Keeping on top of what is going on in your field of work is crucial to sustaining any group or organisation. You always need to be looking ahead, to see change coming, to understand how it will impact on what you do and to be able to manage the change process. This is particularly true about funding, where will the money come from to keep your organisation sustainable into the future? The main mechanism used by any third sector organisation to keep in touch with wider developments is its networks, both formal and informal.
Formal networks might be local, regional, national or international. They might be specialist (such as for a specific health issue or a particular sport) or generic (such as a regional voluntary sector network). They often provide regular communications with their members through newsletters and emails – highlighting important changes, and providing some guidance on how to find out more. They may provide you with the opportunity to talk to others in a similar position, as well as for contact with people with expertise in relevant areas.
In our Getting Help section is a list of these types of organisations, many of which will host – or be linked to – networks.
Your own informal networks can be just as important as any formal ones and are made up of contacts you make with practitioners in your particular field of work, or related to it. They are especially useful for smaller organisations, adding another element of support which might not otherwise be available. They form the basis of partnership working and can have an indirect financial value to your organisation, particularly where there is a perceived mutual benefit. Informal networks also aid creativity, providing an opportunity for new ideas and services to emerge.
If you’re new to networking your local third sector development agency may be the best place to ask about what is happening in your area or field of work. Your local authority is another point of contact. Regionally and nationally, the voluntary and community sector has hundreds of networks with journals, newsletters and email alerts. Also, if you have already accessed a funding stream, keep in touch with the funder and watch out for developments in their work.
It is worth spending a little bit of time searching for a few key elements that will form the basis of your networks. They will include a mix of local and national, formal and informal and together they will enable you to keep up to date with those developments that might impact on your work in the future.
