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Top 5 Tips for Community-Based Organisations to Maximise Social Value through Match My Project

Are you making the most of Match My Project? Find out from Match My Project’s most prolific community beneficiary how to maximise the resources available on the platform. 

The Henry Fawcett Primary Boxing Club

I spoke to Rachel, the Assistant Head of Henry Fawcett Primary School, the most active community organisation on Match My Project. The school has an impressive history of using our platform to channel the best resources and opportunities into the local community. This has earned them a reputation for excellence in the community.

Our mission at Match My Project is to help communities flourish. We do this by matching community organisations with businesses that want to deliver Social Value and CSR. 

Rachel said, “The support that we’ve had via [Hyde Housing Association] from Match My Project compared to the support we get from other organisations … it’s not even comparable”.

Rachel provided some invaluable tips and principles which could help you enhance your impact within the community you serve.

Here are the top 5 tips for Community-Based Organisations on Match My Project:

  1. Build strong relationships
  2. Have a look around
  3. Frame asks clearly
  4. Go the extra mile
  5. Go for it!

1. Build strong relationships

Match My Project exists for people and communities.

That’s the heart of what we do.

It’s all about relationships – so naturally, having strong ones will set you up well to create flourishing communities through the platform.

Rachel identifies two key ways to achieve this:

 a. Keep in touch with the authority

If there are things I put on there and I start getting a bit panicky that I might not get them, I would contact the Social Value person at Hyde and just say … ‘is there anyone you can poke to help us with this?’.”

The authority could be a bridge between you and a new community partnership – they may be able to put your project in front of the right people. Reaching out to them could help you get the resources you need for your community.

b.  Understand the businesses on the platform

Rachel puts her success on Match My Project down to her savviness when it comes to understanding the different focuses and preferences of the business users on the platform. She says: “I’ve understood what sort of things they might be looking for.”

She goes on to explain that, when creating new projects, community-based organisations should consider: “What kind of organisations might want to do them? And framing them in a way that is going to be appealing to them.

While this may require some initial effort, it’s worth the fruitful relationships that could follow:

I generally end up getting more than I ask for … once you’re engaged with the supplier and they come and have a look and they’ve come to move the furniture but then they go ‘oh but now you need some carpets in here don’t you? We’ll do that’.”

Taking some time to get your head around the outcomes that suppliers are looking for can go a long way in receiving the right support for your projects. 

Remember that suppliers will be looking for projects that contribute to the shared goals or outcomes selected by the authority, for example, “safeguarding the environment” or “promoting jobs and skills” – you will see these outcomes listed when creating a new project.

2. Have a Look Around 

In the same spirit of working towards shared goals, Rachel also suggests having a look at other organisations’ projects on Match My Project.

She says, “It’s worth having a little bit of a look around to see what other people are doing and who’s being successful.” 

I asked Rachel about the type of resources Henry Fawcett Primary has requested on Match My Project and was impressed by the broad range of projects they have completed. These vary from physical things like chairs to volunteers and funding. She notes that their Breakfast Club is subsidised by suppliers on Match My Project, as is a member of staff (a 1-1 mentor for the children), therapeutic residentials, and a boxing club.

To view other organisations’ projects, log in to your account and navigate to the “Directory” on the left-hand side tab. Here you can see community projects, supplier offers, jobs & training opportunities, as well as a list of all organisations under the “organisations” tab.

3. Frame Asks Clearly

That’s the important thing: being clear.” 

Rachel stresses the importance of framing resource requests clearly.

There are three main elements to this.

a. Be specific

Try and think about framing the narrative in your request. What you put as your heading – that’s the one-line thing that comes up – is really important … if you can make the title show the benefit and paint a nice narrative, I think that’s helpful. And be specific in what you’re asking for.”

b. Prioritise projects

You’re always playing a game of prioritising what you put on there and not putting too many things up at the same time. And being clear about which ones are really important to you and which ones are nice to have.”

I try and keep the requests middling and then find that people are very helpful after the fact.

c. Separate requests 

There is also an art to … separating things out in the requests. So, rather than saying ‘I need my library redone’ [say], ‘I need the walls painting’; ‘I need the furniture moving’; ‘I need somebody to pay for books.’ Because there might be different organisations that are able to help with those things separately.”

The wording you use in your project request is crucial to the success of the project. Remember to be specific in the title, be clear about your priorities, and try to separate larger projects into smaller, more workable ones.

4. Go the extra mile

Providing as much information as possible, and consistently engaging with community partners, makes a big difference to the impact of projects on Match My Project.

What could you do to get the attention your projects need?

Here are some ideas that have worked for Rachel in the past:

We always try and contact the supplier directly, send photos of what’s going on, say ‘would you like to come visit the project?’ … I don’t have to do these things, but I chose to.

Little actions like contacting suppliers directly and sending them photographs can have a huge ripple effect. Fortune favours the bold!

5. Go for It!

As the old adage goes … if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Rachel puts it this way: “Ask, because you just don’t know. Somebody might give it to you.”

Or, you’ve got nothing to lose. 

In Rachel’s words: “Realistically, I could spend 15 minutes writing a Match My Project request and get £4000.

Insights on Impact

At Match My Project we are dedicated to getting the best resources and opportunities into the communities that need them most. We are so inspired by community users like Rachel who are using Match My Project to make a real difference in the local community. Listen to our full conversation with Rachel here – you’ll come away with plenty of insight.

You can also watch some highlights of the conversation here:

Do you have any tips or pieces of advice for other community users? Please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you about how to make the biggest impact in communities.

What is the relationship between social responsibility, the tech industry and product development?

I recently posed this question to Ruth, the Product Lead at Match My Project.  

Her answer got me thinking. 

This is what she said:

Technology – we’ve seen through social media – can be quite divisive at times and it can demand a lot of our time and attention, but we want to do things the human way. We want our platforms to be tools that bring people together, bring communities together, and help positive change to happen in the world.”

We want to do things the human way

We want to do things the human way.

This is in the context of a world where things can seem less and less human every day. As Ruth so astutely pointed out, technology can be divisive and demands much of our time and attention. Technology is all-pervasive, and it’s changing how we relate to the world and one another. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and disconnected from the very essence of what makes us human – our communities and personal connections.

At Match My Project, we have made it our mission to bring communities closer together. Our platform harnesses the power of the digital world while staying grounded in the fundamental need for human interaction, empathy, and collaboration. 

We’re not about creating online communities for their own sake or as a way to harvest data and market to people. We’re creating connections to get more jobs, training and resources into our communities.

A Platform that Makes a Real Difference in Communities

Onward Homes and Novus Property Solutions recently used Match My Project to collaborate on an inspiring initiative to create a local work opportunity in the Kirkdale community of Liverpool. 
Working closely with Everton in the Community (EITC), one of the UK’s top sporting charities, eight local candidates were identified and interviewed by Onward and Novus.

Ryan, who lives locally and who was out of work at the time, was appointed to a permanent job position with Novus that included all training needed. Ryan will be working on various elements of Novus’ retrofit scheme with Onward to deliver energy efficiency improvements to 400 homes in Liverpool, making them warmer, quieter and more comfortable for the people who live in them.

A representative from Novus emphasised the organisation’s commitment to creating good Social Value employment opportunities. They said:

At the end of September 2023, the number of unemployed people aged 16 and over in the Liverpool area was a staggering 14,600 – a rate of 5.7%. Novus are committed to reducing that statistic where possible by offering local persons the opportunity to join our contract with new client Onward Homes … Local employment and helping people return to work after a period of unemployment is one of our main priorities within all our contracts. We wish Ryan all the success within his new role.”

Ryan’s successful appointment to a role at Novus is a shining example of the tangible difference that Match My Project is making in local communities.

This is what an Onward spokesperson had to say:

The Retrofit programme is a great initiative to work in partnership to promote opportunities in the Kirkdale area. Using Match My Project has enabled us to promote these opportunities and give the best social value return in our local areas.”

Onward Homes and Novus Property Solutions were both rated 5 stars on Match My Project for the accuracy, communication and timeliness of their involvement in the project.

At Match My Project, we are proud of success stories like this one. We are championing a human approach to technology, where connecting communities is at the heart of our work.

We believe in technology as a force for good. Our new Pathways to Work feature is enabling businesses and community-based organisations to work together to create high-quality employment opportunities in local areas.  

Our Product Development team is working hard behind the scenes to make our platform even more innovative and efficient for the people who use it. Watch this video to find out more about the upcoming feature releases you can look out for, and to hear more about what motivates the Match My Project team.

Liz is the Head of Communities and Social Value at the Breyer Group, a leading property services provider that has been working with the public sector for over 60 years. We’ve been collaborating with Liz and her Community and Social Value Manager, Bobby Lorraine for the last couple of months and wanted to share what we’ve learnt about some of the work they’re doing. We caught up with Liz recently.

Breyer recently signed up to use Match My Project’s new features, which will help Liz and Bobby create more pathways to work for local people – and share Breyer’s good work far and wide. For a preview, have a look.

What’s a typical day like at Breyer? 

Our role as the Social Value team is to support the Breyer Group through facilitating and delivering Social Value impact in line with the contract KPI’s. There is no typical day as it varies, depending on the needs of our communities and business priorities.

It can include bid writing, strategic planning, report writing, or collaboration with our contract teams and external partnerships, such as charities, local government, training organisations and SMEs.

We will also attend job fairs and community events where there are opportunities to meet and engage with residents.

What’s the community project you’re most proud of?

We worked with Allen Edwards Primary School in Lambeth to support their Eco Club. We donated both time and money to help students develop their fruit and vegetable growing areas. We gave £1,000 towards buying seeds and plants for the Primary School, which were chosen by the Eco Club students.

Then, later in the spring, a number of Breyer staff joined students and parents for a planting day. 

Deputy Headteacher, Nicola Harris:

“We are so grateful to Breyer Roofing for helping transform our allotment area and for joining the Eco Club students on numerous occasions to discuss plants; help plant seeds; and to deliver and establish bigger flowers and vegetable plants. It has been an amazing learning experience for the students involved and the results will be enjoyed by all of us at the school. Thank you!”

That’s great. What’s coming up in the future? What are you really excited about? 

We are very excited to be launching the Breyer Virtual Employability Academy. This will enable residents and students to access pre-employment training modules, that are usually only available to our employees online, in an environment in which they feel safe to explore construction. 

Part of the programme offers access to a town hall Q&A session with Breyer professionals to hear about their career journeys and why the construction sector is a great place to have a lifelong career plan. 

Each learner will receive certificates of completion and an interview to access suitable work placements, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities.  

What would you change tomorrow if you had a magic wand? 

One area we would change immediately would be the way Social Value is procured, measured and reported. It needs streamlining. We are a small team and the resource required to manage the multiple different approaches is confusing and unmanageable.

The key factor for us is to ensure the procurement requirements meet the demographics of the communities we are working in.

For instance, there is no sense in focusing on apprenticeships when the real need is to improve education for students, promote apprenticeships in construction and the built environment or to provide residents with clothes and food for their families because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice anyone has given you? 

Listen, collaborate and be innovative in order to find solutions that meet the needs of individuals and communities.

Thanks Liz!

If you are looking to create more successful apprenticeships in the local communities you serve, our up coming new features will be helpful – please take a look! If you want to know why we’re doing this, have a look here.

  • Pippa is the Social Value and Marketing Manager at Kinovo. We caught up with her recently to learn more about the work she’s doing to create social impact in the communities that Kinovo works in.
  • Kinovo recently signed up to use Match My Project’s new features, which will help Pippa’s team create more pathways to work for local people – and share Kinovo’s good work far and wide. For a preview, have a look here and if you want to know why we’ve introduced these new features have a look here.

Tell us a bit about your role at Kinovo – what’s a typical day like for you? 

I am the Marketing and Social Value Manager at Kinovo Group, which consists of specialist property services contractors, Dunhams, Purdy and Spokemead, so there is always a variety of different jobs to complete, and no day is ever the same, which I love.  

I work from home most of the time, unless I am attending an Industry Event, a Social Value project we are undertaking or meeting in person with colleagues in one of our 5 offices or out on site to work on a communications piece about a specific job being carried out.   

My role is extremely broad and gets me involved not only with the ‘S’ for Social Value from ESG, but also the development and implementation of our Net Zero plan, ESG Impact report and all the Marketing activity across the whole Group, as well as supporting the Business Development Team on the Social Value elements of new bids.

Therefore, a typical day, could be anything from carrying out mock interviews with residents for a client, attending an apprentice fair, writing and posting Social Value stories, selecting and planning what social activities to do next, collating our Social Value data and presenting to our Board of Directors the amount of Social Value delivered, attending and networking at an industry events like Chartered Institute of Housing Annual Conference, just to name just a few. 

Left to Right:  Lee Venables, COO – Kinovo, Cath Nicholas, Events Manager – Chartered Institute of Housing, Pippa Pang, Social Value and Marketing Manager – Kinovo plc, Martin Stone, Head of New Business – Kinovo plc. 

What’s the project you’re most proud of? What did you deliver and how did you engage local people? 

We are proud of everything we have done this year Social Value wise, the importance of it has been elevated across the Group, it is no longer a ‘nice to have’ or a second thought.

We have begun to build lots of key relationships with clients so that we gain a better understanding of their needs when it comes to Social Value requirements.  

Understanding your clients’ needs is critical when it comes to  delivering a project that is relevant and important to them.  

We’ve educated our Contract Managers about their role and responsibility in delivering Social Value on their contracts; this is an ongoing process and change of mindset for them. 

In terms of community projects, our Peabody garden patio makeover and the estate garden regeneration is probably the most pivotal project in our journey so far.  

We worked with Ellie Ward the Paradox Community Manager as the residents had told Ellie their community space was important to them to not only grow their own food, but also for social interaction, positive mental health and wellbeing.

Left to right: Ellie Ward, Paradox Community Centre Manager – Peabody, Dan Baldwin, Purdy QS took on project manager role for this project, Pippa Pang, Social Value and Marketing Manager, Vince Amorelli, Contract Manager – Purdy, Sheila Gammans, Community Programme Manager – Peabody. 

We transformed the patio area at the Paradox community centre, providing new planters and creating a space for residents to use when they attend the community hall, bringing a local community garden back into life in Chingford.

Volunteers worked with residents to clear weeds, install a new pond, and make the garden more attractive. This project was a great example of social value we can deliver when collaborating with other partners in our supply chain – AP Electrical, Willow Services Limited, RDS Fire and Security Ltd and NRG Electrix – to enhance the green space in this residential area.

What’s coming up in the future? What are you really excited about? 

We have recently opened a small Nature Trail in Hackney, where we are planning to hold different educational events for local residents and community groups. We are very excited about this as we have regenerated the space with local volunteer resident, Les Moore.  

Part of the project includes upcycling a balcony, which was previously dumped onsite, and re-purposing it into a ‘show and tell’ space to demonstrate to residents how they can grow their own plants and turn their balconies into green havens.

We are now looking for nature lovers of all expertise to help make best use of the space.

We have called out in the local magazine ‘Love Hackney’ for any local schools or community groups that may be interested in hiring the trail for educational visits or events.Page 17, Love Hackney article https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S5mqtVseFlNFNLuoXigddHZ8CzA-gAYB/view.

In your opinion, what’s the biggest challenge for your organisation – and the wider community of people who care about delivering impact across our communities – with creating sustainable and meaningful impact? What would you change tomorrow if you had a magic wand? 

Resource. 

We need to get more people to help with projects that our clients would like us to help deliver.  As a Group we have introduced 1 day a year for volunteering, which is a great step in the right direction and where people want and can do more they can.  

People’s mindset to understand how Social Value helps everyone, and that by just giving a little it gives so much back. It would speed up the process of delivering projects, if everybody already thought this way and didn’t need educating. 

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice anyone has given you? 

My motto these past couple of years has been: ‘Get comfortable being uncomfortable’.  

When you grow and develop you gain more confidence in yourself. To do this there are pain barriers you have to push yourself through, just like a professional athlete.  If you apply this to anything in your life you fear, you will undoubtedly learn something from it and you will develop and grow.  Even to start with if you just become aware of things that you maybe fearing, that are holding you back from your dreams, that is a great first step. 

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just to take the first step”

Martin Luther King

Thanks Pippa!

If you are looking to create more successful apprenticeships in the local communities you serve, our up coming new features will be helpful – please take a look! If you want to know why we’re doing this, have a look here.

At Onward, we are committed to making the most positive impact we can for the people and communities we serve. We want our investment to stretch beyond bricks and mortar. Our Director of Strategy, Rob Loughenbury, tells us more…

Our Corporate Plan ‘The Onward Difference’ sets out our commitment to make a positive difference by enabling people and communities to be their best. We will do this by providing homes that people love, in places they are proud of, and by working with our partners to do more. When it comes to making The Onward Difference, we know we can’t do this alone, but by working in partnership. 

MatchMyProject has provided us with the tools to do just that by giving more back to our local community through our supply chain, helping all parties achieve meaningful social value outcomes. The platform has allowed us to adjust our approach to better measure and report on social value activity, ensuring we are delivering on our Corporate Plan commitments. 

Since joining, our supply chain has supported 14 key projects, donated 259 hours of volunteer time, and pledged a further 259 hours in supporting local community groupsOnward’s largest repair contractor, Fortem Solutions, currently sits at the top of the platform’s leader board after giving 176 hours of their colleagues’ time and donating over £2,300 in materials to community groups that work with us. 

Our Procurement Strategy aims to put ‘our customers and neighbourhoods at the heart of purchasing decisions’.  MatchMyProject therefore plays a vital role in enabling our community groups to directly access the support they need from our supply chain to deliver things such as training and work experience to gain meaningful employment.  We are now in the process of embedding MatchMyProject into our procurement plans for 2023-24, whereby bidders will be able to gain access to existing Social Value opportunities published by our community groups and Onward.  We already have 38 communities registered and 37 suppliers. By continuing to encourage our supply chain to sign up to MatchMyProject, we are creating the network we have long needed to make our Social Value impact more sustainable.

We also have plans in place to use the platform to develop our Onward Academy programme, which is currently being piloted in partnership with The Learning Foundry in Merseyside.

The Onward Academy is a new network of organisations we are working to build that will collaborate and use their individual expertise to deliver employment and training for our customers. This network will enable us to facilitate apprenticeships, training and work experience opportunities for our customers that will lead them into good work, and help our own colleagues develop new skills and qualifications. Overall, the Academy will increase the Social Value we offer, help deliver our sustainability strategy and growth plans, and tackle some of the challenges and skills gaps the sector faces such as retrofit.

During our first pilot programme, we have been supporting a small group of 16–24-year-olds across Liverpool to gain valuable work experience as part of a Housing Traineeship.  The students have already completed their CIH Level 2 qualification in housing delivered through the Learning Foundry and are now 8 weeks into gaining valuable work experience.  

This pilot has been a great opportunity to explore how Onward can support our residents by providing them with the qualifications, skills, and experience to gain valuable employment. By working with some of our partners such as the Learning Foundry who have access to funding and training, this has helped Onward to deliver this at no extra cost. This is just 1 of 3 pilots Onward are currently engaged in under the Onward Academy, whereby we are looking to maximise our partnership working to deliver more employment and training opportunities for our customers and residents within our Neighbourhoods. 

Once the pilots have been completed, we will move on to phase two of the programme and conduct a scoping exercise to identify and engage with new delivery partners, rolling out the Onward Academy to expand across our North West geography. MatchMyProject will help us to advertise these opportunities to our communities and connect our supply chain to support work experience.

If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest from MatchMyProject, please get in touch.

Email: hello@matchmyproject.org

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Website: https://matchmyproject.org

Telephone: 020 3488 6223

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