A ‘State of Life’ weekly tracker has been launched in Essex supported by Active Essex and University of Essex. The survey aims to track how the current situation under Covid-19 is affecting our experience of work, health, money, other people, and life in general.
The objective is to create an agile tool and data set to inform decision making at this crucial time.
See the results or take the Weekly Tracker Survey here.
The service aims to help shops fill volunteer gaps and allow potential volunteers an easy way to express an interest in contributing to the work that charity shops do in their communities and for their parent charities.
Members of the public who are interested in volunteering can sign up via www.charityshopvolunteer.org.uk.
Retailers with vacancies will be able to ‘interrogate’ the database and identify potential volunteers according to their location and specific charity interest.
Read their full article here.
Cancer Research UK has cancelled all Race for Life events this year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The charity had hoped to postpone its 380 events until the autumn, but with uncertainty as to when mass participation events might be allowed, it has decided this is no longer possible.
Instead it has launched launched Race for Life at Home and is encouraging people to share their challenges and activities on social media using the hashtag #RaceForLifeAtHome. Read the full Civil Society article here.
BBW CVS are interested in understanding the local impact of Covid-19 and ask that local voluntary, community, faith & social enterprise organisations complete the survey below to tell them about the impact it has had on your organisation.
Last night I delivered a presentation to Basildon Borough Council detailing how vital the voluntary sector has been in responding to the challenges and required support which have surfaced since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is increasingly important that other bodies acknowledge the extremely valuable work we all do in supporting and developing our communities and how we are able to connect and implement positive changes so swiftly. It was a great opportunity to represent our sector and also draw attention to come of the challenges we face in the future. It’s extremely important to be represented and hopefully you can see that at BBW CVS we are doing so in a motivational and proactive way.
I hope you recognise that our service is adapting rapidly and all voluntary organisations, charities and CICs are at the centre of those changes.
Simon Johnson
Chief Officer
Basildon, Billericay and Wickford CVS
Essex 2020 has teamed up with the Essex Lottery to support organisations that provide community projects.
Essex Councils for Voluntary Services (ECVS) are co-ordinating the offer of a small team of Employee Volunteers from Essex County Council with bid-writing experience to help complete funding applications for VCSE organisations in Essex which have been adversely affected by the impact of Covid-19 on their activities and income and are at risk. If you would like to be considered for this support please complete this Expression of Interest and an ECVS member will be in touch with you to discuss further. This is at present a time limited activity so we ask that you put your details forward as soon as possible to enable us to assess your requirements against the time, skills and experience of the team providing the support and schedule in as many requests as possible.
The application form is here: https://forms.gle/BgY1C89u1QBL8DtR9
Signpost Tendring is currently continuing to support our local unemployed people throughout the Covid-19 crisis, by working remotely with them through our Building Better Opportunities Projects. We are currently enrolling participants onto our HeadsUp project (which supports people with anxiety and depression) and also our Community Connections Essex Project. Both projects will give people a variety of employability skills which will include: CV writing, cover letters, support with applying with jobs on-line and other job seeking skills, along with general support and advice. There is also the opportunity of gaining employability skills in-house certificates.
Our advisors are working from Tuesday to Thursday each week and can be contacted on the following number: 01255 688683 and you can also use the following e-mails:
For the Community Connections Essex project e-mail: cally.ravenhill@sign-post.info
For the HeadsUp project e-mail: jon.stock@sign-post.info
Beacon, a nonprofit database provider, have created a free eBook to help small charities choose a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Due to the source of the content we expect there to be some bias, but there are some useful tips for any organisation looking to procure a new database system:
Think about all the different kinds of data that you need to store and write down a list of them. You’re going to want a system that can handle all the things you need to store. For example:
Key Point: Know what you need from a charity CRM and choose one that’s flexible enough to handle everything
Your charity CRM and your donation flow should work beautifully together. There’s no need to pay twice for a donation processor and a CRM – make sure your CRM comes with great-looking donation processing built in. And remember these things to look out for from an online donation processing system:
Key Point: Make sure your charity CRM comes with a modern donation processing system
If you choose a very complicated system you’re going to need experts to run it – or you’re going to have to pay for expensive consultants! Choose something that’s really easy to use – and ideally something that’s been built specifically for charities.
Key Point: Your charity CRM should be flexible and easy to use
It’s worth figuring out exactly what you can afford. There’s a balance between cheap (you get what you pay for, right?) and being charged a fortune by a big corporation. Look for a public pricing page and really clear pricing. Most modern CRMs just charge per user so it’s really easy to calculate.
Key Point: Get pricing information up front and know your budget
Make sure you try the systems out yourself – don’t just get a demo! There’s a lot of old, clunky software around that’s been around for ages and it’s slow and hard to use. Modern software should look and feel smooth, easy, and intuitive!
Key Point: Try things out for yourself
The Foyle Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme has re-opened for new applications from 1 June. It will operate until further notice under the following revised criteria for support reflecting the impact of COVID-19. The Foundation says: “We understand that charities are now operating within very different circumstances since the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. We are keen to be as flexible as can be in our support of small charities during this difficult and constantly changing ongoing period, while maintaining a focus on those who can demonstrate a clear (usually local) need for their services and financial viability over the twelve months from the date of their application.”
The Small Grants Scheme is designed to support charities registered and operating in the United Kingdom, especially those working at grass roots and local community level, in any field, across a wide range of activities.
Source: Navca