2 characteristics
Awareness of the basic characteristics of Voluntary Community Organisations (VCO) e.g. Mission-based not-for-profit philosophy, types of VCOs, business systems, marketing, VCO service delivery and campaigning, decision-making and management structures, funding streams, etc.
Competency 2 Resources
- Very basic background from the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (I&DeA)
- VCO Funding fundamentals from the Finance Hub
- NAVCA, funded through ChangeUp, developed a set of performance standards and an assessment process that can be used to help local infrastructure organisations to review and improve the effectiveness of their core activity.
- This human resources toolkit from the HR Council for Voluntary and Non-Profit Sector contains simple 1 to 2 paragraph descriptions of items related to items such as human resource planning, policies, hiring, diversity and much more. Though there are very detailed web pages for every HR issue we have this in the LLE primarily because it gives you a very simple overview.
- Nightmare to Nirvana – An ICT survival guide for trustees. Published by the ICT Hub in 2008, this is primarily aimed at trustees and management committee members of VCOs but it is an excellent primer ICT and governance and the issues faced. (pdf file 399Kb)
- This KnowHow NonProfit resource is a good introduction to marketing and links to further reading and publications.
- Is it Seaworthy? is a Governance Hub publication which helps those who are funding and supporting the VCS check the organisational capacity of the bodies they work with. (pdf file 505Kb)
- Another KnowHow NonProfit resource which examines the different structures of organisations – flat, hierarchical, no structure.
- Directory of Social Change’s Managing Without Profit publication (£25) is the essential guide to leading, managing and governing third sector organisations. Recommended for more in depth studying of this competency.
- An excellent introduction to monitoring, the CES First Steps in Monitoring & Evaluation was developed particularly for small voluntary organisations and projects with little or no experience of monitoring and evaluation. It gives a practical, five-step, easy-to-follow approach to evaluating a project using a family centre as an example. (pdf file 78Kb)
Module 1 Resources
- Voluntary but not Amateur – A essential book giving guidance to the law for voluntary organisations and community groups – a Directory of Social Change publication. A major resource for the sector for many years, it is regularly updated to stay current with the changes in the law.
- The (US based) idealist.org Nonprofit FAQ is an indexed collection of answers to Frequently Asked Questions about nonprofit organizations. Started in 1994, the Q&A in the FAQ is continually updated using new materials from many sources including online discussions. The range of resources in the FAQ is accessed through five topical indexes: Organisation, Management, Regulation, Resources, Development
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