Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

A place to discuss the issues relating to the proposed change in the national CTC’s structure.
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Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

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Reply to this topic for general comments about this page on the main CTC site: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

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Simon L6
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by Simon L6 »

Image
Image

in the light of the blurb on the CTC site I thought it worthwhile putting a few figures to the diagrams above
The Club's expenditure incluese

£97,251 for Marketing and Publicity,
the princely sum of £18,318 for Local Groups and Volunteer Support,
£235,211 for 'Membership Fulfillment',
£139,988 for 3rd Party Insurance
£117,421 for support to 'Cycle'
£66,864 for other membership costs
£29,895 to run Council
£33,814 for other Directorate Costs
£231,707 for Staff Costs
£113,744 for Central Overheads
and....
£872,628 donation to Trust
glueman
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by glueman »

From that pie we can deduce local groups and volunteers are on a starvation diet. Not so much a slice as a bit of pastry cook forgot to put on a different plate. Or is it a gesture, something to make the old girl feel involved when nobody expects her to be at the table next christmas?
John Catt
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by John Catt »

glueman wrote:From that pie we can deduce local groups and volunteers are on a starvation diet. Not so much a slice as a bit of pastry cook forgot to put on a different plate. Or is it a gesture, something to make the old girl feel involved when nobody expects her to be at the table next christmas?


The "old girl" has some pretty good reserves:

This seems to be confirmed by the response of groups, access to discretionary grants appears to serve its purpose where needed, only 48 groups claimed their allocation fee and groups currently hold £266,053 in balances.


See:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5364#eleven
glueman
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by glueman »

It would be interesting to see what percentage of MG/DA funds go on marketing. Presently we are told a small ratio of CTC members attend group activities and I would imagine personnel turnover in groups is low - both incoming and outgoing. It continues to intrigue me that low participation is accepted as a fact of life without any obvious attempt to advertise runs or put money into developing best practice or increase attendance and diversity of participants.

A cynic might suggest social riding has been written off as an anachronism that belongs in the past, mainly because thinking about its future is hard work. I'm not surprised there's a cash surplus, even from a tiny pot, when the club's involvement in regional activity goes no further than allowing the title Member Group to people who fancy running a self-organised bike club.
Groups who do think outside the box (Si's night riders, the Stourbug women) seem to enjoy huge take-up, and from people who don't represent the usual constituency. The potential for local involvement via the medium of the social group has barely been explored but when it has looked to new communities the signs have been most promising. Individual zealotry is only half the story, the rest is central commitment to groups and advertising. A member of staff with a remit for group development would show a commitment from head office, especially when other specialisms seem to enjoy the backing of the club.

Edit: this subject is in danger of hijacking the urgent title topics, contracts et cetera, so it'll be worth continuing in the appropriate box.
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Simon L6
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by Simon L6 »

John Catt wrote:
The "old girl" has some pretty good reserves:

This seems to be confirmed by the response of groups, access to discretionary grants appears to serve its purpose where needed, only 48 groups claimed their allocation fee and groups currently hold £266,053 in balances.


See:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5364#eleven
Sorry, but that's disingenuous. Discretionary grants are for projects, not communicating with members.
John Catt
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by John Catt »

glueman wrote:It would be interesting to see what percentage of MG/DA funds go on marketing. Presently we are told a small ratio of CTC members attend group activities and I would imagine personnel turnover in groups is low - both incoming and outgoing. It continues to intrigue me that low participation is accepted as a fact of life without any obvious attempt to advertise runs or put money into developing best practice or increase attendance and diversity of participants.

A cynic might suggest social riding has been written off as an anachronism that belongs in the past, mainly because thinking about its future is hard work. I'm not surprised there's a cash surplus, even from a tiny pot, when the club's involvement in regional activity goes no further than allowing the title Member Group to people who fancy running a self-organised bike club.
Groups who do think outside the box (Si's night riders, the Stourbug women) seem to enjoy huge take-up, and from people who don't represent the usual constituency. The potential for local involvement via the medium of the social group has barely been explored but when it has looked to new communities the signs have been most promising. Individual zealotry is only half the story, the rest is central commitment to groups and advertising. A member of staff with a remit for group development would show a commitment from head office, especially when other specialisms seem to enjoy the backing of the club.

Edit: this subject is in danger of hijacking the urgent title topics, contracts et cetera, so it'll be worth continuing in the appropriate box.

Good points. The Groups each have their own accounts and probably don't break down marketing.

The problem is that groups vary enormously and what they do or don't do depends on the people in them. I know down the years that many of the groups I have had contact with have grumbled about interference, as they see it, by National Office and they like to run very independently.

I'm a Trustee of the British Humanist Association http://www.humanism.org.uk and we have the similar problems with groups wanting to do their own thing. Some are keen to recruit and campaign whilst other are just a group of friends who like to get together for a chat every month or so. See http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104922071154654484023.000445e78551b7899ca38&ll=54.622978,-5.361328&spn=8.020714,16.655273&z=6.

The thing that almost certainly makes the difference is the enthusiasm for proselytising of individuals in groups. To some this comes naturally and they are enthusiastic about getting new recruits. They are essentially natural salesmen or women. However, as you will be told by any marketing manager, really good natural salesmen are quite rare.

We certainly need to look at new an innovative ways of encouraging and marketing all the various groups, but this falls quite naturally within the charitable objectives and so isn't really an issue in this debate.
John Catt
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by John Catt »

Simon L6 wrote:Sorry, but that's disingenuous. Discretionary grants are for projects, not communicating with members.


As far as I am aware there is no obstacle to a group applying for a grant to contact its members if it want to try and get more of them out on their bikes and they are short of funds. Particularly if this is to try and stop the Group collapsing.
glueman
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by glueman »

John Catt wrote:
As far as I am aware there is no obstacle to a group applying for a grant to contact its members if it want to try and get more of them out on their bikes and they are short of funds. Particularly if this is to try and stop the Group collapsing.


You'll appreciate the difference between applying for a grant for a collapsing group and a proactive stance on DA/MGs, including throwing a salaried bod at spreading their merits far and wide. CTC has an open field on non-competitive cycling but no clear policy on bringing together individual cyclists. Some riders might say group cycling isn't for them because they haven't found a group like them, or the existing group hasn't got its activities on their radar.

I'm sensing little enthusiasm for the idea of groups as integral to the club's future, never mind their being at the centre of policy. As a card carrying relativist and animist I'd like to chew the cud re. humanism and a member group might be just the place to do it. Now there's an idea for a section!
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Simon L6
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by Simon L6 »

well, quite (I think). We have a membership system that doesn't trouble to collect e-mail addresses - and if John wants to go and watch Arvato in action, as I have, then they'll doubtelss welcome him. We also have, at long last, renewal by internet. Either way - telephone or internet, we should be collecting nigh on 100% of e-mail addresses. We collect postal addresses - why are e-mail addresses so difficult.

And, again, member group details on the main CTC site should be 100% up to date. My branch sec has a collection of e-mails sent to National Office regarding DA officers' details.
manybikes
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by manybikes »

John Catt seems to think that MG are well catered for because
This seems to be confirmed by the response of groups, access to discretionary grants appears to serve its purpose where needed, only 48 groups claimed their allocation fee and groups currently hold £266,053 in balances.
The link he provided also says
Member groups can currently claim 0.5% of the adult membership fee for each member assigned to their group by postcode or who opts to move their membership to another group. (regardless of participation rates)
.
Do MG/DAs know the procedures then? Do we know why only 48 claimed?
Our very long standing DA has not had its allocation for the last year (not something I recall over the last 25 years) and the omission was raised by the membership at our AGM, naturally because the accounts came under scrutiny.
We were told that HO have been asked why we have not had it but there had, at that time, not been a satisfactory reply or resolution. An isolated case perhaps?
John Catt
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by John Catt »

manybikes wrote: The link he provided also says
Member groups can currently claim 0.5% of the adult membership fee for each member assigned to their group by postcode or who opts to move their membership to another group. (regardless of participation rates)
.
Do MG/DAs know the procedures then? Do we know why only 48 claimed?
Our very long standing DA has not had its allocation for the last year (not something I recall over the last 25 years) and the omission was raised by the membership at our AGM, naturally because the accounts came under scrutiny.
We were told that HO have been asked why we have not had it but there had, at that time, not been a satisfactory reply or resolution. An isolated case perhaps?


I can only speak for the groups I have been associated with, but I believe most of the treasurers were aware that these funds were available. However, in my experience, the groups are very proud of their independence and prefer to rely on their own resources, resenting any overt interference or attempt at control by National Office.

I can't speak about what happened with your group. I believe the treasurer has to claim. Do you know when he did and if he chased? There can be administative errors in any organisation, whether or not they are a charity.
glueman
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by glueman »

John Catt wrote: However, in my experience, the groups are very proud of their independence and prefer to rely on their own resources, resenting any overt interference or attempt at control by National Office.


Do you believe all MGs should be independent in that case, or is there a place for a dedicated DA officer, expansion of the group network, inter-group exchanges, 'interference' for those who require promotion and central support, advice and resources for those less proud and keen to expand?
John Catt
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by John Catt »

glueman wrote:
John Catt wrote: However, in my experience, the groups are very proud of their independence and prefer to rely on their own resources, resenting any overt interference or attempt at control by National Office.


Do you believe all MGs should be independent in that case, or is there a place for a dedicated DA officer, expansion of the group network, inter-group exchanges, 'interference' for those who require promotion and central support, advice and resources for those less proud and keen to expand?


No member group (if it claims to be a CTC Group and registers as such) can be completely independent. However they are run by an enormous variety of volunteers and each group (in my experience) has its own ethos and traditions that have evolved over the years. Some are content to carry on with their traditional practices whilst others are keen to try new things and expand (with all variations above, below and around :-) ) under the CTC umbrella. What I am fairly sure is that trying to impose "initiatives" from the centre won't go down too well with many. So we have to be careful, otherwise we could demotivate some of our most loyal members.

The change in the group structure was I believe introduced to facilitate the formation of new groups. I believe one of its aims was to avoid resentments over territorial claims.

Trying to deal with your points, one at a time.

Firstly, as I understand it there are no longer any District Associations, just groups, and to quote from the website
Since we started getting substantial funding from external bodies we have been able to divert more resources to support for CTC volunteers. Our Member group development officer’s post has become full time as has the Right to Ride Development post. (Both were previously required to carry out other duties as well as support for their networks.)
see http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5365#eight.

With regard to the "expansion of the group network" charitable status might well provide additional funding from outside sources for the development of existing and new groups. Again to quote from the website (link as above)
In particular Member groups are strongly encouraged to take part in activity which promotes cycling to new participants in order to attract new people to their rides or to get resources for their volunteers.

Groups can be supported financially and with staff time to put on a wide range of events and activities for new cyclists. Staff funded by external funders have helped support Member activities such as the York Cycle Show, Birthday Rides, Challenge Rides, CTC local groups conference, Wales Festival of Cycling and the CTC Scotland Members’ gathering.

Member groups are strongly encouraged to contact national office to request any additional support that they would find useful, CTC now has 30 staff whose purpose is to support local cycling champions; we want to hear from you!


I'm not sure what you mean by "inter-group exchanges". I presume you mean people getting around to share best practice. Yes, where appropriate, if there is a group that believes it can learn from another, then I'd be happy to see resources used to facilitate this. It would be fully in line with both the existing charitable objectives of the Trust and of the CTC if it becomes a charity. I'm a great believer in test and learn. So trying it out a few times to see if it works and then either building on it or dumping it depending on results would be my favoured approach. I would also use this for testing any other proposals that members or groups that came up with that looked practical.

As to "'interference' for those who require promotion and central support" - no, I don't think this would work. Encouragement yes (but expecting some to ignore it).

We are dealing with volunteers who have a perfect right to tell National Office what to do with their "initiatives" if they so choose and walk away from the organisation .

Of course this doesn't mean that we can't encourage new and different groups in those areas where existing groups aren't particularly proactive. The cycle champions have been reaching out into communities where cycling is not exactly endemic.

By way of example in my locality Elizabeth Barner is working to this brief:
The CTC Cycling Champions Development Officer will work with 35 community groups over the four years of the project. The groups will come from communities typically under-represented amongst existing cyclists. Beneficiary groups might include women’s groups, disability organisations, and members ofblack and minority ethnic communities. The project will be based at York House, Granby Street, Leicester LE1 6FB in the Sustainable Transport Team of the City Council.


For an example of what is happening see http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2008/09/01/cycle_challenge_feature.shtml

The Bike Club initiative http://bikeclub.org.uk will hopefully seed new groups as well in due course.

As to "advice and resources for those less proud and keen to expand?" I believe National Office is very keen to support groups who want to be proactive.
glueman
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Re: Fundraising, grants, contracts etc.

Post by glueman »

Thank you for those interesting comments John. Some believe CTC have embarked on a staged withdrawal of support for local groups over many years, as too independent, too diverse and too old to do much about. I'm glad to hear you believe they are a central plank of policy and very much part of the future of the club. Bike club is an excellent initiative but aimed soley at school children as I understand it.

It would be useful to know where you stand on salaried staff being dedicated to developing groups, an expert in seeding diverse new cycling communities would be most helpful. I'm pleased too that you see the difference between interference and support - genuine help is mostly welcome, it would indeed be cumudgeonly not to take on board ways of expanding existing groups and implementing new ones. So long as commitment from head office is genuine, rather than lip service, I'm sure groups will applaud a figure to champion their objectives.
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