We spoke to a fair few volunteering organisations, grant providers and charities when we set up The Red Thread Fellowship. This is our free year-long development programme for aspiring middle managers who are prepared to commit an hour a week to support a local charity in becoming more sustainable.

And after two years of running the programme and supporting the charities we have worked with, we have gained some good insights and learning in to what charities would really like from corporate support and/or partnerships.

So we thought we’d share a few thoughts about how to get the best from these relationships.

Embrace them

It is still the case that there is a sense in the third sector that all those commercial organisations are somehow a little ‘dirty’ – always focused on making money. Well some of them may well be, but there are hundreds and thousands of businesses staffed by great people who really want to help you succeed in the work you are doing. Be open to each and every offer, but make sure it is genuinely going to help you and not distract you from your core purpose. If it is – just say no thank you.

Be Open

You don’t know what skills and capabilities any prospective corporate supporter or partner may be able to offer, but be open to the possibilities. Most importantly, be open to being challenged about how you run your charity. Yes, you do know what you do better than any commercial organisation is going to do – but many commercial organisations will understand finance and making money work hard better than you might. So listen, share openly and try not to be defensive. It was sobering when we heard from one grant agency that they would make more grants available if only the quality of applications were higher – a corporate partner may well be able to help you there.

Little and often v Big bang

We’ve done events where businesses send a group of their managers to help take on an infrastructure task for a local charity – often as part of a team building or development event. They can be brilliant and really help provide a step up for a charity. But you’ll need to keep that asset working for you after they’ve gone; and in one case we heard about, the quality of the work was so poor that the charity had to call in professional decorators afterwards.

By contrast, in the Fellowship, we offer you an experienced manager who will give you an hour a week of their time for a year. Used well, that level of support can make huge changes for you – implement new finance systems, re-work costings, renegotiate contracts, support a culture change or engagement drive – the possibilities are endless.

It all comes back to knowing what you want and ensuring you get the best out of the support that is being offered to you. If you do need a new fence putting up around a piece of land that you use – corporate team days are great. If you’re looking for ongoing sustainable improvements, then little and often will probably suit you better.

Trustees/Directors

Trustees or directors, whatever you call them – they are a crucial element for a successful charity. What we’ve noticed with some of the organisations that we’ve worked with is that Boards are often fair weather friends. When things get really difficult many people will say ‘this is not what I signed up for’. So recruit your trustees carefully and don’t gloss over what may be required from them if things get tough. Hopefully they won’t, but the last thing you need is for your board of trustees to evaporate if they do.

We’re very proud at the number of our Fellows who have become trustees of the charities we have supported through the Fellowship and know that after having worked with the charities in question for a year, they know what they are committing to.

So there you have it – a few thoughts gleaned from our experiences of working with the third sector through our Fellowship. If you’d like to know more about the Fellowship then please do go to our website for more details: http://www.the-redthread.co.uk/RTP-fellowship.html

The Red Thread Fellowship™ is run by The Red Thread Partnership Limited, a leadership and organisation development consultancy specialising in Leadership Development, Team Development, Culture Change and Engagement.