Group Support and Funding

The Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Partnership team supports hundreds of organisations each year, bringing people together to have a voice about what matters to them and their community.

We provide practical support to groups and organisations in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

We have a range of resources and information that you can use in aiding you in setting up your group or developing your projects.

You can talk with our specialist Group Development officers about setting up a group and finding funding for your projects. You can book a groups development appointment online for convenience.

Our team can talk to you about governance and legal structures and we are able to provide a selection of templates and resources on a wide range of topics to help you get started.

Contact us to find out more.

We offer training and networking opportunities for staff and volunteers in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, on a wide range of topics.

Below is a summary of the training and events we offer throughout the year.

Volunteer management workshops:

This free series of workshops run for a morning / afternoon a week over five consecutive weeks via Zoom. They take you through the whole journey from thinking about involving volunteers; recruiting volunteers; volunteers and the law; supporting and developing volunteers; and saying goodbye to them.

Follow this link to view the next Volunteer Management Workshops that are taking place in January 2025.

Funding Ready workshops:

A partnership between Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS), Voluntary Centre Services (VCS) and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has designed and is delivering, this funding ready training programme, focused on improving funding success for Lincolnshire’s voluntary sector organisations.

This free series of workshops runs for a morning or afternoon over five consecutive weeks via Zoom. They will enable groups to build confidence in submitting a funding application. Content will include knowing how to research your beneficiaries, learning about funding sources, how to evidence need and proving outcomes.

Project management:

This three-part workshop running over three 2-hour sessions is aimed at groups with little experience of running a project. It aims to demystify some of the terminology around project management. It will look at project and marketing planning, monitoring systems and how to capture and measure outcomes.

Being a treasurer:

This introductory 2.5 hour workshop looks at the role of a Treasurer, breaking down barriers and myths about what your responsibilities are within a community group and a charity and what skills you need to take on the role.

It also looks at some simple methods on how to track your income and expenditure. This workshop is aimed at people wishing to become a treasurer for a community group or charity or current treasurers who need a confidence boost.

Budgeting for bids:

This 2.5 hour workshop looks at how to compile a project budget for funding bids considering and recovering hidden expenditure within your organisation such as management costs, utility bills and office rent.

This is ideal for anyone who is looking at making a bid or if you would like a refresher on what to consider when setting your budget for bids.

Free online training for volunteers and staff working within the charitable sector:

To complement our group training, we also offer a package of over 70 free online training courses to groups and their volunteers in Lincolnshire.

Follow this link where you can register your volunteers on the Lincolnshire Volunteers website.

Our networking forums rotate on a monthly basis and aims to strengthen and develop the voluntary and community sector in Lincolnshire by bringing staff and volunteers together to share skills, information, experience, good practice, resources and to work collectively on issues of common and minority interest.

Details of our upcoming forums can be found below.

For Voluntary Centre Services forums, which are face-to-face, follow this link to visit their page on the Eventbrite website.

For Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service forums, which are online, follow this link to visit their page on the Eventbrite website.

We offer a free web-based information advice service for VCSE who are looking for sources of funding to help them grow and develop.

Follow this link to see our funding portal for more information and advice about local and national funding opportunities, links to funding search engines, information on how to apply for funding, links to relevant local county strategies and details of the Lincolnshire Funding Ready training programme.

We also offer free Funding Surgery appointments.

These appointments are typically a 20 minute session delivered by our Funding Specialist via a telephone call or teams meeting.

Once you have enquired, you will be sent a diagnostic form that you must complete. Our Funding Surgery appointments are available to organisations and groups operating in the Boston Borough, East Lindsey, South Holland, South Kesteven, North Kesteven, West Lindsey and City of Lincoln district areas only and are available to discuss a specific funding concern.

Your organisation or group can be any of the following, but not limited to:​

• A Small Charity
• A Parish Council
• A Community Group

​ We cannot review any funding applications through our Funding Surgery appointments/support, although we can offer advice on a specific enquiry/concern.

Finally, these appointments are not as in depth as our Funding Ready programme.

If you would like further information, you can follow this link to use our Funding Ready Initial Enquiry Form.

If you are interested in attending a funding surgery, please complete our Expression of Interest Form and we will send you further instructions along with a diagnostic form to complete.

There are many different types of funding available depending on your needs and these are;

Lincolnshire Grant Funding

A partnership between Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS), Voluntary Centre Services (VCS) and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) have designed and are delivering the Funding Ready training programme, focused on improving funding success for Lincolnshire’s voluntary sector organisations.

Charitable Trust Funding

These are philanthropic organisations which means that they exist to give money to charitable causes. Grants are awarded to support projects that meet their own charitable objectives. Follow this link to visit the Lincolnshire Community Foundation website for information on local charitable trust funding.

Regional Grant Funding

Most common regional grants tend to be set amounts of money from central government or regional or local bodies such as a local authority.

Fundraising

There are a number of different ways to raise funds for your group that do not mean that you have to sign up to terms and conditions. Some options include approaching local companies or organisations, individuals, hosting events, running own fundraising events, generating income, gift-aid or trading services. Your group might like to set up a "sub-committee" who will focus on fundraising and can include people who have relevant skills to spread the workload.

International Grant Funding

This type of funding tends to be available for much larger projects that have a common interest amongst other countries (i.e. the European Union).

Local Government Funding

Grants are available from a wide range of local government sources such as County/ District/ Borough Councils or Parish Councils.

Our Funding Forums are created around an interest or found need for them.

Previous forums have included:​

6-25-200 workshop

An online 90 minute interactive workshop on how to describe your organisation in 6, 25 or 200 words only.

Legacy Fundraising

A 90 minute interactive workshop to enable organisations to start having conversations about speaking with people about leaving charitable gifts in their wills.

Full Cost Recovery workshop

An interactive 90 minute workshop which shows why Full Cost Recovery is important when costing projects and how this is important for your organisation.

Introduction to Major Donor Fundraising

An interactive workshop to explain what Major Donor Fundraising is and how to start on you Major Donor fundraising journey.

The aim of the Alliance is to support those organisations offering funding in Lincolnshire through the following opportunities.

• Funding Fairs to meet face to face with those seeking funding
• Networking events
  • to share concerns and best practice with other funders
  • to consider the emerging trends, challenges and needs of those groups and charities in the county that seek funding
  • to respond effectively to local needs

You can find out more about the Lincolnshire Funders Alliance by sending us an email.