Episodes

  • 1: Need help finding funding?

    1: Need help finding funding?
    Aug 3 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
      Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.
     
      Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns SE have and our community of social leaders have identified this as one of the main things holding them back.  With this in mind we hit this topic first…head on.
     
    Episode 1 – Finding funding
    In the first episode of this season, we focus on searching for grant funding, one of the major ways social organisations fund themselves.  From the quick and simple, to the more in-depth, we explore 5 ways that you could search for funding opportunities for your organisation.  And whilst some of this episode applies to the UK, there are some fundamentals that can be applied to social organisations across the globe.
     
      Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.
      We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 

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    14 mins
  • 2: 5 ways to generate income for your social organisation

    2: 5 ways to generate income for your social organisation
    Aug 17 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
       Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.
     
      Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns SE have and our community of social leaders have identified this as one of the main things holding them back.  With this in mind we hit this topic first…head on.
    Episode 2 – 5 ways to generate income for your social organisation
    One of the biggest challenges social organisations face is income generation, and one of the key approaches to managing this challenge is diversifying your income across multiple channels.  Working towards a balanced approach means that you can raise both restricted and unrestricted funding, enabling you to deliver the change you want, whilst securing the on-going funding of those organisational overheads.  In this episode we give an introduction into 5 ways you can start to diversify your income.

    1. Grants
    2. Fundraising
    3. Donations
    4. Sponsorship
    5. Trading income

    Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.
     
    We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • 3: Creating a grant fundable activity

    3: Creating a grant fundable activity
    Aug 31 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
       Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.


    Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new Podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns social leaders have said to us is holding them back.  With this in mind it made complete sense to hit this topic first, head on.


    Episode 3 – Creating a grant fundable activity
    For me one of the biggest mistakes I see social organisations make is trying to fit their work to a funding opportunity.  Quite often in desperation for money, organisations apply for funding in a repetitive, scatter gun approach in the hope of getting something.  I can only imagine that these applications stick out for Funding Officers across the world reviewing oversubscribed funds.  But there is another way.  Put your social cause front and centre, and build your campaign from there.  It’s the reason you started in the first place.  To help, in this episode we take this approach to help with some ideas about putting together fundable work, so that you can be stronger in your applications for funds.

    1. Identify the need you want to address
    2. Identify the group you want to help
    3. Create the project to address the need
    4. Cost the project
    5. Search for opportunities that align to this project

    Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.

    We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 
    Show More Show Less
    16 mins
  • 4: Why grant applications get rejected

    4: Why grant applications get rejected
    Sep 14 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
       Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.
     

    Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new Podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns social leaders have said to us is holding them back.  With this in mind it made complete sense to hit this topic first, head on.
     

    Episode 4 – Why grant applications get rejected
    Having spent a few hours researching for great funding opportunity, put together a funding application and submitted on time, and then waited patiently for 4 months, you receive an email with the news you just didn’t want today.  Your application has been unsuccessful.  It’s a pain felt by every social organisation across the world that applies for grant funding, and the disappointment hurts, because you know what you would have achieved with the money.  Whilst we can’t guarantee future success, we can work towards reducing future failure, and in this episode, we cover 5 common failures when working through the process of applying for funding.

    1. Doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria 
    2.  Your request doesn’t match their goals 
    3.  You’ve not hit the main points
    4.  You may not have the track record 
    5.  Just too many applications, or you’ve been too ambition in your request
     
    Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.

    We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 
    Show More Show Less
    16 mins
  • 5: Sponsorship Income – Yes, it is for you as well

    5: Sponsorship Income – Yes, it is for you as well
    Sep 28 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
       Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.
     

    Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new Podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns social leaders have said to us is holding them back.  With this in mind it made complete sense to hit this topic first, head on.
     

    Episode 5 – Sponsorship Income – Yes, it is for you as well
    One of the great opportunities for social organisations to fund themselves is sponsorship income, but it quite often features further down the list after grants and fundraising.  So why is that?  Well partly it is due to the perception that it is not accessible.  Generating any income take preparation and practice, and that is no different to sponsorship income.  In this episode we explore how to take those steps in building a strategy to approach potential partners, and the importance of the long game relationship building.

    1. Identify the value opportunity, consider the value impacts on the sponsor
    2. Monetise the value, consider variations to create tiers
    3. Create a value proposition, set out your marketing strategy, and go to market
    4. Transact and celebrate the partnership
    5. Build the relationship, repeat, don’t stagnate
     
    Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.

    We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • 6: How to raise that first £1,000

    6: How to raise that first £1,000
    Oct 12 2022
    Be Inspired Today comes from a foundation of ‘having been there and done that'.  
    For 9 years, Rob Whitwood FCCA ran his own Social Enterprise (SE) helping aspirations of young people in East Anglia. Rob worked with over 6000 young people a year, raising £150,000 in grant funds, and mobilising a community of over 600 volunteers. Those helped by Rob ranged from micro business owners, to representatives from some of the largest brands in the UK like; Premier Inn, Balfour Beatty, Center Parcs, RAF, AVIVA and many more.  
    Over a 9-year period Rob’s SE won 19 awards for its community work nationally, regionally and locally, and established itself as one of the leading careers education companies in the East Anglian region. 
       Running your own SE gives you real hands-on experience of strategy, operations and, really importantly, income generation. Now Rob dedicates his time supporting some amazing causes around the world. 
    So, welcome to the Be Inspired – Boosting Social Leaders Podcast, where we aim to inspire a community of social leaders across the world to start, stabilise or scale their social change ideas.


    Season 1 – Please fund me!
    In our new Podcast, Season 1 is focused on that all important aspect of running a social organisation – money.  Funding community work is a constant challenge, and features as one of the top 2 concerns social leaders have said to us is holding them back.  With this in mind it made complete sense to hit this topic first, head on.


    Episode 6 – How to raise that first £1,000
    Across the world, in every community, there is someone with a burning desire to bring a change to the world.  A change they see every day, and a change they feel they have the potential to bring.  But one thing is holding them back, and that is money to get started.  So how do you raise that first £1,000 that will show the world the change you see?  In this episode we explore 5 ways to raise that first pot of money, simple things that you could start doing today.

    1. Launch a local fundraise campaign, raise your profile
    2. Ask for public donations through online campaign pages
    3. Write to donors, local businesses, stakeholder groups
    4. Apply for Small grants targeted to unincorporated organisation
    5. Start doing something, show potential, let the supporters come to you.
     
    Could SE Folk be a place for you?
    SE Folk is a unique community of social leaders from across the globe.  They are busy in their community either looking to start, scale or stabilize their social organisation.  Our unique membership allows these Community Champions to connect with each other, develop their skills and their organisation, share best practice and content, and participate in developing new solutions to social causes all around the world.

    We’ve created an online platform that these social leaders can access 24/7, whenever they need help or want to reach out.  We host dedicated online events, workshops and seminars on things that matter to them and their journey, and we provide all this for a low-cost subscription of just £10 a month. To find out more about SE Folk, and whether it is a place for you, visit www.sefolk.com 
    Show More Show Less
    16 mins