New this week
It's all about the learning...
Featured: Autumn plans and offers.
'Standing the test of time' - learning from recent workshops.
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Read on for workshop offers and free course content. This is the second newsletter in our new weekly format, bringing you bite sized learning, resources and offers. The response has been fantastic so far, but do feel free to tell us what you think anytime!
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Lasting Difference workshops: New look, new content, still vital.
We've updated our core Lasting Difference workshops, packaging them into three standalone online masterclasses. They replicate everything you'd expect from face-to-face participation...
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- Clear content delivery with unique extra resources.
- Full interaction, with audio, video, text chat, polls and shared notes.
- Peer sharing and support. Reflective space for small group activity, supported by members of the Lasting Difference team.
- Specialist guest speakers bringing new insights and experience.
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Outcomes
Enthusiastic feedback shows that this new format is a successful way to achieve these core learning outcomes:
- Increased ability to sustain your learning and innovation from Covid-19.
- Improved understanding of how to sustain your work and/or its impact using the five sustainability capabilities.
- Improved readiness for transitioning from survival to sustainability, with clearly identified exit strategies.
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Masterclass 1: Understanding sustainability in a recovering world - paradoxes, principles and practices
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Understand the principles and develop the practices you need to survive - and sustain your work - in a post-crisis world. Use your learning from the current crisis and recent years to identify what to sustain.
'Great session - feeling very inspired.'
'Brilliant. Well worth the time!'
'Fantastic.'
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Masterclass 2:
The Five Capabilities
How to develop and apply the Five Capabilities of sustainable organisations, brought to life with practical examples and learning among supportive peers:
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Involvement
Income generation
Innovation
Improvement
Impact measurement
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'These sessions are so incredibly useful at the moment!'
'The toolkit is more relevant than ever now and I understand it much better than before.'
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Masterclass 3: Following the Exit Signs and sustainable impact
Explore the six possible exit strategies for projects, initiatives or organisations, identifying your own way to transition from survival to sustainability.
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We will also introduce a unique new way of thinking about sustainable impact, identifying what can be done individually, organisationally and at a community and policy level.
'Very helpful and enlightening!'
'Really enjoyed all three sessions - incredibly useful.'
'Such a great experience.'
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Pricing
Each workshop is £60 per person, with a range of special rates to help the sector in recovery:
- The programme is FREE to Lasting Difference symbol holders!
- 30% discount for members of ACOSVO, CCPS, Scottish Environment LINK and Voluntary Health Scotland.
- 30% discount for groups funded by Corra Foundation, Gannochy Trust, Impact Funding Partners, Paths for All, Shared Care Scotland and TNL Community Fund.
- For everyone else, book all three workshops for the price of two, just £120+Vat.
If you are a funder or membership organisation, contact Graeme to arrange discounts for your members.
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Standing the test of time.
[This article by Graeme Reekie first appeared in a guest blog for Corra Foundation]
As any fan of the BBC’s Repair Shop knows, the things that stand the test of time aren’t necessarily the most solidly built. They’re those that have been cared for. The same goes for our charities.
In our recent workshop series, participants described surviving recent turmoil by involving people, innovating and improving. These are the same capabilities we’ll need in future too.
The workshops explored the principles of sustainable organisations, then the practices, before concluding with exit strategies and lasting impact. The key moment for me as the facilitator came during the second workshop on the five ‘sustainability capabilities’.
As the workshop started, I asked people what was on their minds right now. Probably unsurprisingly, income generation was top of the list, with nearly half of the votes. A third of people said innovation and about half that many said impact measurement. By the end of the workshop however, innovation was the main concern, followed equally by involvement and improvement. Income generation came last.
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What changed? People realised that income generation, vital as it is, is impossible without the other four capabilities.
- If you don’t involve participants and partners, how do you know what they want?
- How do you innovate without their ideas?
- How can you measure the impact you have had?
- If you’re not doing impact measurement, how do you know what needs to be improved?
- And if you’re not innovating or improving, forget income generation, why does your charity even exist?
Covid didn’t bring our charities new challenges. It intensified the ones we’ve always had. It also brought opportunities. We reached people in new ways, changed how we work, and how we care for each other as humans, colleagues and communities. That’s what will help us stand the test of this and any other time.
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In next week's update:
- Learning from e-learning!
- Our October e-learning intake
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