From flipchart to kindle: the evolution of a training workshop

“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.” - Peter Drucker

Back in August 2012 I left my role as Head of Fundraising at The Prince’s Trust, opting to take voluntary redundancy during an organisational restructure. My son was three months old at the time and even though, in hindsight, it was not the most responsible move I’ve ever made, I remember feeling determined that I could find some balance between securing freelance work and being around more for my family.

Luckily, the first few years of self-employment came with lots of opportunities, plenty of work and exciting new connections. I began to specialise in working with medium-sized charities to develop the systems and materials they needed to apply for grants, and I was soon inundated with work researching funders, writing bids and completing evaluations.

I was then asked to run a workshop for people who were either planning to start a community group or charity, or in the early days of doing so. My partner who, at the time was a Training Manager for a large IT company, helped me to put together the workshop plan and we delivered it together in March 2017.

This was to become the first of many workshops I’ve delivered in partnership with Kirklees TSL, which I continue to run regularly to this day.

Over the years, I’ve developed workshops on new topics and re-written the content many times, in response to the feedback from attendees and those working within the sector.

The training content has, quite organically, developed into these three topics, that I’ve now based the workbooks on.

• Developing your idea

• Starting a not-for-profit

• Applying for grants

The three workbooks are now available on Amazon, both in paperback and for kindle.

Paid subscribers to my Substack newsletter (and existing clients with complimentary subscriptions) can also download the fillable PDF versions.

In each of these workbooks, you’ll find the information that I’ve delivered in-person for the last six years, with the addition of some writing prompts and further resources.

The evolution of these workbooks, from their original form as a half-day workshop, have been adapted for many different training courses and events over the years. It feels quite satisfying to wrap them up into neat little workbooks, and it feels like the right time to make them available to people outside of my direct consultancy work.

As my freelance work evolved to focus more on training and mentoring, I also made another shift from working with large, national charities, to working with small, local grassroots community groups. Not only is this infinitely more rewarding, it comes with a responsibility too, to be generous with my knowledge and to deliver real value.

From dedicating my career to the not-for-profit sector, to running my own business as a social enterprise, it’s always been important to me to provide genuine contribution and value to my clients, to those who attend my workshops, and to those who access my content online. So I’m really pleased to be able to provide the three core workshops I’ve been running for some time as low-cost workbooks, available in both paperback and kindle formats.

As I wrap up this project of converting the content into a workbook format, I’m also midway through creating some new online courses on those topics that I’ve helped my clients with over the years, such as:

• Fundraising Explained - for community groups

• Fundraising from Trusts & Foundations

• Writing a business plan for your not-for-profit

• Developing a sustainability plan  

• Building a fundraising strategy

I’d love you to comment below and tell me about any topics you’d most value some specialist training on.

Here’s a little more information on each of workbooks:

Developing Your Idea

This workbook, with access to a playlist of six videos, is designed to guide you through the process of developing your idea.

This is the stage at which you’re thinking about how you can use your experience in a way that helps others; to take what you’ve learned and pay it forward.

For you, this could be an idea for a business, a community group, something you create and sell. It might be that you see a gap; something that’s missing, and you know you have the ability to fill it.

The workbook covers:

• Who do you want to help?

• What are you trying to achieve?

• Is now the right time?

• Where is your community?

• Why does this matter to you?

• How, exactly, will it work?

Starting a not-for-profit

This workbook, plus access to a playlist of 6 videos, is designed to give you all the information you need to explore your options in starting a community group, charity or social enterprise in England & Wales.

The workbook covers:

• What is a not-for-profit?

• Legal structures for your not-for-profit

• What is a charity and how do I start one?

• What is a social enterprise and how do I start one?

• Six steps to starting your not-for-profit

• Your Why

• Useful resources

Applying for grants

This workbook, with access to a playlist of ten videos, is an introduction to researching and applying for grant funding for community groups, charities and social enterprises in England & Wales.

The workbook covers:

• Researching & identifying funders

• Resources for fundraisers

• Building a shortlist

• Increasing success

• Bid-writing

• Supporting documents

• How to handle rejection

• Useful resources

The three workbooks are available on Amazon, both in paperback and for kindle.

Paid subscribers to my Substack newsletter (and existing clients with complimentary subscriptions) can also download the fillable PDF versions.

My hope is that these workbooks provide both the information and inspiration to help more people develop their idea, start their group and get their projects funded, which go on to make a positive difference in the world.

Rachel x