http://www.tabrona.co.uk en-gb tabrona.co.uk 2011-12-12T00:00:00Z tabrona.co.uk http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#108608 According to an article today on the Civil Society website Many small charities have little understanding of the legal issues they face and warns that funding cuts and greater pressure on their services could see charities facing a wider variety of legal implications. Commissioned in July and published this week the study into the provision of legal services to small charities conducted both quantitative and qualitative research to ascertain what knowledge gaps exist and to drive reform in legal services for charities. Half of the representatives from 24 small charities partaking in the detailed research demonstrated limited or no understanding of the laws that apply to them despite being the person most responsible for legal matters. A wider survey completed by 800 small charities found that they felt overwhelmed by guidance highlighting a need for greater collaboration in legal service provision. The report finds that small charities rely on legal advice from a wide range of ... 2011-12-12 17:05:22 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#106969 Twitter fundraising has steadily been on the rise in the last two years. Twitter has been used to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities and charitable causes and has been used to spread awareness about social issues. We have been working with several charities and Local Authorities to use Twitter as a means of gaining sponsorship and pledges of support for their good causes. We have delivered several workshops and interactive sessions with a focus on two key elements that make Tweeting successful in raising funds and awareness Community of support and Clarity of request. Cultivate a Community of supportFirst and foremost always keep in mind that the power of Twitter is merely a reflection of the power of community. Twitter is not a fundraising machine people are. We all know that asking people for money can be daunting. For this reason its important to build a community of people interested in your content and cause before asking for anything. Be clear and honest abo... 2011-11-16 13:42:22 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#96207 Has your organisation been badly hit by the recent spending cuts Would you like to apply for a 16310000 grant towards helping you look at new ways of working to plan for a more sustainable future Have a look at the new 163140000 grants scheme funded by Leeds City Council to give grants of up to 16310000 to third sector organisations in Leeds who have been adversely affected by recent cuts in public sector funding. Decisions will be taken by mid August about the allocation of grants. All funds are to have been spent by 31st March 2012. We can support you through the process and help you plan your fundraising strategy develop stronger governance to drive your good cause forward develop partnerships and prepare for commissioning. If you would like to find out more about how we can help please get in touch by email mailtabrona.co.uk or give Bronagh a call on 0113 274 2772 or 0787 5056577 2011-6-14 11:44:35 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#94770 It is almost 4 years since I ran my first Philanthropy workshop and back in 2007 before the Comprehensive spending review and the onset of the recession I was surprised that there was little appetite from Yorkshire based charities social enterprises and notforprofit businesses to attend the workshops and engage in this method of income generation. Fast forward 4 years a change of Government and giving and we have seen some very tough decisions being made by Local Authorities and charities alike. Increasingly I have been requested to deliver 1 day courses and 189 day workshops in two key areas Trading and Philanthropy. Our support starts from an intensive 1 hour workshop costing charities and community groups 16395 which includes a strategic and operational overview of either your plans around Philanthropy attracting and keeping Highnet worth donors or a 1 hour session looking at the trading opportunities and how charity law impacts on corporate tax and trading legislation. Af... 2011-5-25 17:42:27 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#89187 When I first heard from the Cabinet Office back in October about the proposals for Community Organisers as one part of the Big Society agneda my initial concerns were around support accountability and funding for the individuals or organisations who would put themselves forward for the much needed positions. So when I heard the news about the contract for Community Organisers being awarded and that it would include up to 16320K bursaries training and support for individuals I got very excited for the many potential individuals I come across who could benefit. The Development Trusts Association and BASSAC have merged to form a new organisation called Locality which will be in effect from 1st April and among a wide range of support services will promote and administer the Community Organisers Contract worth 16315 million. The programme aims to train 5000 Organisers to help local people develop projects in disadvantaged communities across England. This afternoon I spoke with the Deve... 2011-3-14 16:19:42 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#88206 Recently I have been asking the Yorkshire based charities and community groups of all sizes who I work with either as a trainer or consultant how effective Philanthropy is as part of their fundraising strategy. I was shocked to find out that almost 88 of the organisations I work with had never considered Philanthropy as a method to attract funds to good causes. The reason that was given time and time again was their dependency over the last decade on government grants contracts and trusts. As part of my Fundraising Masterclass I now dedicate a two hour session to attracting and keeping High Net Donors. I encourage voluntary sector groups to spend more time looking into this little understood method of fundraising and encourage all fundraisiers to include the methods I talk about to attract not only the financial support from Highnet worth donors but also their skills and business skills advice and contacts. In order to attract support from any donor a fundraiser must understand t... 2011-3-1 16:19:32 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#79444 2010-11-4 00:16:45 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#75980 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msos... 2010-9-21 11:49:41 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#74599 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Style Definitions table.MsoNormalTable msostylenameTable Normal msotstylerowbandsize0 msotstylecolbandsize0 msostylenoshowyes msostylepriority99 msostyleqformatyes msos... 2010-9-3 16:14:36 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#73650 Last month we went to the Cabinet Office to discuss the difficulties and barriers faced by minority communities and BME led organisations engaging in volunteering. Central to the idea of the Big society is the assertion that there is a willingness and capacity to get involved in voluntary action. If the vision is to be realised local and National Government needs to listen to the struggles of minority communities around the issues to do with volunteerism. We are meeting with Volunteering England in September to discuss our programme of support to social enterprises charities and other notforprofit organisations. In preparation we would like to hear from you about your organisations experience of volunteering. In January we will be launching our series of workshops and seminars Empowering Minority Communities in Community Leadership. Do you attract enough volunteers with the right skills to your organisation How do you ensure volunteers follow your organisations ethics proced... 2010-8-24 15:33:40 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#64492 Yesterday we exhibited at the Yorkshire Business Market held at the Pavilions of Harrogate Great Yorkshire Showground. Organised by Harrogate Chamber of Commerce the Yorkshire Business Market aims to promote Yorkshire and Humber businesses. This one day business to business networking opportunity is open to all Yorkshire businesses supplying products or services to other businesses and also business owners looking for new ideas new customers and new suppliers in the region. The Business market was a great opportunity to meet local businesses and raise our business profile. We thoroughly enjoyed being part of the event and look forward to exhibiting next year. 2010-4-27 09:45:30 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#52887 On the 22nd October we exhibited at the Footsey 2009 social economy trade fair held at the Doncaster Racecourse. Footsey is the largest annual social enterprise trade fair in the UK and is currently in its eighth year. The Footsey trade fair provides the perfect networking opportunity for anyone involved in the social economy. This was our first time exhibiting at the event which proved to be a great networking opportunity not only in terms of generating potential business leads but also in meeting useful business contacts. The atmosphere within the trade fair was friendly and relaxed. Other organisations exhibiting ranged widely and included Banks a professional catering service and a circus education provider. This years Footsey was a real success for us as we have secured a number of contracts as a result of exhibiting at the event. We plan to exhibit again at next years Footsey event and trust that it will prove just as successful. 2009-11-19 15:15:28 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#50309 Back in August 2009 Kaye Wiggins for the Third Sector Online reported on a story about how the Advertising Standards Authority ASA banned a childrens charitys poster adverts saying that they were likely to reinforce negative stereotypes of black teenagers. In response to the complaints Kids Company told the ASA that 80 per cent of the children that came to the charity for help were from AfroCaribbean backgrounds and the ratio was reflected across the campaign. A spokeswoman for the charity told Third Sector its aim was to challenge prejudice towards vulnerable young people. She said Kids Companys beneficiaries had endorsed the campaign but the charity would consider the complaints in its future work. We were interested in this debate. We wondered had the Kids Company done enough to ensure racial stereotyping was not an under current of the campaign. So to find out more detail about the campaign we spoke to the Kids Companys Head of Campaigns Laurence Guinness. The campaign had a comp... 2009-10-9 17:20:45 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#31535 Today I attended the launch of ACEVO North the professional body representing the UKs charity chief executives. I was inspired by the words of Key note speaker Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP Leeds Central. In recognising the plight of the Third Sector during this period of financial uncertainty he empathised with Charity Chief executives who are seeing increasing demand for their services but a decrease in income. Benn advised to share aspirations be positive inspirational to teams working with those most in need. He asked the audience of Chief Executives from across the Yorkshire and Humber region to bear in mind that Martin Luther King did not begin his infamous public address with I have a nightmare Also speaking at the launch Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP Minister for Yorkshire and Humber offered her support to the sector as she recognises that it provides much needed support to deliver essential services on agendas such as homelessness mental health education social cohesion and vulnerable ... 2008-10-24 16:22:46 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#29778 With the current global financial problems widely reported in the US and here in the UK some would think that the Voluntary Community and Faith Sector would be suffering from the problems that the Retail and Commercial sector is expereincing. The opposite appears to be the case. Charity shops couldnt be doing better. In Society Guardian last week Robert Booth reported secondhand and bricabrac shops benefiting good causes now take more than half a billion pounds a year with tills ringing loudest at charities including the Salvation Army. It has a network of 47 stores and clothes recycling banks and netted profits of 1636m an increase of 64 on last year. Sue Ryder Care made 1632.8m up 35 and Age Concern England Save the Children and the Childrens Society all saw profits rise by more than 15. The countrys most profitable charity shop chain Oxfam increased profits to more than 16321m following a fall of 20 in the previous year when the economy was stronger. The charities I am working w... 2008-9-16 12:55:47 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#26666 Who could be your major donors What connection do they have to you What do they enjoy and what do they want you to do with their donation If you were thinking of designing a template donor letter my advice to you is Dont write the letter. There is no such thing as a good major gift donor letter sent out of the blue. So instead I recommend that your charity or voluntary group draws up a list of potential major gift donors and have the chair of your board or another senior representative of your organisation sit down with you and help you identify three things 1. Connection to your organisation Ask the chair trustees senior staff if no connection exists how can one be created Do your research they may have had a connection to your organisation in the past or maybe had a bad experience with your organisation which needs to be managed sensitivley. 2. Interest in your organisation Ask yourself why would they be interested in your organisation and what things interest these peop... 2008-7-8 19:22:20 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#23320 Writing in todays Third Sector Hannah Jordan reported that The Remember a Charity coalition has won the right to do what it wants with a legacy of nearly 1631m left to it by an anonymous donor. Remember a Charity is a coalition of 140 charities that promotes legacy giving in general however does not solicit legacies for itself or specific members. I encourage the charities I work with to utilise the Remember a Charity website so that members of the public and the supporters of their good causes already thinking about leaving money in their wills can look for the charity of their choice to donate to when they are gone. I spoke to Susanne Levy Remember a Charitys Interim Director and asked her what return on investment charities will see for their annual membership fee. We appreciate that some charitable causes find legacy marketing a challenge wills are a very personal subject and charities need to be equipped with the right words to say. Our organisation offers guidance i... 2008-4-24 22:28:33 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#22520 I continue to be a big fan of theBigGive.org.uk and in my opinion it is the most accessible online search engine for Philanthropists to see what are the funding needs of the voluntary sector. The Founder of theBigGive Sir Alec Reed pictured below says charities must remember that giving away money is very personal and some wealthy donors find it problematic. For people with a hell of a lot of money it can be hell getting rid of it. Some donors like to match funding others like to pay for core costs. I particularly like to pay for fundraising. TheBigGive was born from Reeds realisation that there was no shop window if someone wanted to give large amounts of money away. Reed says the projects advantages include its low cost its anonymity and the way it enables the wealthy to make direct contact with exactly the right people. Charities can ask for a minimum of 163100000 for a project. There is no upper limit. You can submit a worldchanging 16310m project that someone ... 2008-4-9 05:35:19 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#21279 The voluntary sector struggles to secure funding for skills development projects for the most vulnerable communities they support including ethnic minorities disabled people low income families and exoffenders. Contracts increasingly are awarded to National or Regional charities and private companies. In yesterdays budget Alastair Darling announced an extra 16360m over 3 years for people to gain the skills needed to enter the labour market. Along with this investment there are proposals for additional apprenticeships with leading employers to plug the skills gap. Speaking to Alex Curling Head of PR and Communications at the Sector Skills Development Agency yesterday I asked her if she felt it would make a difference to their organisation and operations. Alex welcomes the investment however says We doubt that Sector Skills Sector Councils will see any of this investment directly however on 1st April when the Sector Skills Development Agency closes down and the UK Commission for Em... 2008-3-13 13:39:11 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#20284 I revisited the much talked about Guidestar website to see if it had implemented changes since my last visit in Nov 07. I wondered if the claims made in this weeks broadsheets were true and that it isnt living up to its grand promises. SoI clicked on the websites about us section to learn more and read GuideStar UK was set up in 2003 to provide for the first time a single easily accessible source of detailed information about every charity and voluntary organisation in the UK Although Guidestar UK was meant to secure public trust and confidence in charities something went wrong along the way. Annie Kelly wrote in Wednesdays Society Guardian 19th Feb that the new CEO David Brocklebank was brought in to turn the organisation around and she was curious to know if things were on the up. There are over 180000 charities of all sizes registered on the site providing as far as I could see it provides information as on the Charity Commission website just in an easier to find format. ... 2008-2-22 09:37:09 http://www.tabrona.co.uk/page5.htm#19931 Philanthropy noun plural pies Meaning altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement usually manifested by donations of money property or work to needy persons by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals and by generosity to other socially useful purposes. In a recent article on the Third Sector website I read about the Big Give which is a free to use website that helps major donors find highlevel charity projects in their field of interest. I will be encouraging not only the charities I am currently working with but the voluntary sector in the whole to register their details an outline of their project along with the amount of funds they require to attract the attention of large Philanthropic donors. I am sure there is a philanthropist out there looking to fund a project just like yours. It is really important to let as many funders know about the projects the voluntary sector needs funds for. The Big Give website offers a free and straightforward way to get ... 2008-2-14 11:10:53