It can really help your group to run smoothly if the financial side of things is well managed and carefully looked after. It is your whole group’s responsibility to do this – it’s important not to just leave it up to just one person. This section provides information to help your group to take shared responsibility for the finances. It outlines why it is important to be well organised about keeping track of your group’s money, and suggests strate…

This section brings together practical information and advice to help you organise successful events and activities. Whatever your group is doing – from holding a summer fair to planning a conference, from organising an after-school club to gathering support for a campaign – we have tips and useful contacts to help you achieve your goals. Planning and organising events Practicalities of running an event Working with Children Running a Sports Grou…

… Publicity is an important part of running a group. It is the way you let people know what you are doing and how they can get involved. This section is full of information about how to publicise your group’s activities to your community and the public. …

Choosing a legal structure is about deciding how your group will be run, how decisions will be made, and how formal the organisation needs to be. Think carefully about what you actually want your group to do. Many small, volunteer run groups only need a fairly informal structure which doesn’t require lots of work to set up or maintain. These pages will help you understand the basics of different legal structures, so that you can get on with runni…

Organising a one-off workshop or activity session can be a great way to liven up your regular meetings or play sessions, or to attract people to a special event. We have information in this section to help you plan and organise fun, safe activities in your community. Click on the Links tab at the top of this page for some activity and workshop ideas and local people who can offer them. If you have recommendations for more people like this, please…

… Community buildings and community rooms can be really important, valuable places for local people to meet and do things together. Having a place to go helps people get to know other people who live close to them, and also makes it easier for groups to get together and organise things. This section provides advice about some of the things to consider when running a community building or a community room. …

The important thing to remember when writing funding applications is that every funder is different, so every application should be different. Funders are only likely to fund you if they support the particular kind of work your group is doing, so finding the right funders, and writing your application to show how you fit into their priorities, is really important. This section will help you to find the right funders for your group, write applicat…

When it comes to fundraising, it helps to be creative. There are lots of different ways your group could try to raise money – using more than one method can increase your chances of success. This section provides ideas about different ways you could raise money for your group. It also provides tips about what to think about when planning and running a fundraising event. If you are planning a fundraising event, you might also find it useful to loo…