A big thank you to all the members

Dear Member

Thanks to all who completed the recent Membership Survey. We, at NICVA, really appreciate that you have taken the time and effort to respond and let us know what you think about the services we offer, the areas in which we can improve to suit your needs, and what we need to consider in developing our next Strategic Plan.

Over two thirds of you indicated that many of the services NICVA provides are very valuable or valuable. Services highlighted included governance and charity advice and training (84%), funding advice (79.8%), Grant Tracker (71.4%), policy seminars and training (70.3%), and advice on policy matters (68.1%). It is our intention to continue these valuable services and where relevant improve on them.

The governance and charity advice and training will continue and will also develop to include more advice and information for you on the soon to be established Charity Commission, thereby providing you with updates on new charity legislation and how regulation and registration will impact on your organisation. NICVA will continue to develop Grant Tracker (a new version of which has been set live recently) and its content to provide you with information on ways to help diversify your funding base.

The commitment to continuing these services can be seen in Theme One of our proposed Strategic Plan (on consultation until 5 September 2008): “To support voluntary and community organisations to work effectively to meet the needs of their users.”

The second proposed theme of the Strategic Plan sets out our commitment to continue and improve on the advice and training on policy matters as these were deemed as valuable by you – “To support voluntary and community organisations in using their experience to influence policy to effect social change.” NICVA will work to assist you to develop skills and capacity effectively to engage in policy, strengthen the legitimacy of the sector to increase its influence in policy decisions and ensure the sector’s inclusion in governance structures to contribute to its experience in decision making.

In general the response to our family of websites was very positive with 83.6% and 65.7% of respondents stating nicva.org and communityni.org to be useful or very useful, respectively. We are currently working on new information management systems which will make it easier for you to promote the work of your organisation on Communityni. In relation to Communitybuyer, of which fewer of you were aware, NICVA is working to build stronger and more profitable links with suppliers to enable you to improve your purchasing.

You will recall the survey asked you to state what your top three challenges are and 52% indicated that funding is a serious challenge, followed by staffing issues (11.5%) and the impact of legislation (10%). In response to this we, as mentioned earlier, are working to improve the content on Grant Tracker to help you widen your funding base; we will continue to provide fundraising training as promoted through NICVA’s training calendar (link), and we are soon to publish a calendar of Meet the Funder sessions for 2009 which will be held across Northern Ireland.

In relation to staffing issues and concerns around legislation, we have developed the next Members’ Information Session (7 October 2008) around these issues. The session will focus on managing relationships with staff, trustees and the general public, and the relevant regulation and legislation associated with these. Furthermore we will continue to provide updated information on the developments of the Charity Commission and regulation as noted above.

Almost 40% of you stated that you would like NICVA to consider delivering new advice and support services in a range of areas including back office support and ICT. You had indicated that these services would help you meet the future challenges of your organisation. NICVA has taken this on board and plans to explore and develop such services in the proposed Strategic Plan, Strategic Objective 1: “to explore and develop support services to assist voluntary and community organisations in a changing funding and political environment.”

Nearly 9% of you stated that if given the opportunity to be NICVA’s Chief Executive you would provide a great number of services outside the Greater Belfast area. As noted above we will facilitate a series of funding events across Northern Ireland next year. We will also continue to work closely with networks to ensure our information and best practice are disseminated widely and we continue to offer consultancy opportunities to your own group.

The survey identified that almost two thirds of members have been with us now for more than five years and we hope for your continued support. We also hope that the survey and other evaluation methods we use help to keep us up to date about your needs and hence inform the continuation and development of our services.

In conclusion I am delighted that the services we offer our members are still considered with such high regard with a staggering 78% stating that services have improved or vastly improved since you joined. I would like to reassure you that NICVA will constantly strive to deliver quality services to meet your needs.

With all best wishes

Yours sincerely

SEAMUS Mc ALEAVEY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE