Outline

The Developing Organisations project aims to offer improved and more consistent organisational development support to voluntary organisations delivered by, and accessible through, Single Interfaces.

Project Update

PZA conducted an audit of the organisational development capacity in the CVS network 53 of the 57 CVS participated in the audit and the report is available to download.

 

The objectives of the audit were:

•          to highlight the gaps in products and services;

•          to identify where there is a need for new products and services which the Developing Organisations project should address;

•          to highlight examples of best practice approaches to organisational development which could be replicated and rolled out across the network

 

What have we learned?

•          Staff consider themselves as generalists rather than specialist

•          Range of organisational services offered reflect the skills and expertise of the post holders

•          Demand for services predominantly comes for the new and small scale, often volunteer-led organisations

•          Support to existing organisations is provided largely through the information/advice, assistance with funding and provision of training opportunities

•          The most commonly cited approach to organisational development for existing organisations was ‘crisis intervention’

•          CVS identified very few gaps in the delivery of services

 
Based on the recommendations from the audit the following activities are planned for the Developing Organisations project.

Service delivery skills frame work

A service delivery skills frame work will be rolled out, the framework will identify the skills and knowledge required by staff to deliver core services across the organisation. The skills framework forms the basis of staff training and development activity.

Common Resource Base

•          Online directory of existing resource materials and tools

•          Funding information and updates

•          Updates of relevant legislation and compliance issues

•          HR Library

Network Consultancy Service

An online Consultancy Pool of “Specialists” to trade/sell skills across Single Interfaces, the first stage will be to identify “specialists” in areas highlighted within the audit report which include:

        •    Legal advice
        •    Professional accountancy support
        •    Financial management support
        •    Social enterprise development

Further details

For further information contact Gordon Winthrop, Developing Organisation Project Coordinator, on 0141 225 8021 or email gordon.winthrop@scvo.org.uk.