Support in tendering & generating income

Having worked with the public sector procuring £millions from charities and social enterprises as well as tendering ourselves and supporting others we can provide support at every stage of the tendering process.

Developing an income generation strategy

If you are considering generating more earned income then we can help with the initial thinking. In our experience while it is critical whatever you do fits with your values and vision it often isn't what you do within your charity to support your users. Normally you have little spare capacity in your core functions and these are what you want to generate income to support. The key is to think creatively, which is where we can help, with experience in over a 100 different sectors.

We can run a Creative Think Tank session which can identify what sorts of contracts and income generating you can do and who you might need as partners.

Getting ready to tender

If you have not had contracts before then there are some basics to get in place which we can help with, from ensuring you have all the policies and insurances you need to help with 'boilerplate' text which you will use in all tenders. As part of being contract ready we will also advise on where to find tender opportunities and review with you those which are most likely to be attractive and which you stand the best chance of winning.

Identifying partners

Particularly for smaller charities or social enterprises you may need a partner to help get you to a large enough turnover to credibly tender or to help with geographical coverage or capacity. We are skilled at helping people identify and build successful collaborations.

Ensuring you make money

While profit is not a word that charities tend to use, it is important when thinking about income generation and tendering. Covering both direct and indirect costs as well as overheads is critical, as is reflecting the cost of actually tendering for the work. Whoever we work with, we look to ensure that they are generating sustainable profit and this is one of the core principles of our Responsible Organisation Charter(c).

We are always happy to have an initial free chat so give us a ring on 01709 810080 or contact us here.