investigate, discuss and evaluate how best to support both frontline organisations and infrastructure agencies to be sustainable. The session provides a wide range of toolkits, resources, signposting and information which can be tailored to the needs of local organisations covering the following:

• Sustainability = stable (diverse income streams), suitable (mission and funds need to match), sufficient (strategic planning: How to in 6 stages)
• Overcoming assumptions: opening minds and identifying what support you need: the "sustainable sun" needs analysis tool enables those supporting frontline organisations to identify where they are now in six different areas integral to providing effective support on sustainable funding.
• Why organisations need to understand their cost base and investigate income streams: Financial Management, Full Cost Recovery
• Public service delivery: learn more about the PSD Network and read case studies
• Overcoming barriers: identify and rise above obstacles, access new income streams
• Trading: identify opportunities that can merge money with mission
• Loan finance: evaluating issues and opportunities for VCS
• Next Steps: cascading information to frontline organisations to enable sustainability and providing ongoing/flexible support

The Project has specifically designed a range tools and resources to support infrastructure agencies and funding advisors in assisting frontline organisations to develop their financial sustainability. A number of publications are available for purchase or as free downloads.

Another resource is Only Connect, a bursary scheme (sponsored by Triodos Bank) which enables you to visit another voluntary and community organisation to learn about their experience and the key issues to consider when generating earned income.

The Sustainable Funding Project issues a free monthly newsletter which provides sector news and information on resources, training and events to assist you in developing a sustainable funding mix. Subscribe now

For more information, please visit the Sustainable Funding and NCVO websites.

If you would like to discuss further the impact of this project or would like to access materials to support diversity of income generation, please contact Julie Hunt on 020 8315 1915 or email julieh@communitylinksbromley.org.uk