To survive, every voluntary organisation needs to develop. Organisations that fail to dedicate time and thinking to development can find themselves stagnating and overtaken by change.
Bringing in a facilitator with fresh ideas, expertise and a different perspective, can greatly aid the development process. In some cases or for periods of time voluntary sector intermediaries and public sector agencies are funded to deliver this support at low or no cost. Unfortunately it is not available for all organisations, all of the time. If appropriate support is not available at a price your organisation can afford, try the following ways of supporting your development.
DIY board / management committee development
SCVO’s Governance e-learning courses are free and include exercises which your committee/board members can work on individually or together to support development.
To identify priority areas for development, ask each committee/board member to complete SCVO’s governance health check. Repeat this exercise every 6-12 months to allow the committee/board to determine how far it has progressed and identify areas for further improvement.
Most importantly, make time for development on an on-going basis. This might be in the form of a 45 minute slot added on to the end of every second meeting, and/or a special half to full day Saturday session once a year. If such development opportunities are supported and attended by all committee / board members (a pattern of patchy attendance is an indicator of poor governance) then significant on-going progress can be made.
DIY organisational development with The Big Picture
The Big Picture is a framework for organisational development designed specifically for Scotland’s voluntary sector. A number of professional development supporters use the Big Picture as a tool for working with client organisations. It is possible, however, for organisation to use the Big Picture themselves. In comparison with many other quality systems it is cheap and easy to use. In addition to the main publication we have developed.a support pack called ‘Getting Started with The Big Picture’ and developed a database of next step resources called ‘Help Boxes’. The Big Picture website includes information about the framework, the availability of support materials and costs involved.
If you are not sure if The Big Picture is the right quality system for you we have developed an online selection tool to help you to decide between a range of quality systems including Investors in People, European Foundation for Quality Management, Charter Mark, PQASSO and The Big Picture.
Ask for funding for organisational development
Traditionally many grant makers have only funded direct project costs and not core costs such as organisational development and governance. This is now changing, with major funders such as the Big Lottery Fund and the Scottish Executive committed to fund a share of core organisational costs proportionate to the specific activities they are supporting. Enlightened funders appreciate that contributing to good governance and organisational development generally will help ensure that their investment in an organisation is money well spent,
When applying for grants, check whether the funder is committed to this approach (known as Full Cost Recovery). If they are, make sure you apply for a proportionate contribution towards organisational development, governance and other core costs. The publication 'Full Cost Recovery - can your organisation survive without it?' is available from the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations in England (ACEVO).
Some funders will offer grants solely for organisational development. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, for example, make this available under the title of ‘capacity building’ funds.
Do it yourself: particular areas of development
Use our information pages and the information line to establish good practice in the area that you are concerned about. We also have a range or publications which can help you to work through particular issues including:
Suggests some approaches to organisational development where dedicated funding is unavailable