Volunteers are the lifeblood of any charitable organisation and here at the Community Foundation for Surrey is no exception. We are incredibly lucky to have some amazing volunteers who give their time and expertise to help us support our grant seekers who are working so hard to support those in need in Surrey. We have a range of people who volunteer here at CFSurrey, from our Trustees to our wonderful professionals in Funder Plus.
Our Funder Plus programme provides highly skilled and experienced volunteers to support grant seekers with advice and guidance in a range of crucial business areas, ranging from accounts to business plans.
These dedicated volunteers freely give their time, skills and experience to our grant seekers in need of some extra support, working with them on short term projects to improve their chances of being “funder ready” for future applications they may make to grant makers. The Funder Plus team work with a wide range of third sector organisations, both large and small, registered and unincorporated and they do this because they, like everyone here at CFSurrey, want to help those that are helping those in Surrey that are most in need.
The third sector, and those they work with, has been hit especially hard by the pandemic and the recent cost of living crisis; and now more than ever needs and deserves all the support it can get. That is why we wanted to take the opportunity this week, Volunteers Week, to say a huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers, especially those at Funder Plus, who give so much of their own time and skills to freely support our grant seekers.
This quote is from a fantastic organisation, Be Me Project. They recently received some input from Funder Plus and this is what they had to say:-
Be Me Project is extremely grateful for providing us with Funder Plus support. We had approximately 8 sessions over three months with a consultant, who also did some work for us in between sessions. We were able to talk through a number of aspects of the charity and how it is/could approach its expansion plans, looking at project management, risk analysis and accounting/budgeting. Creating a simple project management tool in Excel for us has been particularly helpful, as it has given us a tool to plan and to assess our progress throughout the year. However, perhaps the most positive thing was knowing that CFS understands the challenges small charities face, and that they are investing in us by providing tools to help us be successful and sustainable. Thank you very much.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you feel your organisation would benefit from some tailored support from Funder Plus, or indeed if you would like to become a volunteer. We are always on the lookout for dedicated people who want to join our team and we really couldn’t provide this support to groups without our lovely, committed volunteers.
Click through to our Funder Plus page to find out more.
