At the FSI we’re all about supporting the small charities who work right across the UK to build happier, safer and more supportive communities.  All of these charities are about to move closer together with the launch of the FSI Community, an online community aimed at the staff, trustees and volunteers that make our sector tick.

This Thursday we will be launching Stage 1 of the Community, allowing you to come online and create your individual user profiles.

Later in the month, as we roll out Stage 2, the options widen:

- You can build your charity profile page and tell other users about the extraordinary work you do

- Search for other organisations that work in your area or on the cause that matters to your charity

- Chat with individuals who do a similar job to yours about the challenges you face and ways in which you might be able to help with one another

- Learn more about the FSI and the trainings or support programmes that may be of most benefit to you

- Download exclusive support content developed by the FSI and aimed at helping you to build a strategic, sustainable charity operation

So get online this Thursday and check out the best new online solution for small charities, delivered free-of-charge by the FSI.

On launch day we will send you details to register (it is a quick and painless process!) so you can get online and join the network of small charities.  There is a forum on the site for your feedback so that as the Community evolves it best reflects the needs of all the small charities using it.

So make sure you keep some time free next Wednesday to sign up for this great new initiative!

The new scheme marks the first time Children in Need have run a UK-wide small grants programme and is aimed predominantly at organisations which have not previously considered applying. The programme is open to any third sector organisation working with children and young people under the age of 18.

There will be four funding rounds with deadlines on: 15 January 2010 15 April 2010 15 July 2010 15 October 2010. It is expected the total funding for both the small and large grants schemes will be in excess of £38 million in 2010 and will be administered through seven regional bases.

The director of grants and policy at Children in Need, Sheila Jane Malley, explained the programme would seek to fund well-organised projects which can demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm: “The first thing we look at is benefit for children and young people. Is the organisation clear about what improvements it wants to bring about, and is it clear about how it can do it?”

For more information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/grants/general_grants.shtml

The FSI is currently recruiting runners for the 2010 Bupa London 10km; the route, which takes in many of London’s greatest sights, runs from Birdcage Walk, along the Thames, through the City, and back to The Mall. 

Running for the FSI, you support the vibrant network of small charities that work across the UK to deliver essential services in every community.   We’d love you to join us to help make a difference for these charities and to experience the fun of the Bupa 10km.

The Bupa London 10km is on Bank Holiday Monday 31^st May 2010.

We have a limited number of places in this year’s Bupa London 10km and if you think you’re up to it, please register your interest by completing and returning the application form to jess@thefsi.org by Monday 15th March 2010.

BUPA 10k 2010 – Application Form

FSI and You

If you haven’t yet decided, take a look at the ‘FSI and You’ document to find out more about us and what it’s like to run for us and take a look at the Bupa 10km website to find out more about the run. http://www.london10000.co.uk/site/.

If you would like any more details please see  below or just get in touch with Sophie@thefsi.org

Role description

Application form

The scholarship is about celebrating and encouraging the best and brightest new lights in the industry and supporting their charity to ensure that they both get the most out of the programme.  As such, the winner’s charity will receive an FSI Life Stage Assessment and £500 worth of consultancy services, on topic or need of their choice, from FSI Consultancy. 

This year we are doing things a little differently and allowing applicants to get creative!  As part of the application process, applicants are asked to submit a short video explaining to the judging panel who they are, what their charity represents and what they have to give to a programme like this.  These videos don’t need to be high-tech, they can be recorded on a phone or digital camera – but if you have any problems accessing this kind of technology please let us know. 

Over the course of the year-long programme the Scholar will receive:

* A CMI-accredited management qualification, undertaken throughout the year with modules selected to best relate to the third sector and the scholar’s needs

* One-to-one mentoring with senior FSI managers

* Attendance at key conferences including the IFC in Amsterdam, IoF London and the FSI Workshop in London

* Access to all of the FSI’s training programmes

Applications must be received by Wednesday 5 May.  If you think you or someone you know has what it takes to step up to the next level then please apply. 

Please see below or click here for more information and here to download the application pack. 

Application guidelines 2010

Application form 2010

We are also proud to launch 3 brand new training courses in the upcoming months. Please check the calendar for in-depth training days on Managing Volunteers, Corporate Fundraising and Marketing & Communications!

Please contact Jemina at 020 7637 2264 or jemina@thefsi.org  with any queries or to book your place!

Action Acton

Advocates for Animals

The BIGKID Foundation

The Cathedral Archer Project

Lively Minds

PIPS Newry & Mourne

Positive East

Tea Leaf Trust

2012 Degrees of Separation

We will update you throughout the year on the activities undertaken with the Affiliates.  Thanks to everyone who applied – keep an eye out toward the end of 2010 as we call for 2011 applications.

We have set up a bespoke online stationery and office supplies buying scheme which will offer small charities* large discounts on their stationery and office supplies to assist in reducing their running costs. Charities joining the scheme will enjoy prices normally only offered to large corporations with increased buying power. The scheme will also offer no minimum orders and free delivery on up to 20,000 stock items.

Pauline Broomhead, CEO of the FSI, welcomed this initiative:
“The small charity sector has felt the effects of the current financial climate and we hope this scheme can alleviate some of the negative impacts of decreased giving across the whole charity sector.  We are grateful to Fenns for their investment, and belief, in supporting the small charities who work right across the UK to make real, positive impacts on their communities.”

Martin Harris, Director of Fenns comments:  “We believe the bespoke online solution provided to the FSI will assist small charities struggling with the impact of the recession. 

We recognise that the great work undertaken by charities provides positive impacts to the community and we are delighted to support them. Sometimes the work they do is obvious, but a lot of it happens ‘behind the scenes’. Quite often, people don’t realise the impacts that charities make until the services are threatened.  Our offering will allow them to save time & money when purchasing Office Stationery & Supplies, provide accountability, control & efficiency and allow the savings generated to be put back in to the local community.

The savings we are offering will be significant and we intend to extend our offering into the other categories we offer such as Office Furniture & Print as 2010 progresses.”

All of this is available to your charity today.* You can see a demonstration of the website here: http://fenns.opweb.co.uk 

Account Name: thefsi

User Name: Demo (case sensitive)

Password: demo

The scheme is free and easy to join – just call Rachel Bradbury at Fenns on 01782 344040 or email thefsi@fenns.co.uk.  The scheme also benefits the FSI, allowing us to deliver more services to the charities we work with; 1% of all purchases made is donated back to the FSI by Fenns.  You can join the scheme right away and by joining the FSI Community when it launches you can continue to enjoy the benefits of the FSI Buying Group.

*100% Not-for-profit organisations with a raised voluntary income of less than £1.5 million.

Third Sector’s State of the Sector survey finds opinions vary according to size of respondents’ charities

The majority of people working in small charities believe large charities have a negative impact on the sector, figures from a survey carried out for Third Sector have indicated.

The State of the Sector survey was carried out in December by research firm nfpSynergy and received responses from more than 700 people.

Fifty-two per cent of respondents working in charities with turnovers of less than £1m a year agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I think very big charities have a negative effect on the sector as a whole”.
Just under a third – 32 per cent – disagreed with the statement.

Forty per cent of respondents from charities with turnovers of £1m to £6m a year and 23 per cent of people in charities with annual incomes of £6m or more also felt very large charities were bad for the sector.

Read Tristan Donovan’s in-depth reports on the survey’s results.