Tender Invitation: Support to Statutory Funders on Impact Practice planning

Community Evaluation Northern Ireland (CENI) is seeking suitably qualified consultants to tender for the above contract.

Inspiring Impact is a UK wide initiative that aims to change the way the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and their funders think about impact and to put impact practice at the heart of their work.  The Building Change Trust as the Northern Ireland partner on the UK board, has commissioned the delivery of the Inspiring Impact NI Programme. The Trust has committed £500,000 to an initial two year programme of work from 2013, matched by a further £188,000 from the Department for Social Development, which will support VCSE organisations and their funders to better understand and embrace impact practice.

The initial phase of the Inspiring Impact NI programme is focused on preparing the sector and its funders for impact practice. The focus of this tender is on our ‘Engagement with Funders’ pillar and comes in a context of the Concordat agreement between Government and the voluntary and community sector. Subsequent work by a Concordat action team on outcomes and a report focused on tackling bureaucracy in Government funding to the community and voluntary sector (with particular reference to recommendations 15 & 16) have led to DSD’s investment in the Building Change Trust’s Inspiring Impact NI programme to support the public sector to explore a shift towards applying an impact practice cycle in their support to the sector.

We are seeking to engage consultants to work with CENI and the Public Sector Engagement Group (PSEG) to research, develop and implement a pilot programme of support for a select group of statutory funders.

As a first step in terms of preparing public funders for impact practice, we are seeking to engage consultants to work with CENI and the Public Sector Engagement Group (PSEG) to research, develop and implement a pilot programme of support for a select group of statutory funders. This must draw on and use a range of support resources already developed by Inspiring Impact UK including the ‘Funders Principles and drivers of Impact Practice’. 

Further information can be found on http://inspiringimpactni.org/news-events/updates/ where you can download the tender document.

Completed tenders should be returned for the attention of Pamela Walker to CENI, 129 Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 1SH or by e-mail to [email protected] by 3pm on Thursday 31 July.  Late tenders will not be accepted.