bassac ~ supporting people sustaining communitiesHow to sell yourself
You know that what you are doing is having a positive impact in your local community.
It's obvious, isn't it? Everyone says so. There are teenagers playing football three nights a week instead of breaking into cars. There are parents and toddlers with a stimulating and nurturing environment to learn together. There are more people able to communicate in languages other than their mother tongue - that's got to be a good thing, hasn't it?
But knowing that you are doing good work is not enough. One of the most important and tricky aspects of tendering for work with statutory partners is being able to prove, in their language, that what you are doing is meeting their targets and their priorities.
There are three main things to prove:
1: Your organisation has the capacity and the quality to deliver excellent services
One way of proving this is to go through a process of quality assurance. This Quality Standards document lists some of the more popular accredited schemes.
2: That you have assessed any risks involved in delivering the services
Read about developing a risk register.
3: That you delivering the service is good value for money, and will save the statutory partner money in the long term
There are various models for doing this, and we hope to test some out over the next year. Existing models include the Social Return on Investment process.
