I went freelance in October 2022 and with a financial year of April to March, this means I've just completed my first full year of freelancing. The previous year had a mixture of salaried and freelance work so was a bit of a mixed picture.
In summary, this year has been great! I've been blessed with various work from multiple sources and more importantly, have been able to support multiple people and organisations to be what they were put in this earth to be.
The chart below shows a summary of the types of work I've been involved in, with the majority of my time in funding, new SCIO guidance, or community consultations. I'll explain further below but have a look at the image for now to see the breadth of what I can support.
Funding Support
This can be from as simple as me providing some guidance on funding opportunities for organisations, to sense checking applications against funder guidelines, to actually completing applications for the client. Many people who have been around the sector for as long or longer than I have, all agree that the funding market is the toughest it has ever been. There are more organisations looking for a reducing pot of money, so it's even more important to make sure that an application actually meets the funder criteria, and that the narrative is as strong as possible. This is probably why this is taking most of my time time!
Governance Support
Aspiring groups have needed guidance on what an appropriate organisational structure would be for them to do what they want to do. This level of support has included sourcing and localising and appropriate constitution, and guiding them through the OSCR application process. Others have just needed some guidance on how they can continue in the format they already have, while others have simply needed some training for their board trustees to help them be as strong a support as possible for the sake of the organisational vision.
Community Consultation / Market Research
I have helped with a few consultations and research projects in the last year, with responses to consultations numbering from just over 100 in a small rural village, to over 1000 in a town area. These type of things are really important in not just getting input into your vision, but also in understanding more about the community you want to support. It's also a chance to get more people on board with your vision, and maybe even uncover a new idea or new way of doing things. Crucially, the information and stats received through a consultation like this can provide valuable information to go on a funding application, as what you're then asking for is not just your ideas, but has been backed by the community. They also produce some pretty graphs and word clouds which are good for social media content.
Business Plans / Options Appraisals
These are big pieces of work, and I've got 3 on my caseload going into the new financial year! This is a chance to pull together all research, ideas, and vision, with financial, marketing and all other required planning to help your project move forwards. Some larger funders will want to see this plan. For others, excerpts from this will form a narrative for funding applications. And crucially, whilst I get to help put this together, the business plan is a living breathing document so is really never finished, but must evolve with the organisation. However, having the starting document is a massive step for organisational development and it's a joy to help create these documents.
Other support
The other bits of support have been around helping with events, guidance for recruitment, planning social media and other marketing output. These bits are often bolt ons to other support to help widen the opportunities for an organisation. They might not think they need this support but it will naturally evolve and, by agreement, will be added to the workload.
Areas of work
Most of my work is with churches or faith based organisations, which is a joy for me as I get to use my own faith to help others to use theirs for local benefit. This is still community development and a lot of the language and planning is the same. It's just that it's got a faith foundation to the project which simply brings a different dynamic to our meetings and ethos.
I've also been supporting a few groups looking at taking on a church building that is closing. This is a whole new dimension as, even though it is sad that the church has had to close, there is a fresh desire for the building to be of benefit to the community, so it's a pleasure to help support these, especially in some rural locations where premises like this are very important.
Other support has been given to community based organisations who are doing general community support and development work.
All of the above excites me still. I get to support some amazing people around the country who in turn are supporting some equally amazing people in their communities.
How I get the work
I am an associate for both Community Enterprise and Bruce Tait Associates, although the latter has just been for one specific project. The former has provided a large amount of work over the past year.
Other work comes either from me prospecting with organisations or even umbrella bodies who can share my information with their members, or from people finding me or being referred to me by good friends or previous clients. I love the latter as the referral means I've done something right somewhere to warrant this!
Summary
So, here's hoping for another fantastic year of supporting church and community groups with their development plans. I know that freelancing comes with risks that the work won't come. But while it does, I will continue to embrace the life that means I get to choose not to work sometimes so I can be more present for my family and benefit my health, and also give some time back to local groups and of course, to my own ministry growth. I've not always got a work/family life balance right in the past so now is a chance to put redress the balance.
Oh, and I also drink tea/coffee and eat cake (gluten free). So if you fancy a chat, drop me a message!