London Regional ICT champion

We have two new Lasa publications for you to mull over:

London ICT E-Bulletin August 2010

The latest news on non-profit technology, events and training, funding, resources, tips and tools.  It’s free and we can send it direct to your inbox when you sign up here.

Computanews 157:

Going virtual – online meetings: in the second of a two-part article, we look the tools and the hardware and software requirements to run them.

Digital mentors: Devon based social enterprise COSMIC is bringing ICT support and training to local organisations through an innovative new programme

Development workers and technology: Why development workers need ICT knowledge

I Can Hear Music: IBM’s Lotus Symphony office suite gets a makeover

Georgia on my mind: NTEN’s Non-Profit Technology Conference: Three days of sessions, presentations, socialising – and Bohemian Rhapsody…

AIMS – Free at last: Why Lasa decided to make a version of its case management database free

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx for non-profits: the new features of the latest open source operating system under the microscope

Book review: Global Action Plan’s Green ICT Handbook.

Stevenage CVS is the bedrock of the local non-profit sector, and provides a range of community services across the borough and the county. This is my presentation from their AGM on 8 July on why non-profit organisations need to be telling their stories and showing funders the difference their make to our lives if they want to survive a double-dip recession.

In these tough economic times with funding cuts of 15-20% widely predicted for the third Sector, the organisations that survive and prosper will be those who understand and invest in their technology.  A key part of that is convincing a funder that investing in technology – a campaign website, a case tracking database and so on – actually benefits the outcomes and outputs they want delivered.

This presentation was delivered at KCSC funding Fare and gives a brief oversight of how to get started by identifying what you need, building a business case to meet a funder’s criteria, and finding funders.

A funding fare jointly hosted by KCSC and CaVSA H&F brought together last week funders from City Bridges Trust, Big Lottery and Grassroots Grants.  With apologies to the keynote speakers, I’m reproducing the edited highlights of their presentations on the state of funding for London’s third sector.

Context:

• coalition Government
• Labour controls 17/32 London boroughs
• No certainty about future economic growth
• Expectations of big funding cuts
• Concept of the ‘Big Society’
• Comprehensive Spending Review 2010 to leave ‘unprotected’ services with reduced resources

Office for Budget Responsibility Report (14 June 2010)

• Departmental expenditure limits for 2010/11 are close to 0% growth
• For unprotected services this could means cuts of 2-5% per year or 15-20% budget reduction over 5 years
• Having protected services means greater cuts to unprotected services
• Download OBR Report from here

Services in order of protection:

• NHS
• Schools
• childrens services
• Police
• Elderly people services

Less protected services:

• Housing
• social benefits
• Adult education
• Highways
• Capital investment (already to be cut by 50%)

What London local authorities might do:

• Likely to have -1 to 0% growth in cash support for each of next 5 years
• May see some ‘salami slicing’ of budgets or a more strategic approach
• Unlikely that funding for London authorities will be protected

Can we do anything about it?  It’s unlikely, but we can register suggestions here.

Development workers are jacks of all trades – part small business adviser, part marketing and communications guru, and part fundraiser – and  knowing the right questions to ask and where to signpost organisations to is crucial to building the capacity of organisations they work.

With a squeeze on charitable on and statutory funding,  development workers have a crucial role to play in showing voluntary and community organisations where to go for quality ICT help and support.

It’s a significant challenge as Lasa’s own research tells us that whilst 90% of our respondents rate computers and the Internet as “vital” or “fairly important”, 55% lacked an ICT budget; 65% didn’t back-up data on a regular basis, 40% had zero computers networked and 33% said their staff didn’t have access to networked computers or email.

NAVCA also recognises the problem and recently commissioned us to deliver a one day ICT workshop as part of its SKILD programme for development workers.  Common issues that development workers need to signpost groups to include  funding ICT, databases, websites, managing ICT, trouble-shooting and technical support.   You can download the workshop from Slideshare.

Tags: development_workers

Some forthcoming ICT events for your diary.

• 18 May @ I-Trust, Ely, Cambs - How to Cost and Fund ICT projects – In this 90 minute workshop I’ll be showing the essentials of how to put together a winning technology bid to a funder.  More details to be confirmed.

• 24 May @ NCYVS, London N1 – in this one day workshop for SKILD I’ll be showing development workers why technology is important for small organisations, and where they can for help and support.

• Understanding why technology is important for small organisations
• Feeling more confident in responding to their technology questions
• Being able to advise frontline groups on planning and costing for efficient use of technology
• Being able to signpost frontline groups to free and low cost resources which make their aims more effective.

This event is organised by NAVCA and the price is £49 per person (including VAT) for all organisations.  To book on this course please download and complete the booking and initial assessment form (Word, 1.43MB) and return it to events@navca.org.uk You can also contact NAVCA’s events team on 0114 278 6636.

• 21 June @  Kensington & Chelsea Social Council Funding Fair @ Kensington Town Hall, London W8 – I’ll be presenting a one hour workshop on “How to Cost and Fund ICT projects” – a primer on the essentials of writing a winning technology bid to a funder.

The latest issue of Computanews is out now!

Download the latest issue of wholesome goodness that is Computanews for free

In issue 156:

• Let’s go virtual – online meeting – new web based technologies are making virtual meetings a less expensive alternative to physical meetings. In this first of a two-part article we look at what the tools do and the different formats.
• How important is social media media to small VCS organisations? – the editors look at the evolution of the online presence and urge caution before taking the plunge into the murky waters of social media.
• Tips 156 – Webinars – 13 steps for plannning and running a successful webinar.
• Carbon savings through re-location – Ethical IT looks at how server virtualisation helped the Malaria Consortium..
• Raising the dead – PC recovery tools and procedures for Circuit Riders – members of the UKRiders list tell us about their working processes and the tools they use for resurrecting problem PCs.
• Reviews – Idealware’s Field Guide to Software and OpenMute’s Social by Social books are scrutinised.

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Missed an issue?
Recent archived issues of Computanews can now be downloaded – visit the Computanews home page.

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Computanews welcomes contributions from readers – whether it’s an observation on an article or a longer piece. If you would be interested in contributing drop an email to computanews@lasa.org.uk

Computanews ICT Guides
The Lasa Computanews Guides offer practical guidance on specific ICT issues and help answer common queries. Guides are available as a FREE PDF download.  Guides currently available are:

• ICT Security
• Managing ICT
• Data Protection
• Project Management
• Circuit Riders

Download from the Lasa Computanews Guides webpage


Earler this week I presented workshops on fundraising for technology projects and using the internet for fundraising at the North London CVS Partnership’s Workforce Development conference.

With charitable funding tight and funders even more risk averse than usual, these workshops clearly explain how to use the internet to locate sources of funding and work through the steps to writing a winning grant proposal for a technology project.

The steps outlined in writing a winning grant proposal….

• needs analysis – provide evidence of need
• risk analysis
• identify benefits and priorities of project
• identify objectives and outcomes
• budgeting realistically for your project
• telling the story of what you do and the difference you make
• measuring success

….are also transferable to putting together a framework for non-technology projects.

The workshop presentations and resources are collected at Box.net for you to download.

I’ll be presenting 2 workshops for the North London Workforce Development Conference on 15 March @ Cypriot Community Centre, Haringey, Wood Green, N22 5HJ

• Using the Internet for fundraising
• Writing a winning ICT grant proposal

Competition for funding is tough even in good economic times, let alone bad.  So what makes the difference in a proposal?  How do you help it to go from the bottom to the top of the pile?  More importantly, once it is noticed, what must you have in your proposal to ensure that you have the best chance possible of being funded?  These two workshops will show you how to:

• assess ICT needs and to understand what we do, what we want to change, and why we want to change;
• write a powerful technology case statement that makes clear to funders why they should fund the project;
• identify the funders it makes most sense to approach and building a solid relationship with them;
• spend less time looking for information and more time bidding for funds;
• research online sources that make your fundraising more effective
• Using the web to raise funds

The conference also brings together third sector organisations, training providers, statutory bodies & colleges to explore development opportunities for the third sector’s workforce and to work intelligently and collaboratively for future sustainability.

The conference will also provide delegates with free taster sessions on learning opportunities such as project management, training needs analysis, writing successful grant proposals and fundraising. There will also be stands showcasing WFD resources.

The conference is FREE to Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations  in North London

Contact Mariam.wahab@communitybarnet.org.uk for further information on workshops and speakers.

More about Workforce Development North London here.