Workshops: LET'S NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL

Let’s not reinvent the wheel: making sense of what we already know about funding and community development.

Led by Anna Allen and Tansy Miller, the Community Development Foundation

Trying to makes sense of community development?
Lost in the maze of funding streams?

Anna Allen
Anna Allen is a Head of the Faiths in Action programme at Community Development Foundation (CDF). She has also been managing the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund and Connecting Communities Plus (Community Grants) which to date have distributed over £13 million to more than 1,000 organisations across the UK. These Funds support the cross-Government strategy for Race Equality and Community Cohesion: ‘Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society’.

Tansy Miller
Tansy is the Regional Manager, Faiths in Action with the Community Development Foundation. She joined CDF in December 2008, and prior to this worked for the Department for Work and Pensions as a stakeholder manager for the eastern region, managing a funding stream for local third sector organisations and delivering capacity-building initiatives in the most deprived and financially excluded communities.

You are not alone. At any given moment, somewhere, another organisation will be facing the same challenges or even will have has solved the problem you have. It`s time to take full advantage of the wealth of existing VCS experiences and practices!

Outline of CDF
CDF would like to know :

• How well are VCS resources and training used by faith communities?
• Are there sufficient links between VCS and faith sector locally and regionally?
• What do faith communities think of existing community development resources?
• Where do faith communities go for funding.

A pack of resources was provided for each participant to view.

• Putting the fun into fundraising, Martin Shaw 2008
• The CDF fundraising factsheets [3]
• Churches and Faith Buildings – realising the potential, CLG et al
• Resource Directory, CDF 2009
• Community Development Paper 1: How Can it Help? & Paper 2 Resources
• Trustees Guide to Fundraising, Institute of Fundraising
• Volunteering England – website / publications

How do you find out about funding? Website; e-alerts; word of mouth; range of conferences; newsletters

Scenario: A newly established local interfaith group has contacted you for advice.  They would like to know how to get some funding for a local project.  They also want to know where they can access help with running their project and getting started as a community group.
What advice would you give them?

Workshop feedback

• It would be good to have a development worker who worked across several small groups sharing offices and overheads
• There can be a problem in setting up a new project with short term project funding [eg 12 months]
• Important to have a portfolio of funding sources for sustainability
• Capacity building needs to be long term as a project evolves, not just at the beginning
• There may be challenges in developing sustainability for new organisations
• Funding applications are very time consuming to complete.  This is a strain on the capacity of volunteers
• CVSs also only open Mon-Fri 9-5 so not accessible to volunteers who are working full time
• There is a need for more infrastructure support with a faith perspective to signpost, and provide, advice to faith based groups.

Advice from Anna re Scenario

• Approach local CVS
• Look at the new organisation’s goals and make sure that they are realistic
• Look to see what they can do without funds
• Identify one member to develop expertise to research funding and application
• Make sure the group understands what the funder needs
• Check this is not a duplication – if similar group exists – encourage a join up
• Find out exactly what the project will do
• Refer the group to the local faiths forum
• Talk to local council
• Help the group develop a business plan
• Make sure that the group is fully briefed in how to manage and monitor funds