£6m capacity-building fund launched

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 10 Jul 2012

Support and development organisations will be able to choose what assistance they get, and then rank the quality of that help, in a new capacity-building programme launched today by NCVO and the Big Lottery Fund.

The £6m Assist programme is designed to help local organisations build capacity in local frontline organisations and is being described by BIG as a “radical departure” from previous capacity-building programmes.

In it, organisations are allowed to determine what kind of support they want to receive from Assist, choosing from a menu of support and experts, and then will be encouraged to publicly rate the usefulness of that assistance so as to enable other organisations to choose wisely in future. The organisations will work with the Assist programme first to identify the areas in which they need help to address the changing needs and expectations of their local frontline organisations.

BIG England’s director Dharmendra Kanani (pictured) described the change. “In the past we funded capacity building through intermediary bodies. In the future, we are giving organisations the power to choose support from a range of options and providers best suited to meet their individual needs,” he said.

“The Assist initiative is only the first but crucial step in turning this new approach into action, and a vital investment in creating the conditions for this new approach to thrive."

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said the programme will improve the efficiency and sustainability of the organisations it touches.

“Putting both the money and the choice in the hands of the people who understand how infrastructure works, and how it needs to change, will better equip the sector as a whole to adapt to the current and future operating environment,” he said.

Directory: Big Lottery Fund | National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Dharmendra Kanani | Sir Stuart Etherington

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.