CVS - Mid & North Beds can offer practical help and support to Voluntary and Community Groups in Mid and North Bedfordshire in Developing Your Organisation. This may occur in the following ways: -

Starting a Voluntary or Community Group

There is a lot to consider when setting up a new voluntary or community group from scratch. All sorts of questions need to be addressed, such as:

• Is there a Need?
• What are the Aims of the our new organisation?
• Who else do we need to Involve?
• What is the best Structure for our group?
• What Governing Document (i.e. constitution) is needed?
• What will our initial objectives be?
• How can we develop a Budget?
• How do we open a Bank Account for our organisation?
• How do we run our first meetings?
• How do we develop the required documentation?

Managing Your Group

Once your group is up and running it will need to be Well Managed to continue delivering effectively. The following areas need to be focused on:

• Managing People - employing and supporting staff
• Managing Projects - planning and delivering projects
• Operational Management - policies and procedures
• Strategic Management - strategic and business planning

Governance

Strong leadership from the groups Trustees/Managing Committee is vital in ensuring that a group is effectively and properly run. Consideration needs to be given to:

• Focusing on the strategic direction of the group
• Developing the Skills and Knowledge of your groups Trustees/Managing Committee Members
• Recruiting new Trustees/Managing Committee Members
• Ensuring compliance with the organisation's governing document/policies and the law

Finance

How you manage your funds, salary payments, expenses, activity costs and overheads can be the backbone of your organisation. It can enable your organisation to demonstrate effectively how you have translated public and charitable monies into activities, projects and services. When done efficiently, it can help your group report back to funders and enhance public confidence in what you are doing. However, when not addressed, and when financial management slips, it can cause fundamental problems for your organisation and be an unnecessary and expensive drain on resources to fix the problems. The following areas therefore need to be focused on:

• Preparation of Annual Accounts
• Accountancy/Book Keeping
• Payroll
• Cashflow Forecasts/Budgets

Please contact CVS - Mid & North Beds for information and advice on the afforementioned development issues. Alternatively visit the associated pages and download the appropriate information pages.