Finding Funding without grant funding in some form; this can be a valuable way of enhancing budgets. Some organisations depend on grants entirely. But keeping all your eggs in one ‘funding basket’ is not recommended. Funders are the first people to discourage you from becoming dependent on them. Structured market: The delivery of public services under contract is one option that VCS organisations may consider; this offers many opportunities and longer contracts than traditional funders. However, the process is legally binding for both parties and you should choose contracts carefully, making sure the intended outcomes are in line with your organisation’s mission and aims and that you have the right skills and resources to tender for and manage public sector contracts. Open Market: Trading is not about turning VCS organisations into commercial businesses, but enabling them to become more financially sustainable. All trading is associated with selling goods or services on the open market. Think about what you can sell: your assets; your people skills; your property? How can you sell it and who will buy it? Assets: both physical and invisible, can be used in a variety of ways to assist VCS organisations achieve long-term financial sustainability. Underused equipment, room space and staff skills can be used to raise income. You could rent out a spare office as public
Issue 13 March / April / May 2011
meeting space, allow members of the public to use your photocopier or fax for a small fee, turn an unused computer room into a resource centre for the community or provide administration services for other organisations in the area.
Look out for Voscur’s new training course on the Funding Mix – Diversifying your Income www.voscur.org/training or call Sophie Bayley on 0117 909 9949
Loan finance: The availability and accessibility of loan finance to VCS organisations has increased considerably in recent years. Loans are used where large amounts of money are needed to buy property, land or equipment, or to establish new projects and ventures. Alternatively, as organisations develop new income streams, such as contracting or trading, they may also require significant investment to create new services. Wherever investment is needed to drive organisational growth, loan finance may be a viable option. Loan finance is not an income stream but a financial enabling tool. It is not a replacement for grants but is simply seen as another way to finance an organisation. Loan finance should only be considered if it will benefit your organisation and appropriate structures and systems are in place to repay it.
Income spectrum online tool NCVO’s Funding Central website has an on-line tool to help you to explore your current income streams and assess whether a more diverse funding approach may benefit your organisation. The tool will require you to provide information about your sources of income; it will then indentify your level of risk and provide you with suggestions about how to investigate opportunities across the income spectrum: www.fundingcentral. org.uk/page.aspx?sp=6183
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