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'Don't put all your eggs in one basket! - Bedfordshire's Sustainable Funding Guide'
 Community & Voluntary Service would recommend that your organisation adopts a Sustainable Funding Approach. This is an approach developed by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (NCVO) Sustainable Funding Project and has been set up to promote an approach that encourages voluntary and community organisations across the UK to explore opportunities to diversify their income streams, so that they are not solely reliant on one income stream, be it from donors, funders, purchasers or consumers. Truly a case of ‘not putting all your eggs in one basket’!
In conjunction with NCVO, CVS have produced the 'Bedfordshire's Sustainable Funding Guide', which can be downloaded below:
The aim of this guide is to give a Bedfordshire perspective to the spectrum of income streams available to voluntary and community groups locally, as well as nationally Please also explore the following pages, that outline in more detail how your organisation benefit by diversifying your funding streams to include from:
What does 'Sustainable Funding' mean?
A Sustainable Funding Approach encourages organisations to explore income opportunities across a spectrum of opportunities; from charitable donations at one end of this range, through grants, service level agreements and contracts, to social enterprise activity, trading goods and services. This can spread risk and ensure organisations are best placed to take advantage of emerging trends and opportunities and are more able to safeguard their financial future without sacrificing independence or mission.
This approach to sustainable funding for any organisation must be underpinned by thorough planning, an assessment of the impact of diversifying your funding streams, full cost analysis (detailed later in this guide) and understanding of when loan finance can supplement income.
Every organisation is unique, and so diversifying your funding streams is dependent on your particular group’s circumstances.
How does my group achieve Sustainability?
Sustainability begins not with funding, but with planning - before organisations start thinking about funding, they need to decide exactly what their mission, aims and goals are, and plan how to achieve these. Only when organisations know what they want to achieve, and have planned accordingly, are they in a position to assess which income streams are appropriate for them and begin to pursue them. To assist in this planning approach, NCVO has produced ‘Tools for tomorrow - A practical guide to strategic planning for voluntary organisations’ that can be downloaded from www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
Increasingly, charities and voluntary groups are being told to move away from grant dependency, and to become more business-like, earn income and consider loan finance. Additionally opportunities for delivering public services are increasing. Organisations need to react accordingly to survive and prosper in this new environment. Thus to achieve sustainability in the current economic climate, an organisation’s funding needs to be:
- Stable - it is extremely important to have a mixture of income streams, so that if one diminishes, it does not threaten your organisation’s viability overall. Furthermore an ability to predict with confidence your future resource levels enables you to undertake longer-term planning which can benefit your organisation.
- Suitable - it is equally important that there is a good match between your organisation’s objectives and the funding or financing that you are seeking. You should not be distracted from your organisation’s core objectives in seeking funding.
- Sufficient - there will always be competition for funding, so it is vital that you understand your group’s costs properly, as this will allow you to make informed decisions about accepting contracts and undertaking any project work. This is critical for effective planning.
Community and Voluntary Service has a number of information sheets that can assist you in planning for your group’s future, including:
Across the Income Spectrum - Income options available to voluntary and community organisations
Do you need to diversify?
To find out, using the table below, review your current income streams and assess whether a more diverse funding approach could benefit your organisation and your beneficiaries:
Income Stream |
Number of Funders |
Funding Length |
Amount
£ |
Level of Dependency |
Low < 10% |
Medium < 50% |
High > 50% |
Donations |
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Grants |
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Contracts |
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Trading |
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If it is not possible to diversify your funding across the spectrum of Donations, Grants, Contracts or Trading, then consider diversifying within a particular stream (i.e. Donations - from Individuals/Private Sector, Grants - from Trusts and Foundations/Public Sector Agencies/Private Sector, Contracts - with other Voluntary Organisations/Public Sector Agencies/Private Sector, Trading - with Individuals/Other Voluntary organisations/Public Sector Agencies/Private Sector).
The Sustainable Funding Guide was funded by:
 
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