This presentation was part of a webinar on the 19th November 2014. These slides were presented by Karen Naya from OPM where he looks at the basic principles of demand led support and his exploratory research. For more information on BIG Assist: www.bigassist.org.uk

1. Welcome to the
webinar
Demand-led support:
the way forward for
VCS organisations?
The webinar will start just after 12.00, to
give people time to sign in

2. Karen Naya,
Fellow
OPM
Evaluators of BIG Assist
Rob Macmillan,
Research Fellow
Third Sector Research
Centre
NCVO
Delivering the BIG Assist
programme
This webinar brings
together OPM, NCVO
and TSRC
to share our learning and
involve you.

3. In this session:
• Sharing our learning on the opportunities and
issues
• Third Sector Research Centre’s perspective,
including recent learning from: A brave new world
for voluntary sector infrastructure? Vouchers,
markets and demand led capacity building.
• OPM’s evaluation of the BIG Assist programme
— Sharing emerging learning from Customers and
Suppliers
— Using the learning to inform programme development
• Next steps

4. OPM evaluation of BIG Assist
• Evaluating the programme’s impact
• Sharing emerging learning from
Customers and Suppliers
• Using the learning to inform
programme development
• Next steps
The evaluation
focuses on the impact
of BIG Assist and the
extent to which key
programme outcomes
have been met.
Emerging evidence
from earlier days of
the programme.
Evaluation evidence is
building until Spring
2015

5. Evaluation of BIG Assist
• Method:
• December 2012 to May 2015, evidence at various points in time
• in-depth qualitative interviews with baseline of 25 first round supplier organisations, 15
round one infrastructure organisations who have received vouchers for direct support
and 5 organisations that chose not to apply at the time. At early stages of programme.
• follow-up interviews with the first round customer infrastructure organisations 6 months
later, to understand the impact of their BIG Assist support
• in-depth interviews with another round of 25 Suppliers
• interviews with a further 35 customer infrastructure organisations, at receipt of support
and 6 months later
• Analysis of programme generated literature and data: including peer to peer activity via
Connectspace, Sharespace, Marketplace, use of Library
• Interviews with the BIG Assist team

6. Emerging insights about customers
• Diversity
• Important support at a critical time
• A lot is ‘new’: model, customers, expertise,
funding
• Good quality support
• Experience of engaging with BIG Assist
— Time to apply
— Time to move forward
— Support from BIG Assist
— Follow-up
“We couldn’t have
afforded [without
BIG Assist funding]
it even though it
was only a small
amount – we’re
only a small
organisation, and
the work wouldn’t
have got done at
all. […] This piece of
work was
invaluable.”
(Customer)

7. Emerging insights about suppliers
• Reasons for engaging
— genuinely focused on supporting infrastructure
— reach broader markets, new networks and clients
— inclusion seen as an endorsement of quality
• Range of suppliers
— diverse, offer range of support, some specialists
• Impact at this (early) point
— unsure of impact on their business models,
— or longer term change in general
— marketing
“So people who
need me, can find
me”
(Supplier)
“the fact that we
were able to work
with an external
consultant added to
our reputation in
terms of being
trustworthy as an
organisation, it added
to our integrity – and
without a doubt it
went a long way to
persuading our
members to share
their data with us”
(Customer)

8. 1. Infrastructure organisations provide higher
quality support to customer and frontline
VCSE sector organisations because through
Assist, they:
a) gain knowledge and skills to implement change and
new ways of working
b) over the medium to longer term, have implemented
changes to the way they work and provide services;
c) feel increased confidence that they will be more
sustainable in the future

9. a) gain knowledge and skills to implement
change and new ways of working
• relevant and focused
• expert, credible
• good value
• focused on IO improvements to support
front line
“It was really good to
speak to someone with
a bit of distance who
really understood the
voluntary sector”
(Customer)
“The guidance was
brilliant, they were
professional, they
asked lots of questions,
really took time to
understand our
organisation”.
(Customer)

10. b) Over the medium to longer term, have
implemented changes to the way they
work and provide services;
• too early to be confident that changes
are secure
• but encouraging early evidence
• support being used to plan - and initiate
- some fundamental changes, with far
reaching implications
“the fact that we were
able to work with an
external consultant
added to our reputation
in terms of being
trustworthy as an
organisation, it added
to our integrity – and
without a doubt it went
a long way to
persuading our
members to share their
data with us”
(Customer)

11. c) Feel increased confidence that they will
be more sustainable in the future
• developing new business plans, new
products and new branding
• contributes to identifying sustainable
and alternative sources of funding
and resource going forward
• excitement around developing new
products and offers to the front-line
“BIG Assist has made
definite changes and
it gave us a boost,
because it has given
us an injection of
expertise into our
team that we would
have been no way
been able to afford as
a small organisation”
(Customer)

12. National VCSE and private sector support
providers develop better and more
sustainable models of providing support
services to infrastructure organisations
because they:
a) Supply support which matches their own
areas of quality practice and IOs needs
b) Learn from, and can respond to, IOs
exercising choice from a selection of
quality suppliers
c) Learn from and make changes to the
support they provide in response to IO
feedback
“developing 10 birds
with one stone”
(Sole Trader)

13. 3. IOs value and feel they benefit from the
opportunities for peer to peer learning
and support
• higher level of awareness of peer to peer
opportunities
• IO attention focused on sponsored visits,
rather than on-line engagement
platforms
• very positive about experience of
supported visit experience
— learnt new things, seen alternative approaches
and developed their networks
• x

14. 4. Assist develops and shares learning about
how demand-led models of national support
services could work in a local and national
context and in a more market oriented way
• programme has required considerable
infrastructure and ongoing management, in
terms of:
— creating and delivering the programme
— preparing customers to maximise the opportunities
afforded
— preparing suppliers

15. Using the learning to inform programme
development
• Pilot learning, moved on from early platform
• Increased voucher size from max. £7k to £15K
• Customers successfully completing support can reapply for
another voucher
• Investing more in sponsored visits
• Developing briefings, guidance and discussion opportunities to
support Customers

16. Thank you for joining us.
Live Q & A session follows in the BIG Assist on-line
discussion forum:
http://www.bigassist.org.uk/forum/topic/156
19th November 2014