Charity Mash-Up 2024

Our Charity Mash-Up, sponsored by charity I.T. providers Qlic, features a packed programme of inspiring speakers, informative presentations, useful workshops and a marketplace full of funders and third sector specialists. PLUS a delicious lunch and networking opportunities!

Our event features:

The Collaboration Conversation

• Michelle Blunsom MBE (CEO, East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services)

• Jonathan Lees (Managing Director, The Good Company)

• Kerry Outlaw (Associate, Cranfield School Of Management)

Moderated by Jason Gaskell CEO, Surrey Community Action.

We are facing a time when resources are under ever increasing pressure, and demand for our services is increasing, so we have a real challenge to do to more with less. How can we do that? Effective collaboration can be a way to make 1 + 1 = 3, but it can also be quite scary and intimidating. How do I go about it? Will any savings be worth it? Will my charity be absorbed by another?

Collaboration doesn’t have to be like that – it certainly doesn’t always lead to formal mergers – it can be another tool to improve the services we offer to those who need them; and can use the expertise of others to reinforce our own.

Join us in our morning session to hear from some colleagues who have their own collaboration stories. What happened? What worked? What didn’t? What advice would they give someone starting their collaboration journey?

We hope to help demystify the process and give you some tools and reassurance to start thinking “how do I make my 1 + 1 =3?”

Workshops

Our 40 minute taster sesssions include:

Major donor fundraising: stronger together - ,

The funding landscape has never been tougher with many non-profits needing to diversify and grow their charity’s income.
Is major donor fundraising the answer?
Increasingly charities of all sizes are looking to either set it up as a new income stream, or develop existing major donor fundraising.

But how can you work together with the wealthiest in society, and internally across your staff and volunteer base, to succeed in raising large gifts for your mission?

Come along for this thought-provoking session with Louise Morris, major donor specialist, international speaker, coach and trainer on why collaboration internally and externally in major donor fundraising is not just best practice, but essential.

An Introduction to Co-production - and ,

Have you thought about coproducing but not sure how to go about it? Well, we can help. We have been coproducing with our members for many, many years and will share in this workshop how to coproduce, the benefits of coproduction and talk about the hot topic of payment for coproduction.

Coproducing needs to be carefully planned but placing the person with lived experience at the heart of everything we do has huge benefits to both the organisation, the individuals with lived experience that are coproducing and the wider public.

Finance - TBC

GDPR - ,

GDPR. It’s far more than just asking people to tick a box on a “do not contact” form, but it’s not as complex as it seems at first glance, or some make it seem. Whether you are new to GDPR, or just need a refresher, why not join us for a whistle-stop tour of what GDPR is, why we should care, and what should we do about it. Jason Gaskell has trained over 150 organisations from across the voluntary sector to help them on their GDPR journey, as well as going through his own as CEO of SCA, so he knows how to make it simple and accessible to all.

Empowering Change: The Impact of Partnering with Student Volunteers for Charities -,

Student volunteers offer a diverse range of skills and fresh perspectives to voluntary organisations. Their passion for learning and eagerness to tackle new challenges often lead to different ideas and innovative solutions.

From digital natives who seamlessly navigate the latest technologies to creatives with a keen eye for design, student volunteers bring talents, energy and enthusiasm that can be used across numerous roles.

In this workshop, the award-winning Royal Holloway Volunteering team will talk about how charities can best appeal to student volunteers, and how engaging in youth volunteering can have the dual benefit of supporting your organisation whilst simultaneously developing the skills, experience and mental wellbeing of the young people giving their time.

Making a collaboration work in practice -,

When it comes to successful collaborations, getting everyone working seamlessly together is often harder than we think. Sometimes the friction comes when we least expect it and what should work on paper is actually like herding cats or pulling teeth!

This short session will help you to plan in advance to avoid some of the pitfalls and ensure your collaboration starts well and continues to run as smoothly as possible.

You’ll discover:

What to think about in advance

How to avoid the obvious and not-so-obvious issues

How and why to monitor progress and what to do about the findings

How to maintain a culture of a successful collaboration.

Plenary

- CEO,

We are delighted to welcome Debra to give us her thoughts on collaboration from a national perspective, guaranteed to be forthright, though provoking, entertaining and inspiring.

Debra has worked in the charitable and voluntary sector for over 30 years. Amongst numerous other roles, she is Vice President of the Soldiering On Through Life Trust Awards and co-chairs the judging panel with General the Lord Dannatt. She is a Trustee of In Kind Direct, one of the Prince's Foundation Charities, and a trustee of the Berkshire Community Foundation. She is also an Africa Advocacy Foundation Ambassador for women and girls at risk of or affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She has served as a trustee of several charities including being the co-founder of the Small Charities Coalition and was its first Chair. She served on the Charity Commission's SORP committee for over 7 years and was the Vice-Chair of Governors of Whiteknights primary school for 6 years.

She is a renowned public speaker with many years' experience of training and coaching and internationally published author of several books on management and leadership including It's Tough at the Top; The Pleasure and the Pain; It's M**der in Management and It's a Battle on the Board. Debra has a regular monthly column in Third Sector magazine and has appeared on Radio 4's The Moral Maze.

The Mash-Up Marketplace

Featuring funders including Community Foundation for Surrey; National Lottery Community Fund; Surrey County Council (Your Fund Surrey and Members Community Allocation Fund); Heathrow Community Fund; as well as sector specialists including Surrey VCSE Alliance; Qlic I.T.; Edwards Insurance Brokers; Menzies; CAF Bank with more to come.

Visit the Surrey Community Action to stand to find out more about our projects and services.

A limited amount of Early Bird tickets costing just £25 are available until Friday 26 July 2024, OR until these have sold out. Thereafter, tickets will be charged at £30. So don't delay, book today!

"This event was really super, so very well organized. I was able to talk to lots of different organizations that were completely relevant to my role as Development Officer at a local charity. I gained a lot of information and knowledge from the day. Great venue and a delicious lunch - such a treat! Thank you."

"A highly professional event that offers excellent learning opportunities with well-planned workshops and presentations."

"Already looking forward to next year's event and asked colleagues to join it too."

"Very well organised event with lots of people on hand to help with directing to different workshops etc. And a fab lunch too!"

"It was a brilliant event and I took so much away - thank you"

"Just a big thank you to all who organised and attended!"

"I felt this was time well spent. Well organised. Thankyou."

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Christ Church Woking, Jubilee Square, Woking, United Kingdom