Happy Islamic New Year (Al Hijira) and all the blessings of Christmas to everyone visiting this site!!

Christians will say that it is the season to be jolly, but I am seeing a lot of glum faces out there……………………………

Reflection

2009 has been quite a year and I am sure that many people in the world will be glad to start afresh in 2010, hoping that it will bring more certainty to their lives. Some people tell me that the downturn is nearly over, but I am not convinced by this. I believe that the detrimental impact that the fiscal deficit has had on the economy will be with us for many years to come, and recent radio and press coverage confirms that our young people will be the ones that will suffer.

Economics

Charles Leadbeater (founder of public service innovation group, Participle) says that after a decade in which we have done more with more, we will spend the next decade trying to do more with less. He is a keen advocate of allowing service users to commission services directly. Visit his site at Participle – Home which has a particular focus on helping the young and the ageing society “The Big Social Issues Of Our Time”.

Effective management in the third sector is a key passion of mine and for our young people this presents plenty of work opportunities for them.

In the third sector services are being subsumed or becoming defunct because they either cost too much money or they are simply ineffective. Visit this blue web-link that follows to see the location of sources of intelligence and information which has had to be phased out by the UK Workforce Hub UK Workforce Hub Home. Site information like this helps us to raise our game in the third sector and our young people need to get involved in this learning process.

Recent Highlights

Two significant things that have been highlighted through No Nonsense Mentoring work this month with local groups in Northampton are:-

1. Financial Planning

2. SMART Outcomes

I have learnt that there is simply insufficient practical guidance out there on both these areas!!

Financial Planning

I have been working with a Big Lottery Assessor this month who tells me that the lack of evidence of financial planning is a key reason why funding applications fail. There is therefore a need for organisations to be more realistic about the amount of funding that they request from Big Lottery. A third sector organisation has to be seen to grow with expertise within its management and governance and evidence this before funders are willing to part with grants £25k plus. Sadly, this means that those people that are looking for salaried staff without effective financial recording processes in place, will not get a look in to the larger pots. One only has to look at what has happened at White Hall in relation to lack of transparency in the recording of expenses to see why in 2010 there will be more emphasis placed on financial accountability throughout the UK.

This is an area that the small third sector groups have to get sorted in 2010 and it does mean some financial investment and/or indeed finding people with the relevant skills that can help you to get things right!! Personally, I would source a very good accountant because completing the financial full cost recovery excel spreadsheet on the Big Lottery website can be an uphill struggle without the relevant people and skills around the table.

SMART Outcomes Setting

Larger scale funding bids demand these Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timed outcomes. The 2 areas that stand out for me are the Specific and the Agreed.

Specific: because we need to clearly present what social benefits we are supporting through our activities.

Agreed: because it is easy to allow activities to span out of control through operations if the governance team is weak, ineffective.

Without the SMART approach, generic funders see the organisations involved as not fit for purpose. If a funder sees that you have presented the picture in your application that you are unfocused your application will surely fail. The following template will allow you to plan out your smart outcomes. SMART outcomes will stop you from always seeing and fixing the same problems or acting in a constant reactive mode. This template will help you to do this.

I wish everybody then a restful time during this busy Christmas period. I will be back in 2010 since I need to think about my new year resolutions…………

Best wishes!

Suzanne x