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Seminar Details

Our seminar programme covers a wide range of topics of interest to the charity and voluntary sector. Each seminar takes a topic and tries to understand the problems, seek potential and suggest solutions - so that your organisation is better informed and so can operate more efficiently and effectively. List of Seminars Available: Budgeting and Planning in Recessionary Times Investment and Hiving off Activities Diversifying/Sweating your Assets Knowledge is Power: Management Information in Decision Making Outsourcing Made Practical Relationship Management with Key Parties Risk Management in Uncertain Times Strategic Financial Management in Recessionary Times Trader or Not-for-profit? User & Volunteer Involvement
Budgeting and Planning in Recessionary Times
Overview	This seminar will look at how to undertake planning and budgeting whilst looking at the current results and economic impact that the recession is having on not-for-profit organisations. It will focus on how to avoid potential financial problems, what is important at the current time and in the future, as well as looking at what not-for-profits can do to help themselves.
Topics Covered	Creation of budgets that are flexible and can be updated quickly Management of risk with activities. What type of information do you require and when is it needed How often should you be reforecasting What areas to look at in reducing costs Who should be involved in the planning and budgeting process
Learning Outcomes	Participants will develop a clear understanding of how planning and budgeting work together, how to budget with uncertainty and what information they need on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to keep on top of their finances.
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Investment and Hiving off Activities
Overview	This seminar will look at how to invest in activities to generate new income streams whilst ensuring that the charity is protected at the same time. We will also look at what and how to hive off activities to third parties, the use of third parties to generate income and what to do when activities are not achieving the results required. This topic will be expanded upon in the second part of our series in “Diversifying and sweating your assets”.
Topics Covered	Creation of new income streams. Management of risk with new activities. Using third parties to undertake activities and what not to do. How to protect the charity from commercial activities that are risky
Learning Outcomes	Participants will develop a clear understanding of what to do when developing new income streams and how best to ‘hive off’ activities that are not meeting the charities requirements.
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Diversifying/Sweating your Assets
Overview	This seminar is the second in a two part series on maximising your investments and assets. In this seminar we will look at how to go about diversifying investments and also the risk within an investment portfolio as well as how to ‘sweat’ those assets at disposal to the charity. This will be achieved through looking into how to structure your charity’s investment strategy as well as aligning it with your overall strategy and objectives and closing the loop by looking at the issues associated with managing and monitoring the investment manager.
Topics Covered	Asset allocation and the risk associated with asset allocation. How performance monitoring is undertaken and aligned with the overall strategy. When to change your investment strategy and what to consider in the process of changing it. What to focus on when evaluating an investment manager’s performance.
Learning Outcomes	Participants will develop a clear understanding of modern investment strategy development and its alignment with the charity’s strategy along with how to monitor performance and the impact that the results have on the charity overall.
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Knowledge is Power: Management Information in Decision Making
Overview	The course will explore what management information the chief executive needs on a frequent basis as well as who should provide it and when it should be provided. This course will also explain what information needs to be communicated to trustees on a regular basis and how to do this. Furthermore the course will look at the use of key performance indicators, 1 page summaries, trustee dashboards and ensuring that informed decisions are made using the management information provided to trustees and the chief executive
Topics Covered	Management information needed by the chief executive and trustees When and how management information should be communicated How management information should be used when making decisions about the organisation Key performance indicators One page summaries Trustee dashboards
Learning Outcomes	Participants will develop a clear understanding of how to use the management information to effectively manage and run their organisation.
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Outsourcing Made Practical
Overview	As charities try to save money on core costs, more and more are turning to outsourcing administrative functions. This seminar will look at the pros and cons of outsourcing, the trends in outsourcing, how to choose an outsourcing supplier and will highlight some case studies of charities that currently outsource.
Topics Covered	Why are objectives in outsourcing so important and what can go wrong if they are not defined What are the steps to go through in outsourcing a process, function or department Who should be involved and why TUPE and its effect How to determine if outsourcing is for your organisation What can go wrong How to gain as much from the relationship as possible
Learning Outcomes	Participants will have a better understanding of how to determine if outsourcing is a practical approach for their organisation, what the steps are in setting the objective and how to ensure a partnership is formed.
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Relationship Management with Key Parties
Overview	With the increasing need to maximise revenues, minimise costs and ensure that every opportunity meets its potential one area that not-for-profits can gain from is maximising their third party relationships. This seminar will focus on how to gain the most out of relationships that you have with suppliers, partners, sponsors, donors and corporations. It will look at how best to manage the relationship from beginning to end and what to do to gain more at no extra cost.
Topics Covered	How to identify key partners Understanding what they and you want out of the deal Ways of approach issues and problems without confrontation What are the important aspects in negotiating a deal with a key partner How to gain the most from the relationship
Learning Outcomes	Participants will be able to understand how to develop key relationships, manage those relationship in good and bad times and ensure that they and their key parties are gaining the most from the deal.
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Risk Management in Uncertain Times
Overview	This session will introduce a practical approach to risk management allowing you to analyse the risks to your charity; develop a simple but structured risk register; and how to allocate the “ownership” of risk. It uses real examples to demonstrate the importance of risk management.
Topics Covered	How and what risk management is about How to assess risk Ways in which to mitigate risk and plan for uncertainty How to report on risks and focus on the right ones When and how to review risks as well as the process of managing them
Learning Outcomes	Participants will have the confidence of how to go about evaluating, assessing and reporting on risks as well as approaches to managing risks as well as how to report on them.
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Strategic Financial Management in Recessionary Times
Overview	As the recession impacts, doing nothing is no longer an option for charities. In response to the Charity Commission's launch of the 'Big Board Talk' initiative, Andrew Hind, Chief Executive, commented that: "The survival (of charities) depends on their having the courage to ask themselves some fundamental questions. Asking these key questions will help trustee boards review their options, make the hard decisions and enable them to have a clear understanding of the challenges they face and the best ways to tackle them." One way to start is to understand and review your financial strategy and ensure that you have ways of prioritising and managing those things that are critical to the survival of the charity.
Topics Covered	Where to start when the pressures are coming from every direction How to focus on the key financial drivers and assessing whether those drivers are verifiable How to pull plans together that are flexible and can be updated quickly How to approach budgeting with uncertainty in funding streams How often to reforecast
Learning Outcomes	Participants will develop practical approaches to budgeting and forecasting in times of uncertainty through different techniques and means of developing their strategic financial forecast.
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Trader or Not-for-profit?
Overview	The seminar will cover those aspects of trading within the charity and using a subsidiary to operate commercial arrangements through. The type of subsidiary or entity will be covered with an update on the CIC and CIO’s and what the status and when to use them should be considered
Topics Covered	Primary trading within a charity Trading subsidiaries and their use The status of CIC and CIO’s Structuring fees and commercial arrangements in relation to the public benefit test
Learning Outcomes	To have a better understanding of when trading should take place in a trading subsidiary and what the new entities may offer to an organisation.
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User & Volunteer Involvement
Overview	The use of volunteers and users in a charity is not new but the issues related to how to best engage them and maximise their value is now an important area of consideration in the current economic climate. The seminar will look at when and how to engage users and volunteers in the day to day running and management of the charity.
Topics Covered	How to best engage with volunteers and users Managing volunteers and maximising their potential to the charity What to do when there is more resource than work Who is best suited to manage the volunteer Should volunteers and users be appraised
Learning Outcomes	To develop a better knowledge of how and when to use volunteers so that they add value to the charity.
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If you are interested in attending, please contact us for further information.

Recent delegate feedback

Budget Planning & Setting

"The course presented valuable and vital information for budget holders. I think there are many budget holders who find their budgets challenging and confusing - myself included. This course went a long way towards clarifying things for me."

"Has helped to clarify basics and discover new techniques."

Strategic Financial Management

"Interesting course - lots of food for thought."

“Mark is an engaging speaker.”

“the seminar was useful and in fact I’ve spent this morning creating some slides for the Trustees on KPI’s! So putting it into action straight away.”

Julie Griffin, Finance & Fundraising Executive Officer, Unique, Rare Chromosome Disorder Support Group

Costing & Budgeting

"(liked) Informal approach where we could ask questions as we went along."

"Gave me more confidence in budgeting/submitting bids."

Risk Management Seminar

"Gave me a greater insight into managing risk especially as I am new to management and this is part of my new role."

"Informative and interesting presentation – will be using."

Leadership & Governance

"It is too easy to assume that because it seems to be working, our way of doing things is the right way! Was really good to step back and effectively evaluate."

" Reinforces strategic role of trustees."