bassac ~ supporting people sustaining communitiesWhat's new
1 July 2010
Success Stories
This new book of case studies from the Collaboration Benefits programme gives you the chance to read about the ups and downs of collaboration. Full of pictures and first hand experience, this guide is ideal for development workers supporting collaboration, or for anyone interested in finding out about the process of partnership working.
Read Success Stories on our website.
24 June 2010
Getting ready for collaboration out now
The Institute for Voluntary Action Research has produced a practical guide to preparing for the collaboration process. It uses the experiences of the Collaboration Benefits programme to illustrate the steps to take.
Read getting ready for collaboration now on our website.
8 June 2010
E-bulletin for development workers
We have launched a new monthly e-bulletin aimed at development workers.
It will keep you up-to-date with the latest resources, news and information which the Collaboration Benefits programme has to offer development workers.
To add your name to the mailing list please email Jo Shardlow.
29 April 2010
Free collaboration support training
The Collaboration Benefits programme is continuing to run free collaboration support training for development workers:
Bradford, 13 and 20 May 2010
Farnham, 12 and 19 May 2010
Gateshead, 20 May and 27 May 2010
Birmingham, 15 and 22 June 2010
Newark, 16 June and 9 July 2010
Taunton, 17 and 24 June 2010
Bedford, 22 and 29 June 2010
See our training page for more information.
26 April 2010
How To Guide coming soon
The Collaboration Benefits team is currently working on a How To Guide for development workers.
This new publication will draw together everything we've learned over the past three years about helping organisations to collaborate.
It is currently in the production page and should be available by the summer.
17 November 2009
Appetite for mergers survey results
A survey of 70 social enterprise leaders has revealed a strong consensus that there should be more mergers in the social enterprise sector.
The snapshot survey was carried out by social investment funding group Breakthrough. Results showed that while many are keen for more mergers to take place, most lack experience.
- Almost 80% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that there should be more mergers in social enterprise
- Almost 70% didn't have experience of mergers or acquisitions
- There was more appetite for joint ventures and franchising than mergers and acquisitions
- Top reason for considering a merger were to improve / expand services for beneficiaries
- 2nd & 3rd reasons for discounting a merger were 'fears over loss or dilution of social mission'
20 October 2009
Talking about collaboration film
See what delegates at the bassac conference think about collaboration - does it inspire you to have a go?
16 October 2009
Why aren't there more mergers in social enterprise
Social investment funders Breakthrough are carrying out a survey to gauge opinions of mergers in the social enterprise sector.
They want to hear from organisations on why they have undertaken a merger or collaboration and how they believe the process can add value.
16 October 2009
Free 'Collaborations, Consortia and Mergers' seminar
Social Enterprise London is running a free seminar exploring the challenges and opportunities for social enterprises in undertaking collaborations, consortia building and mergers.
This is aimed at social enterprises which are either considering collaborations, consortium working or mergers, or are interested in finding out more about them.
Date: Monday 26 October 2009
Time: 11:30 - 14:00
Location: Conference room, SEL, CAN Mezzanine, 3rd Floor, 1 London Bridge, London SE1 9BG
7 October 2009
Collaboration Support Skills for Development Workers course
Book now to take part in one of our Collaboration Support Skills for Development Workers training courses taking place in Leeds, Manchester and Bristol.
24 September 2009
Charity Commission produces collaboration toolkit
The Charities Commission has produced two new toolkits on merging and collaborative working.
The toolkits, Choosing to Collaborate and Making Mergers Work, contain practical advice and case studies to help charities decide whether collaboration or merger is right for them.
The toolkits were produced as a result of The Commission’s Economic Survey of Charities, which showed that only 9% of charities in England and Wales had considered collaborating.
18 June 2009
Booking opens for free Manchester training in November
Collaboration support skills training has proved incredibly popular with development workers, so much so that we now have a session open for booking in Manchester.
The two-day training course is on 5 and 12 November.
Go to our events section for training objectives, venue, time and details of how to book for the November training.
10 June 2009
Collaborate for commissioning resources
Are you collaborating or thinking about collaborating with other organisations to tender for public service delivery contracts?
Explore our new, user-friendly resources to help you think through the steps involved in collaborating for commissioning.
Use these to decide whether you are ready to collaborate for commissioning and think about the role you want to take in one of the different consortium models for partnership working.
Modernisation Fund (Phase 1) - grants of £1,000 on offer between 1 June and 17 July 2009
Capacitybuilders is offering grants to medium-sized organisations (annual turnover of £150K – 750K) to explore ways of working together to improve resilience.
The offer is a £1,000 voucher for two days consultancy support and advice to help you think through the issues and identify collaborative working options.
Online application for Capacitybuilders phase 1 grants
Second phase
This allows organisations to apply for more in-depth support of up to £10,000 to follow up on the options identified in phase 1.
These grants will open in September 2009 for those organisations who have been through phase 1 support only.
Interest free loans
The Modernisation Fund is also offering interest free loans to large third sector organisations (annual turnover of over £750K) that are planning to collaborate or merge. These loans are managed by Futurebuilders.
More information about the Futurebuilders loans
Are you a development worker supporting community organisations that want to collaborate with others?
Don’t miss our free two-day collaboration training sessions for development workers.
Designed to help you get a better understanding of collaboration, the sessions look at:
- the policy context we’re working in
- benefits and challenges
- critical success factors
- good practice in facilitation techniques
- enabling collaborative working.
Courses are filling up fast! Book a free place or email keith@bassac.org.uk
Current dates:
• Elephant & Castle (South/ Central London): 17 June and 1 July (limited spaces available)
• Brighton: 1 July and 8 July (full)
• Ealing (North/ West London): 9 July and 16 July
• Forest Gate (East London): 16 September and 23 September
Further dates will be added so keep checking our website.
