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Collaborative Working and Mergers
Are you considering, planning, or embarking on, joint working with another organisation or a group of organisations?
You may be working together with another organisation on a joint project; sharing 'back office functions' like office space and equipment; developing joint services, tendering as a consortia, or even planning a full blown merger with another group.
This page introduces the Collaborative Working Service offered by the CVS. It also provides a roundup of where else you can get advice and guidance on this topic.
CVS Collaborative Working Support Service
CVS offers a ‘Collaborative Working Service’ to help voluntary, community groups and social enterprises form partnerships and joint working arrangements. In addition to providing and maintaining this web page and an accessible library of associated publications held at our Bromham, Road, Bedford Offices, our service includes:
- Advice: The Collaborative Working Officer has experience of listening to the needs of organisations and supporting them to design appropriate ‘Collaborative Working’ responses. This work often starts with an exploratory meeting either with a lone organisation or with two or more prospective partners.
- Workshops: Some partnerships are larger and opt for help through a workshop. Such an event is designed to explore the possibilities of Collaborative Working. We identify the purpose and appropriateness of the various collaborative working models and select the one which best fits the partnership’s requirements. Such workshops usually are concluded with a decision about which collaborative working model to explore (if any) and this then ‘kick starts’ further:
- Development Work: Some organisations want specific help with the development of partnership documents, service level agreements, issues of governance and the legal aspects of collaborative working, including merger. Where merger is intended then there is a whole process TSOs will need to be guided through and one that will also probably need the help of a solicitor.
To access the Collaborative Working Service please contact Ian Curtis Collaborative Working Officer on Tel 01234 354366 or email him on ian@yourcvs.org and he will be pleased to help.
About Collaborative Worker, Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis started work with CVS on February 2007. His role is to support collaborative working between VCS agencies in Mid and North Bedfordshire and between VCS organisations and agencies in the private/independent/ local government sector. This project is in partnership with NCVO’s Collaborative Working Unit, and is funded by the Bedford Charity (The Harpur Trust) and Capacitybuilders ‘Change Up’ Programme for three years.
Ian said “Local voluntary and community sector organisations are operating in a rapidly-changing business environment and may need additional and sometimes urgent support. I am here to help with such issues as governance, forward planning, funding, policy development and reacting to the new ‘service commissioning and procurement arrangements’ now coming out of the statutory sector. These issues are often better tackled in partnership because we can draw strength from each other’s experiences, resources and ideas.”
We are aware from recent research that most people in the sector understand the word ‘collaboration’ to mean ‘mergers’ and whilst this could be one outcome of two or more organisations working in partnership, collaborative working can also be on the basis of informal or formal partnerships, lead agency working, and consortium working. Ian said “I am not here to try to force partnerships but to help organisations explore options together and move forward in whatever way they think is best.”
Ian has been working in the voluntary sector since 2000 mainly in the fields of funding and development. Most recently he was Funding and Development Officer for all eight of North Yorkshire’s Citizen’s Advice Bureaux.
Ian can be contacted on: 01234 354366 or email ian@yourcvs.org
Further Advice and Information – Exploring the Options and Learning from Others:
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) Collaborative Working Unit
The NCVO Collaborative Working Unit provides good practice information and advice. The Unit helps voluntary and community organisations make decisions about whether and how to work collaboratively.
Visit www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/collaborativeworking.asp to access a range of documents and case studies, including:
- should you collaborate? key questions. This ‘starter’ checklist aims to help trustees and others in the organisation decide on whether or not to embark on joint working or merger with another organisation(s).
- Case studies and guidance on;
- sharing back office services (includes a case study).
- joint working for public service delivery.
- merger.
- national organisations working with local groups.
- public service delivery through consortia.
- making more effective use of ICT through collaborative working.
Perhaps the Units most celebrated publication to date is ‘Due Diligence Demystified’ This booklet is available from NCVO at a cost of £15 (or £10.50 for members) and is a very useful introduction for those considering merger or close collaborative working were financial or reputational risks are being taken.
‘Due diligence’ is the term used to describe the investigative steps voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) take to assure themselves that a merger (or close collaborative working) is in the best interests of their organisation and beneficiaries. The result of a due diligence exercise should be that a VCO has full knowledge of the organisation with which it seeks to merge. Mergers (and close collaborative working arrangements) have the potential to expose VCOs to a variety of risks, including additional liabilities.
The Collaborative Working Unit also provides telephone and email advice - although not consultancy - and is happy to answer your questions. You can contact the Unit on collaborate@ncvo-vol.org.uk or 020 7520 2440.
BASSAC
Since the 1st April 2008 BASSAC (British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres)
has led the new National Support Service (NSS) Collaboration work stream. This three-year programme aims to expand collaborative working support for third sector organisations across England and has attracted nearly £2 million funding from Capacitybuilders. It is one of nine workstreams that build on the previous work of the National Hubs.
The NSS Collaboration workstream will support and facilitate collaborative working through the development of networks, partnerships, clusters and consortia. It brings together the voluntary and community sector, as well as the public and private sectors.
Frontline voluntary and community sector organisations will benefit from working collaboratively through accessing information, advice, capacity building and evidence-based practice.
BASSAC will deliver activities in the following areas over the next three years, in collaboration with its strategic partners ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), CFN (Community Foundation Network), IVAR (Institute for Voluntary Action Research)
and CES (Charities Evaluation Service):
- Collection, collation and dissemination of good practice in collaborative working.
- Developing a national evidence base for collaborative working.
- Delivering a capacity building programme of training to the voluntary community sector.
- Facilitating collaborative working through the establishment of clusters.
To get involved in the Collaboration work stream visit the Collaboration Workstream webpage and register your interest. Alternatively:
For information about the other National Support Service work streams please visit www.improvingsupport.org.uk.
Charity Commission Guidance on Collaborative Working and Mergers
The Charity Commission has launched a new booklet: Collaborative Working and Mergers (CC34) which seeks to clarify the legal and regulatory aspects of the issue. The Commission has also established a Head of Mergers to advise registered charities on the legal and regulatory aspects of merger.
The Commission deals with many cases of merger each year, and will be able to advise trustees on regulatory issues: these can include the compatibility of governing documents, the technical process involved and when the Commission needs to be formally involved.
Guidance is available either from www.charitycommission.gov.uk (Publication CC34) or from 0845 300 0218.
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA): Notes and Best Practice Guides
ICSA have published a number of very useful guides available through their website: http://digbig.com/4xhby. All you need do is ‘click on’ and scroll down to item 070720 and you will find a bank of 19 publications on Charity Mergers. These include: Charity Mergers Introduction, To Merge or Not, A Feasibility Study, Merger Motivation Model Document, Organisational Profile Document, Internal Obstacles, Identifying Assets and Liabilities, Stakeholder Considerations, Identifying a Partner, Joint Feasibility Working Party, Sample Confidentiality Agreement for Merger Discussions, Communications Strategy, Due Diligence, Post Merger Structures, and even more!!
Tendering For Care
Although ‘Tendering for Care’ is a private company it is committed to helping the third sector with all the challenges that Procurement and Public Service commissioning has brought. They have produced ‘A Guide to Tendering as a Consortium’ which sets out the background to tendering as a consortium and considers three alternative approaches. Checklists are provided setting out the recommended requirements of all prospective consortium members and a set of action points listing the planning process and considerations for lead contractors. The price is £30 including post and packaging.
For more information about this and their advice, training, and other support services go to www.tenderingforcare.com or for information about their Guide only click on: http://digbig.com/4xhcb
UK Workforce Hub: Staffing a Collaborative Project
The UK Workforce Hub exists to help third sector organisations make the best of their paid staff, volunteers and trustees through workforce development.
Together with the NCVOs Collaborative Working Unit they recently produced a free guide that considers a single but very important aspect of collaborative working – staffing. ‘Staffing a Collaborative Project’ explores the benefits of different staffing models, addresses line management, reporting structures and what happens when there are problems, among other key issues. The publication includes case studies from real organisations who share their experiences about what makes a successful partnership. ‘Staffing a Collaborative Project’ can be downloaded from the Collaborative Working Unit website www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/collaborativeworking.asp . For more about the Workforce hub go to www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk
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