What support can NICVA provide to ethnic minority organisations?

Last week, NICVA hosted an information and networking event for organisations from the ethnic minority sector.

The purpose of the session was to inform representatives from ethnic minority sector organisations about the support services which NICVA can offer and explore what support NICVA could provide in addition to what the sector is currently receiving. Below is a summary of the services NICVA provides as well as links to further information.

The session started out with a roundtable introduction and representatives from the ethnic minority groups highlighting what their support needs are. These were identified as:

  • Training and development needs
  • Support with HR policy development
  • Governance support
  • Support for smaller organisations
  • Support and advice in funding and identifying appropriate funding streams
  • Capacity building
  • Support outside the Belfast area.

Current barriers to support:

  • Costs
  • Marginalization
  • Lack of visibility

 

Membership of NICVA

If you are a voluntary, community or social enterprise organisation in NI with an income of under £20,000 per year, you can join NICVA for free. Find out how NICVA membership can benefit you here.

 

NICVA teams and services:

Governance and Charity Advice

The Governance and Charity Advice team offers advice, information and practical support on a wide range of matters from charity regulations to dealing with governance issues on the board.

Support includes committee training and advice, free advice on how to register a charity, assistance with the ‘public benefit’ requirement, advice on annual accounts and annual charity returns. There is also bespoke governance training available and a constitution drafting service.

There is a significant amount of good governance advice notes that can be found on the NICVA website here  covering everything from setting up a group and achieving charitable status to best practice on committees. You can also find lots of information, resources and templates via the DIY committee guide.

Contact Governance and Charity Advice Manager [email protected] for more information.

Fundraising

NICVA's Fundraising Advice Officer is here to provide the voluntary and community sector with help and support for all aspects of your fundraising needs. She provides access to regular, reliable and up to date funding information to help the sector, from resources to help your funding applications succeed, to Grant Tracker our dedicated funding toolkit; a valuable resource for charities and communities.

Our fundraising officer Lynn is putting on dedicated free fundraising clinics for those organisations from an ethnic minority sector on 18 June, you can register for a session here.

Contact Fundraising Advice Manager [email protected] for more information.

Training

NICVA provides training to organisations to help them become robust, resilient and to adapt to change. NICVA provides a wide range of training from one-day events to bespoke training packages and online training. The training calendar offers courses in a wide range of subjects from management to governance and from fundraising to campaigning. We also offer several accredited courses.

The training calendar can be viewed here.

Contact Skills Development Coordinator [email protected] for more information.

Sector Matters

Sector Matters is a social enterprise which provides cost effective human resources support to voluntary and community sector. This is a paid for service which can assist with recruitment and selection, job descriptions, interview panels, policies and procedures, handbooks and contracts. These can all be tailored for organisations.

Contact Sector Matters HR Consultant [email protected].

Within NICVA, our own Human Resources Manager Alex Hastings can also provide advice over the phone or email. Contact [email protected] or 028 90877777

Communications and Information

The information team provide up to date information on issues relating to and affecting the voluntary and community sector. There are various communication channels available including the members bulletin, eNews, Community NI, MediaConnect and social media. The team also provides the backbone of our digital services and data management and provide regular training on these issues.

NICVA’s digital channels can be viewed here.

Contact information officer [email protected] for communication needs or [email protected] for advice on data management.

Policy, Public Affairs & Research

This team provide services and support to build a sector that it informed about policy issues, skilled in lobbying, influencing and research, represented to policy and decision makers, collaborating and co-delivering with government and other sectors and who is understood and valued by the media, the public and by government.

The six themes that the team are focussing on now are:

  • Investing in Society
  • Transforming our Health
  • Supporting Minorities
  • Research for Society
  • Beyond Brexit
  • Value for Society

Contact Public Affairs Manager [email protected] for more information.

More information on the NICVA website at https://www.nicva.org/

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