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About us

Find out about our services, the way we operate and how we champion voluntary action

Who we are

We’re the membership community for charities, voluntary organisations and community groups in England

Our services

Find out how we can support you, from support for small charities and training to consultancy and corporate relations

Food and drink order form

Complete our quick form to arrange catering for your event

Time to flex: Embracing flexible working

  • Employing and managing staff
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion

The Road Ahead 2022

  • Coronavirus
  • Responding to crises
  • Government and politics

UK Civil Society Almanac 2021

  • Government and politics
  • Involving volunteers

Levelling up: The role of charities and volunteering

  • Government and politics
  • Involving volunteers

Charities Bill: Lords Second Reading

  • Government and politics

Where power lies: How lived experience is engaged in voluntary sector governance and decision-making

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Governance

Rebalancing the Relationship: Final report

  • Employing and managing staff
  • Collaboration

Rebalancing the relationship: emerging findings and draft recommendations

  • Employing and managing staff
  • Collaboration

The Road Ahead 2021

  • Funding and income
  • Coronavirus
  • Responding to crises

Time Well Spent: Diversity and volunteering

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Involving volunteers

Working together to achieve your mission

This page looks at how organisations collaborate on the projects that directly contribute to their overall mission

  • Collaboration

Sharing back office services

Advice on how organisations can use collaborative working to share premises and back office services

  • Collaboration

Staffing a collaborative project

Things to consider when staffing a collaborative project

  • Collaboration

National organisations with local groups

How organisations with a national body and local groups can work together

  • Collaboration

Collaborative working to generate income

Guidance on fundraising through the gift economy (public giving, voluntary donations) and the open market (trading)

  • Collaboration

Why be part of a consortium?

Reasons for forming a consortium and examples of voluntary sector consortia

  • Collaboration

Consortium operating models

The different ways that voluntary organisations can work together collectively to bid for and deliver public service contracts

  • Collaboration

The stages of consortium development

Step-by-step guidance to help voluntary organisations develop a consortium

  • Collaboration

Pre-start-up scoping and planning

Guidance on scoping and planning before you set up a voluntary-sector consortium

  • Collaboration

Formation of working group

How to form the initial working group that will help partners set up a consortium

  • Collaboration

Outcomes and impact measurement (1 day)

Learn how to create an evaluation plan to better understand and demonstrate the difference your work makes

Financial governance for trustees (0.5 day)

This course will revisit the core financial duties of a charity trustee and explore what it means to practice good financial governance

Charity trustee induction and refresher (2 x 0.5 days)

This course will give trustees an overview and understanding of charity governance, regulation and best practice

Strategic planning: tools for decision making (1 day)

This course will introduce processes and tools to help ensure that decision-making is responsive to your environment and focused on the most important issues affecting your organisation

Leading external engagement ( 1 day)

This training will teach you how to raise your profile and the profile of your charity. You’ll learn how to improve your external engagement through network-building, collaboration, partnership development and effective communication.

Charity finance skills (1 day)

This course will help people with little or no financial background to feel confident in managing day-to-day charity finance

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in charity governance (2 x 0.5 days)

This course has been created by The Social Justice Collective to help you understand, address and embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into your governance practice

Theory of change for strategic planning and evaluation (1 day)

Learn how to create your own theory of change and narrative. This course will challenge you to think critically about what you're doing and why

Safeguarding essentials in charities (1 day)

All voluntary organisations have a duty to keep the people they work with safe from harm. This course introduces the basics of safeguarding within a charity context in England and highlights effective safeguarding practice

Good practice in volunteer management (1 day)

This course provides an introduction to the key principles of good volunteer management and how to apply them in your organisation