1. Strategic relationships between the organisation and the voluntary sector
The voluntary sector is a key partner for sport and your organisation needs to have negotiated a strategic relationship with it. The Government have promoted this relationship through their “Compact with the third sector” policy.
Partnership working- IDeA Knowledge As councils become more sophisticated communicators, more are developing innovative schemes to work and communicate with partner organisations in all sectors. The Connecting with Communities research was mainly concerned with communication with local residents, and only touched on some of the wider audiences. But we did discover some excellent examples of good practice. Many of these are relatively new and haven't been evaluated yet. But we feel they offer useful guidance for authorities looking at new approaches.
2. Training staff for partnership working Specific skills and competencies are often required to work effectively with the voluntary sector if the relationship is to be effective.
Training-IDeA Knowledge Developing the range of skills involved in partnership working takes time. To be truly effective, councils need to invest in the specific skills needed to extend their remit beyond traditional PR functions. This might include developing skills in the following areas: Developing skills for partnership working- Employers association for local government Assess your learning needs against those set out in this interactive tool. 3. Capacity building in the voluntary sector
To be effective the voluntary sector needs to be supported to enable it to build the capacity to assist you. This is often more important in the community sector than the paid voluntary sector or grant aided sector.
It is important that you measure the benefits and costs of working with the voluntary sector and ensure you can assess its impact and value. It is all too easy for long standing relationships to simply continuing without achieving your objectives.
