women in london

Building Futures
Running a financially resilient and sustainable women’s organisation is becoming increasingly challenging, due to the current economic downturn and the fact that funders and decision makers often marginalise women-only services. WRC’s Building Futures project works with frontline women’s organisations in London, supporting them to explore different sustainable funding options, in order to build a more secure future.

Building Futures aims to:
>> Support women’s organisations to become more financially sustainable through the diversification of funding streams
>> Improve women’s organisations’ understanding of the range of funding available to them and provide them with the skills to secure this funding
>> Empower women’s organisations to build effective relationships with funders
>> Support women’s organisations to form strong and effective partnerships
>> Ensure the continuation of the vital services the women’s sector provides

Building Futures offers support through:
>> Training
>> Local funding seminars
>> One to one support
>> Development Team support sessions
>> Online resources

Social enterprise: understanding the basics

Who is it for?
Organisations that want to explore the possibility of earning an income through trading and social enterprise.

What’s it about?
Women’s organisations are becoming more enterprising in response to the economic downturn. Many have started to earn money by selling a product or service, putting profits back into the organisation to pay for essential services for women. This kind of trading, for social or environmental goals, is known as social enterprise. This course will help women’s organisations to understand what social enterprise is, how it relates to them and how to take advantage of the range of opportunities on offer.

What will I take away?
>> Understanding of what social enterprise is
>> Examples of social enterprises and their structures
>> Ideas for creative ways to generate income

When?
Monday 31 October 2011, 9.30am-4pm

Partnerships: getting off to a good start

Who is it for?
Organisations new to thinking strategically about partnerships that want to get started with identifying and developing them.

What’s it about?
Working in partnership can be challenging but also hugely beneficial to women’s organisations, especially in the current economic climate. It can offer better chances of securing funding and can provide more effective joined up services for women. This course will help you think about how your organisation could benefit from partnership working and what you need to consider before going ahead. It will also focus on what makes partnerships successful, the potential challenges and how you can ensure you get off to a good start.

What will I take away?
>> A tool to identify for what and with whom you might want to partner
>> Key issues to consider when deciding to partner
>> Practical tips for creating meaningful partnerships

When?
Wednesday 9 November 2011, 9.30am-4pm

Commissioning: understanding the basics

Who is it for?
Organisations new to commissioning that want to understand how to tender for public sector contracts.

What’s it about?
With the move from grants to contracts, women’s organisations have to learn new skills to access funding from public sector sources. This course provides an introduction to current commissioning and procurement processes relevant to women’s organisations. It will cover identifying tender opportunities, the basics of writing and costing tenders and will help you to make a strong case for women-only services.

What will I take away?
>> Understanding of the commissioning and procurement process
>> Explanations of key words and jargon
>> Knowledge of how tenders are evaluated

When?
Thursday 24 November 2011, 9.30am-4pm

Presenting your organisation effectively

Who is it for?
Organisations who want to present their work effectively and are looking for ideas of how to get their message out.

What’s it about?
To ensure their survival in an increasingly competitive world it is crucial for women’s organisations to make themselves as attractive and visible as possible to current and potential supporters, funders, decision makers and clients. This course will help you to develop and present a strong case for your work and will also consider ways in which you can promote your organisation through traditional and new media.

What will I take away?
>> Practice in presenting your case
>> Ideas for getting your message out
>> Tips for using new media

When?
Wednesday 7 December 2011, 9.30am-4pm

For more information

and links please go to http://www.womeninlondon.org.uk/2011/09/training-wrc-13/