Developing the capacity
of non-profits
April 29 - May 1, 2015
Developing the capacity of non-profits
How at LCVS – the United Way in Liverpool - we embarked on
developing capacity of local non-profits and built a strategy to
deliver support and measure their impact.
Covering:
 The Where
 The Why
 The What
 The How
 The Impact
The Where: about Liverpool
• City 800 years old
• Huge heritage as ‘second city of the British Empire’, The
Beatles and Football….but so much more!
• Population of 460,000 in the city
• 2.2 million in wider metro area (Merseyside)
• Population in the city declined consistently from 850,000 in
1930s
• …… until last 10 years (up 5%)
• City of huge contrasts….and inequality
The Where: Liverpool and inequality
Levels of deprivation and child poverty in Liverpool are
extremely high:
• Liverpool is the most deprived local authority area nationally.
• Just over a third of Liverpool children (34.4%) live in poverty and
in some areas of the city three fifths of children live in poverty.
• In some schools in the city 73% of children are eligible for Free
School Meals.
• More than a third of Liverpool wards have unemployment rates
that are twice the national average and Liverpool's incapacity rate
is nearly twice the national rate.
• Liverpool has a larger proportion of the working age population
with no qualifications than nationally.
The Where: about LCVS
• LCVS established in 1909 to “help charities co-ordinate their
efforts”
• At the forefront of social action in Liverpool, and nationally, for
over a century
• Diverse range of services and activities with an underpinning,
clear, aim:
• Together – for Liverpool – for Good
Slide Example With Medium Photo
The Why: Why focus on capacity building?
• United Way puts lots of focus on raising money – and community
impact through programs
• Not enough focus on supporting the organisations that deliver
those programs?
• Why?
More effective organisations
=
better use of resources
=
increased impact in communities
• More focus needed ‘in the middle’ – helping non-profits be more
effective = more impact
The United Way model
Understand
need
Bring
partners
together
Raise
money
Build
capacity
of nonprofits
Positive
Community
Impact
More focus on Capacity Building = more impact
Understand
need
Bring
partners
together
Build
capacity
of nonprofits
Raise
money
More Positive
Community
Impact
The What: What is capacity building?
In summary - Providing services to:
• Develop the skills of those frontline non-profits (and people
working in them) delivering services
and
• Enabling them to focus on delivering quality services to their
communities
The How: What do we do?
A range of activities and services:
 Funding advice
 Business planning support
 Practical services: managing payroll for their employees,
providing financial management services; accounts auditing etc
 Providing office space (151 Dale Street)– and IT and telephony
services to tenants
Assets and resources:
 151 Dale Street
 Dedicated team of experts on paid staff – including qualified
accountants qualified solicitor, experts in organizational
development
The How: What do we do?
Funding capacity building activities
 Some external (government) funding – significantly reducing
 Majority of services now charged directly to non-profits
organisation
 Charges cover cost, we aim for small surplus, but generally below
commercial rates
The Impact and Reach
 There are 2,000 not for profits in Liverpool - we will directly
work with 500+ annually
151 Dale Street
 30 not-for-profit organisations as tenants in 151 Dale Street
 Good quality office space charged at market rate – hotdesks,
large and small office suites
 Building purchased using mix of own trust funds, European grant
funds and a small mortgage
 Building full – because of not for profits wanting to be there, not
because its cheap!
151 Dale Street
The Impact and Reach
 130 organisations accessing financial management / payroll
services
 Support with compliance and legal obligations
 250 organisations accessing support and development service
 We help not for profits with bid writing, securing them £1.5m of
external funding annually
 Working with staff and trustees on building effective governance,
business plans etc
 Training and events programme – building skills and knowledge
The Impact? Positive about Play
Play
Simply
Play
Advice
Play
Healthy
 Play Simply – children are kept
safe and engaged in positive
activities which contribute to their
social and educational
development
 Play Healthy – children have
access to healthy food and get fed
when free school meals are not
available to them
 Play Advice - provides a
dedicated advice helpline for
families attending the play
schemes
The Impact: Liverpool Homelessness FC
 Video here
More information
Tony Okotie
Chief Executive
Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services (LCVS)
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.lcvs.org.uk
Twitter: @lcvsuw / @tonyokotie