COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE A good practice guide

Sources

The main source for this presentation is the IPPR North report

Supporting Community and Social Enterprise in Deprived Communities

However I have adapted and updated this report to include other information and tools based on my own research

Presentation by Gavin Barker Freelance research and project manager

www.gavin-barker.com

Types of Community Enterprise

• Multipurpose organisations such as a community centre that provide a range of services to a particular geographical area

• Smaller organisations operating such as childcare providers, in deprived communities – also credit unions and small co-operatives

Community centre

Coffee shop with

WiFi

Halls for hire

Credit union

Business centre

Creche and

women’s workshops

Making the enterprise leap

One of the key success factors identified by a number of our case

studies in the research undertaken by IPPR, was the need to make an ‘enterprise leap’ – to change from being an organisation depending on voluntary support and grant aid to an enterprise that seeks to operate on a business basis: selling its goods and services as its principal means of generating revenue.

This ‘leap’ may not be for every community organisation. The chart opposite highlights some of the key factors for consideration for those seeking to make such a leap

These don’t need to be

done in exact sequential

order

Carrying out an organisational review

• Many organisations highlight an organisational review as a key turning point on their journey to becoming a successful enterprise and enabling them to fulfil their ambition. Such a review can be prompted by a moment of crisis or when a new opportunity arises which pushes the organisation out of its normal pattern of work.

• It can also be initiated by a new organisation head or a foresighted group of directors or trustees.

• Having a clear vision and mission that is widely and confidently communicated is also critical to success.

Useful tools for an organisational review

• Online self –assessment: try out the online self-assessment tool provided by Knowhownonprofit, a website which offers a range of advice and information resources for the non profit sector. – The self-assessment tool covers eight key

areas in your organization, among them Compliance, Governance, Direction, Finance, People, Operations and Networks.

– The answers you give will generate a report summarising the state of your organisation. You don’t need to have completed all of the areas of the assessment to get a report – for example, you might want to focus on one area at a time.

– The report then makes suggestions for each area of your organisation; extra things you might like to consider once you have achieved something, or advice for areas where you need to make improvements.

Being business minded

• Be hard-headed about what your enterprise does and can afford to do

• Be clear about market niche.

– This is not just about understanding the community you serve

– It is about identifying and filling a market niche

– It is about good quality market research that gathers evidence to demonstrate community need and gaps in service

• Be professional in marketing the resulting good or service

Try using the Community Star toolkit

This consists of three tools and guidance for their use, plus a report template for drawing evidence of outcomes. There are also other Outcome Star toolkits for Mental Health, Homelessness, Older Persons.

Click here

Contracts, income streams and assets

• Connect with other community enterprises to form consortia that can bid for public sector contracts

• Be able to back up the need you say exists with evidence - case studies and quotes but also figures and statistics – and try and align in with the council’s strategic priorities

• Explore crowd-funding and community shares as a way of raising money, as well as business sponsorship

• There is also increasing interest from local businesses looking for ways to include social and community enterprises as part of their supply chain

securing a significant contract is a key catalyst to making a transition from being a charitable organisation to an enterprising one

Most local authorities are moving away from inviting applications for revenue grant aid in favour of targeted funding which delivers their strategic priorities

Crowd - funding

• Buzzbank

• Crowdfunder

Community shares

Community sector trading

• Communityshares.org.uk

• Courses and resources offered by Locality

Networks, marketing & profile

Having strong networks with other organisations and a positive profile with key stakeholders is important for most successful enterprises. Mixed networks with public and private bodies can also be vital in hearing about contracting opportunities and building consortia to bid for contracts. For many this means taking a proactive approach to marketing both services and the organisation itself. A quick start can be made by drawing up a network map – see example opposite – and exploring connections between different social and community organisations in your area. Add to this as times go on. Digital tools and platforms are now an indispensable part of a marketing strategy. Use OpenlyLocal to find out what local websites or online social networks are in your area which you can link to. Another possibility is to create an online profile by joining regional networks such as the SE2 partnership.

The network map for Copland Community Centre.

What does this tell you about Copland Community centre

compared to other community centres in the area?

Working with local authorities

• supporting and encouraging commissioning with community and voluntary groups

• simplifying contracting and commissioning processes

• the transfer of local authority-owned assets.

• provision of ‘seedcorn’ grant funding in order to support organisations become ‘enterprise-ready’: short-term, low-level grant funding given specifically to support the transition to enterprise can help to catalyse change.

Local authorities can play an important role in supporting an organisation’s enterprise leap. They can do this through a number of ways:

Click the image to download the report

Link up with other community enterprises and use this document as the basis of a meeting with your local authority. Discuss with them how they can nurture social and community enterprise.

Toolkits and applications

• Do you want to take this presentation and amend or ‘mash’ it with other slides you have

• Do you want to do this with online collaborators?

• Do you want to see how this presentation can be combined with other toolkits ?

Contact me Email: gavinbark@gmail.com

www.gavin-barker.com