ymca watford opportunities and risks

YMCA Watford

Board session:

Opportunities and Risks

55A happy man!Charity adviser- Wide variety of clientsManager for over 30 yearsPreviously led on strategic

business development in YMCA EnglandVice Chair Governors Leyton 6th Form College(until recently) Chair of East London Community

FoundationPassionate about young people

Paul Whitnall

Opportunities and risks -the culmination of the session!

Reached by 10 bite-size sessions,

around 10 minutes each

Format

Style…

Rabbiting on…

Watership Down…

◦From known to unknown◦From familiar to unfamiliar◦From comfortable to uncomfortable

◦From safe to…

Journey

What’s it like here?

Where are we now as a business?

Where are we now as to income streams?

Where are we now?

spectrum

The NCVO income spectrum

What’s our mix?

A: not very – just a few pennies

B: a little bit – around 10%

C: around a third of our income

D: pretty important – maybe 50-60%

E: big big part of our income – over 75%

How important is Government funding to you?

Is that how you want it to

be?

Why and how have you

allowed it to become that

way?

Brink of change

How are we feeling about likely cuts in

income from Govt right now?

cool

bothered

concernedVery worried

Panic!

There is life after government funding

Not going to talk about sinking

Where does it come from?

What is it for?

Group exercise...

What government funding are we talking about?

a statutory function ◦– something government is required/

supposed to do We should not relieve the state of its responsibilities

Exercise – what might this include? Education; prison; physical and mental

health; etc etc But what if state provision is inadequate??

Govt gotta do what Govt gotta do

Are they appropriate for us? Or inappropriate? What’s the scale we’re measuring that on?

Other things matter

Are there Opportunities here…?

Multiple bottom lines

Money not the only measure?Vision & mission documentWhat are our real measures of success?

Multiple bottom lines…

And reported to the Board?

How are they counted

Re-shape

Replace

Sink

Responses to the challenge ahead…

Change the project

◦ But may have been defined by the funder – its their project, not yours!

We face the challenge to determine our own shape◦ What will we do◦ What will it look like

1: Re-shape

Easy ways◦Reduce◦Redundancy

Hard way◦Re-engineer

Reshape

Change the source of the project’s income

Different sources have different requirements

2: Replace

Changing income type may require changes ~ of attitudes, culture and skills required◦Different activity◦Different management skills◦Different governance attitudes and approaches

Different types demand different characteristics

Do you have the skills?

Do you have people - on staff or board- with the skills?

Skills to attract funds are different in each segment...

Gotta need the

money…!

By Way 1: First rule of fundraising

What should you do?

◦Oh!- You’re

disqualified!

◦Cash on hand £1,557,000

◦Total assets £3,688,000

◦Profit last year: £390,000

Who are you?What do you do?What do you want to do?What difference will it make (and to whom)?

What will it cost (and who will pay for it)?

A little further down the by-way: 5 key questions in fundraising

From consumption to participation

Power and wealth now come from involvement of many

By Way 2: Mega trend…

Opportunity:membership gives us a route to empowerment and participation

Blue ocean strategy, a quick intro…

A heavy summary of a summary…

Blue Ocean Go somewhere new

Find it intelligently

Bravery can lead to big success!

risk pic…

Risk assessments – participative identification and scoring

What can go wrong?

Excel grid

We have considered opportunities and risks

What changes do we have to contemplate, and which do

we have to pursue?

Who is your hunter, chasing down a re-shaped future?

So..

Strategy Mission Purpose

Outcomes Beneficiaries Evidenced improvements

Added value Value for money

Presentation Persuasion

Prepare to work hard

If you can’t do it

Get help

It has got to be done

paul.whitnall@googlemail.com

Help is available

paul.whitnall@googlemail.com

Thank you...