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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

Training

We offer a range of training courses designed to help you do what you do best

eLearning: Roles and duties of trustees

This flexible, interactive course will help you understand your duties as a trustee and support you to run your charity effectively so you can make a bigger difference

Leading on purpose

A practical four-month programme for emerging charity leaders who are on their way to leading organisations

Our vision for charity leaders

Learn about the mindset, knowledge and connections that emerging leaders need to guide the sector into the 2030s

Support for small charities and voluntary organisations

We know small charities make a big impact with limited resource - that's why we're here to help

Small charity helpdesk

Ask our practical support team any question about the setting up or running of your charity or voluntary organisation.

National volunteering forum: Vision for Volunteering

  • Involving volunteers
  • Collaboration

Charities have a vital role in supporting those arriving from Ukraine

  • Responding to crises
  • Government and politics

The inside track: May 2022

  • Government and politics
  • Law and regulation

Join our powerful journey: Power & integrity launch

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Safeguarding
  • Governance

Impact round-up: May 2022

  • Impact and evaluation

Queen's speech: What it means for the voluntary sector

  • Government and politics

Why age friendly inclusive volunteering?

  • Involving volunteers

Volunteering round-up: April 2022

  • Involving volunteers

Governance round-up: April 2022

  • Governance
  • Law and regulation

Government policy and funding round-up: April 2022

  • Funding and income
  • Government and politics
  • Governance

Develop your role

Important things to consider when creating a new volunteer role

  • Involving volunteers

Find volunteers

Advertise your role and attract the right volunteers

  • Involving volunteers

Manage applications and organise interviews

Make sure your application and interview processes are accessible and fair

  • Involving volunteers

Appoint volunteers

Carry out the appropriate checks and let volunteers know if they've been successful

  • Involving volunteers

Volunteers who claim benefits

How volunteering affects volunteers who claim benefits and how you can support them

  • Involving volunteers

Volunteers from overseas

The rules about volunteers from overseas, including who can and can’t volunteer and what the restrictions are

  • Involving volunteers

Writing a volunteer agreement

How to write a volunteer agreement without creating an employment contract

  • Involving volunteers

Running a volunteer induction

What to include in volunteer induction training to help new volunteers get started

  • Involving volunteers

Supporting volunteers

How to support, supervise and get feedback from volunteers to improve their experience

  • Involving volunteers

Keeping volunteers

How to keep volunteers engaged and retain them at your organisation

  • Involving volunteers

Recruiting volunteers (0.5 day)

This course will develop your skills and help you use a marketing approach to recruit volunteers

Leading change and transformation (2 days)

This practical two-day course for aspiring and existing charity leaders will teach you how to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Learn how to successfully deliver meaningful change to improve your team or organisation

Advanced project management (1 day)

Are you confident in your general project management skills but looking to strengthen your expertise? This course moves beyond the basics of project management to better understand techniques, activities and principles within a charity context.

Managing people in the charity sector (2 days)

This course will equip managers in the voluntary sector with the skills and techniques they need to effectively manage paid members of staff

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

Advanced data protection (2 x 0.5 days)

This advanced course is specifically for data protection leads in charitable organisations. It will prepare your organisation for new laws and obligations.

Governance Forum

Our Governance Forum is a space for charity governance professionals and those who support good governance to come together, learn and network

Boost your personal influence and impact (0.5 day)

Learn practical tools and techniques to increase your capability, confidence and impact when seeking to influence others – both within and outside your organisation

Charity finance strategy (1 day)

This course will give you an overview of how to build a simple finance strategy. We’ll introduce tools to help you build the financial resilience of your charity

Data protection essentials (2 x 0.5 days)

This essentials course is suitable for anyone within an organisation that handles the personal data of staff, service users, beneficiaries, volunteers, customers, members or supporters, and needs to know the basics of data protection for voluntary organisations.