Starting Up

Introduction

This information sheet will help if you are starting a new voluntary organisation/community group in Edinburgh. It suggests some points to think about from the start, and gives suggestions on how to find out more.

Setting up a new organisation can be enjoyable, and can be very satisfying. It is a way of getting something done that you feel is important, while more can be achieved than by working on your own.

It takes energy, enthusiasm, hard work and sometimes a good deal of patience to make a success of a new organisation. There are likely to be problems and there may be setbacks. This is another reason for working closely with a group of allies – you can work on problems together and encourage and support each other.

Getting Started

Many groups are started in response to an identified need and the best way to get going is to bring together a small number of people who share your interest and talk with them about what you could do. Even if they are only able to give a short-term commitment they may be willing to contribute ideas and experience in the early stages.

To find interested people if you don’t already know them, there are a number of possibilities. You could try the “grapevine” by asking community workers, school teachers or anyone else who meets a lot of people in the community, whether they know of anyone who may be interested. You could put up a notice in post offices, supermarkets, libraries, community centres, places of worship, GP surgeries etc. (anywhere people gather) explaining what you want to do, and asking people to contact you. It is also helpful to consider the skills, experience and qualities your group might need.

If you want to reach a wider audience, try writing to local papers or contacting Radio Forth, outlining what you propose and giving a contact address or phone number, which they may do free of charge. EVOC may be able to give you useful contacts, as well as publicity in our newsletter “Noticeboard”.

In bringing people together it is important to be clear about what you want to do – about your aims and objectives, as well as having a clear focus for any group that is established.

Funding

Even at this early stage, you may need some money to pay for meeting rooms, publicity, telephone or postage. If you cannot meet these costs yourselves, or through donations from other interested people or organisations, you will need to find out about possible sources of funding. Start up grants are occasionally available to get you going. Your Local Development Committee (LDC) has funds available for small grants, and could support an initial pilot or feasibility study.

Funders usually require a group to open a bank account with at least two signatories; and banks now require a group to be constituted to do so. At this stage it would be appropriate for the group to identify a chairperson, secretary and treasurer. EVOC can provide information, training and advice on managing money and the role of treasurer, as well as development support for new committees or steering groups.

Aims & Objectives

Or in other words, what are you going to do and how are you going to do it? Now you have found several other interested people, you need to talk this over with them and start to clarify what you plan to do.

At this stage you are learning to work together as a group. It is important to allow plenty of time for discussion. Even in small groups, there will be different points of view. If you discuss these fully and openly, you may be able to reach agreement, which is the best basis for going ahead. The more you understand each other’s views, and respect them, the better you will work together.

A good start is to discuss what the problem is that you are trying to tackle. Do not be surprised if you see it in different ways – try to find out why this is. Often it is because you have different information (and different gaps in your information). It may also be because you have different values. Such differences of values cannot be resolved easily (or perhaps at all) but it is important to know that they are there.

Remember that other people will not bring the same talents to the group as you do. They may be good at keeping the group working together happily, but not at planning and organising – or vice versa. They may have a lot of time to offer, or very little. And they may join the group for different reasons – to use their skills, or to meet other people, as well as to contribute to the group’s objectives. It is worth discussing these points with them, and trying to agree on ways that they can help which will suit them.

Other Organisations

In Edinburgh alone there are thousands of voluntary and community groups. It is worth finding out about the other ones with similar interests to yours, and getting in touch with them. A network of contacts in similar organisations can be an invaluable source of advice and support, and can help you to see things in perspective when your own group faces difficulties.

EVOC can tell you about other organisations with similar interests to yours e.g. there may be a forum of voluntary organisations operating in the same or a related field of interest.

A First Meeting

It is usually a good idea to have an open meeting to launch the new organisation. Contact the local papers and radio stations, both for advance publicity and to be represented, if they can.

If you want the group to attract people from all sections of the community, invite representatives from different groups to contribute their ideas at the first meeting, rather than waiting until the group has become established. As well as the people already involved, think about inviting:

• anyone else you know who may be interested in helping
• other organisations working in a similar field
• organisations working with specific groups or communities
• councillors and/or local authority staff

It is also important to consider ways in which the meeting can be made inclusive and accessible, e.g. time of day, crèche facilities, access etc.

The meeting could be formal or informal. Either way, it is a chance to explain what you have in mind; to make, or strengthen, useful contacts, to seek publicity, to attract volunteers and to find out how your proposals look to other interested people. It is worth making a record of the meeting and keeping a note of the points that people make, even if you do not have formal minutes.

Finding Volunteers

You may find enough volunteers through your own contacts. If not, you could contact the Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, which helps groups to find volunteers and advises people who are looking for voluntary work. The Volunteer Centre Edinburgh can also give you advice on good practice for working with volunteers.

Making Decisions

How will your group make decisions about what it is going to do, and how it is going to do it? At one extreme, all the decisions could be effectively taken by one person; at the other, everything could be discussed until everyone is in agreement. Most groups come between these two extremes. They work out their objectives and methods of work through discussion and agreement, and also try to resolve any serious disagreements in this way. Whatever the formal rules, such disagreements should be worked through fully and openly, if at all possible, rather than settled by one or two people imposing a decision.

For day to day decisions, it is simpler if the group can agree on a quicker method such a majority vote, delegation to an elected committee or sub group or delegation to elected or appointed officers. These methods are then written into the constitution, which is in effect the rules of the group. EVOC can help with further information on Constitutions and Management Committees.

Making a Plan

Once your group is going, it is time to draw up a simple working plan. This will tell your members, supporters and other interested people, what you are doing, why and how you will go about it. You will need a plan if you apply for a grant.

Your plan should explain:

• What your group intends to do – Objectives
• How it intends to do it – Methods
• The resources it has available (e.g. people’s time and support; any special skills; money; equipment; use of premises etc.)
• Any further resources it needs, and how it hopes to find them (e.g. by finding volunteers or raising money)
• How soon it hopes to do things – Timetable

Drawing up a plan will help you to decide on priorities. For example, it might show that you have the resources to start one activity, but not another; or that you need more money before you can recruit more volunteers.

The plan will also mean that you can measure your achievements because you will be able to compare it with what the organisation has actually done.

An Outside View

You may find it helpful to involve one or two people from outside the organisation, to give encouragement and advice from a different point of view, put problems in perspective and offer a wider range of contacts.

Advice & Help

EVOC provides a range of services to voluntary organisations and community groups including information, development and training opportunities, organisational support etc.

You could also contact SCVO for information on setting up an organisation or PACE if your work is concerned with children and young people

Useful Contacts

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh 0131 225 0630

PACE (Services for children and young people) 0131 468 5505

LAYC (Services for children and young people) 0131 667 1828

SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) 0131 556 3882

Edinburgh Tenants Federation 0131 556 4406
(supports groups concerned with
Council housing issues)

Social Care Resource Unit, EVOC 0131 555 9100

Funding

Local Development Committees 0131 469 3896
Corporate Services
City of Edinburgh Council

Awards for All 0141 242 1200
(gives small grants - £500 - £5,000 to community groups)
website: www.awardsforall.org.uk/scotland

August 2004