NYA Update: Comment - Business developing our sector for the good

With less freely available government funding, the sector has had to look elsewhere for its much-needed income. Increasingly we find ourselves working with a diverse range of funders that are taking a more active interest in the role of youth work in young people’s lives.

These funders see their role as an opportunity to use their skills and expertise in enabling society to move forward – or for the less able to catch up. Their approach is different to that of the traditional funder. Rather than being guided by a procurement directive, they bring to the table an ethos of support, keen to link the strengths of their workforces to the project in hand.

My experience of running national programmes funded by a corporate partner is that funders see their own strengths and business development methodologies working to develop solutions for issues of social need. This approach enables them to bring their business skills to bear on an issue, rather than just their money. I therefore feel that their recognition that a healthy community and a competitive business are synonymous can lead to some interesting developments in the charitable sector. We will see businesses helping with skills sharing and capacity building, and support social investment as a business opportunity.

This is a change from funders handing over the money with further involvement being around copious quarterly reports and prodigious record keeping. The new funders refreshingly expect the work to be done and done well, but want to use their staff’s time and expertise to focus the work and help it to be done better. They look for volunteering opportunities so that their staff can make an impact. We in turn ensure that their people have a good experience – and a better impression of young people as a result.

This has to be good, doesn’t it? We need to work with business and to learn from their practice as much as we need their funding. We have a needy population of children and young people who our work nurtures and supports. Above all, we should seek to engage the strongest in society in, as Rowan Williams says, “working towards the common good and the public service”.

What could be wrong with that?

Simon Hargrave, national programme manager, NYA