Resources to support advice workers
Delivery partner: Sustainable Funding Project, NCVO

Following the production and dissemination of the introductory pack on finance and funding for new/small voluntary and community sector organisations and social enterprise, a toolkit for advisers has been developed. This complements the training pack and make it more widely accessible.

Training and development opportunities for advisers
Delivery partner: fit4funding - Charities Information Bureau

Building on the recommendations of the research report scoping current training provision for funding advisers and the development of accredited courses, training was rolled out across England.

An e-learning course was also piloted. Please contact fit4funding to find out more or go on the waiting list for future courses.

Community accountancy - developing support for new/small VCOs on financial management
Delivery partner: Community Accountancy Self-Help (CASH)

Having produced a report on community accountancy and the development of infrastructure required to support a community accountancy service, the second phase of the project was to:

• Build a sustainable infrastructure for the community accountancy service at national, regional, sub regional and local levels.
• Through the infrastructure develop common standards for community accountants.
• Develop a programme in which to close the gaps in areas where there are no community accountants.
  

Research and mapping funding advisers networks 
Delivery partner: Sheffield Hallam University

A detailed piece of research gathering information on funding advice networks has been undertaken and is based on recommendations from evaluation of the research investigating whether e-networking was the most effective method to network funding advisers. The contract was awarded to Sheffield Hallam University. The objectives were to:

• Map out Funding Advisers Networks (FANs) across England at local, sub regional, regional and national levels.
• Find out who is involved in these networks and how to contact them.
• Establish how their funding advice work is funded and what issues funding advisers are faced with.
• Establish whether there are links at the national, regional, sub regional and local levels to promote the sharing of resources and learning.
• Examine the scope for the establishment of a Funding Advice National Network (FANN) which would provide a sustainable method of networking funding advisers, achieving consistent standards of provision and addressing geographical gaps in supply across England.
  

Work with funders and policy makers to influence positively policy and practice
Delivery partners: Meta Zimmick and Ian Mocroft

A study examining how the Finance Hub might play a role in providing better access to research findings and information on trends is being undertaken. The objective was to monitor policy and practice relating to grant aid, loan and equity finance, procurement and trading.

Encouraging local authority asset transfer
Delivery partner: Development Trusts Association (DTA)

Following the publication of briefings on encouraging asset transfer and surer funding a programme of work to raise awareness and influence local authority practice in relation to asset transfer was undertaken. Workshops on asset transfer were run in 2007.

BME Voluntary and community organisation policy and advocacy work
Delivery partner: VOICE - East Midlands

We are establishing mechanisms for ensuring that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) VCOs can influence positively the funding environment and that the capacity of BME groups is developed to enable participation in policy and advocacy on relevant issues.

Further to the research report which identifies mechanisms to ensure that BME VCOs can positively influence the funding environment a programme of work to meet the above objectives was carried out. This included developing: case studies to share learning; a comprehensive database of BME organisations in England; researching standards for funders.

Development of website
Delivery partner: Atticmedia

The Finance Hub has developed a comprehensive online knowledge base on funding and finance in the third sector launched summer 2007.

The website provides a valuable and specialised resource for infrastructure and frontline organisations by combining practical topic guides, in-depth research and signposting to key resources on the web.

Effective funding and financial management are essential to any successful voluntary and community organisation. The interactive tools, up to date information, training courses and research enable organisations to become more effective in dealing with crucial issues such as income generation, procurement, funding, budgeting and tax.