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Selling what we do

1/11/2010

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This article is taken from Issue 2 of the Improving Support magazine. Click here to request your free copy.

Funding for third sector organisations is changing. In a contract and commissioner-focused climate how can support providers help frontline organisations to negotiate this difficult change?

In early 2009, staff at Halton and District Women’s Aid (HADWA) decided to bid for a major contract providing services for vulnerable women at risk of violence in the area. But no one at the voluntary organisation had any experience of bidding for tenders.

Challenging task
Faced with daunting forms, questions they didn’t understand and demands to demonstrate impact and outcomes, they felt the task was far too challenging.

But then they turned to a pilot project run by ChangeUp Merseyside and funded by Capacitybuilders.

Successful communication
“When we got the tender documents we were very intimidated as we had no experience of this kind of thing,” says HADWA Strategic and Development Officer Beryl Yeomans.

One of the main challenges was deciding how to communicate HADWA’s work and achievements
in a way that would win commissioners over.”

Adapting existing skills
“We knew how to write grant applications but not a tender document, which requires different skills and emphasis,” says Yeomans.

One-to-one coaching
ChangeUp Merseyside provided one-to-one coaching on the kind of language and structure needed to make the best case for HADWA.

It worked. In October 2009 HADWA won the contract.

To find out more please download the full "Selling what we do" article.