Summary of work

Our shared need: Help communities to engage online (with each other and us), in a way that is comfortable, empowering and responds to a wide spectrum of different needs, skills and access to tech.

Loomio discussion period

7th-12th July

Loomio decision date

13th July

Date for kick-off call

14th of July 16:00 - 17:00

Latest start date

20th July

Expected contract length

4 weeks

Budget range

Up to £10,000 for the collaborator

Why the work is being done

This is a Cluster project. Lockdown and social distancing pose challenges for our organisations to support our external and internal audiences. Face-to-face services and team activities are unable to operate and our own and user’s confidence in using online tools as well as access to them is a challenge.

We want to understand our audience better and know what tools or systems are best placed to build our engagement activities on. 

New delivery approaches will also support us to secure funding for the future as we will be able to demonstrate our impact during and post Covid-19.

Our activities include: 1:1 conversations, group conversations, building supportive communities (internal and external) that provide each other peer support.

Problem to be solved

The problem area is wide and includes:

• To achieve our objectives we need to build engaging and effective online services that meet the needs of our ‘users’ and increase our reach. 

• Our approach and systems used for our online activities need to be easy to access and accessible to people with limited digital skills and access to digital devices.

• Onboarding new users into the first stages of online engagement and connection.

Who the users are and what they need to do

There are 3 partners with users who are people on low income and local volunteer teams keen to support parks in their community. They need to be on-boarded onto using online tools for engagement and community building.

• As a user with limited access to and confidence in using online tools, I need to take part in conversations and events organised by my organisation.

• As a staff member I need to feel confident using online tools to connect with users.

• As a staff member I need to create/facilitate 1:1 and groups conversations/events that are engaging and support community building.

• As a leader I need to connect with my team to support their work, wellbeing and team cohesion.

Expected outcomes for this work

• Deeper dive to understand the shared challenge area and how this is experienced by the different user groups.

• Identification of key opportunities for shared digital tools or infrastructure

• A better understanding in confidence and skills in using online tools of staff and users.

• Identification of key opportunities for shared digital tools or infrastructure

• Achieving quick wins for the group by recommendations around reuse or repurposing existing tech, patterns, standards etc.

• Identifying other relevant projects and partners this group, or the individual members, could connect to.

• Broadly scoping a Phase 2 piece of work.

• A case study and/or other useful documentation to be shared with the sector.

Any work that’s already been done

• This work forms a part of the support all organisations are receiving from Nesta.

• As a Cluster we have had an intro session to identify our joined challenge. This Miro Board captures our discussion. 

Who the Digital Team will work with

At the kick-off session, reps from each charity will be present and we’ll agree on the lead point person from the cluster and the level of engagement from each partner.

How many days can the nonprofit team commit to this project?

The lead organisation is expected to commit two days a week to this project. Involvement from the other organisations might vary and needs to be agreed as a team.

Do they have internal developers and which tech stack are they using?

All organisations are run by a small team and currently have very little experience in design and digital innovation. They are all very keen to build on their limited digital and online skills and knowledge.

About the organisations 

Church Action on Poverty - Church Action on Poverty is a national ecumenical Christian social justice charity, committed to tackling poverty in the UK. They work in partnership with churches, and with people in poverty themselves, to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Purple Shoots Business Lending Ltd - Purple Shoots Business Lending (“Purple Shoots”) is a not-for-profit micro finance organisation. For six years they have provided small business loans and provide a place for people to get together with other local people and learn new skills.

Parks Community - Parks Community UK supports Friends' groups across the country to feel better equipped and more confident in their active involvement with their local park. They will identify key elements of community empowerment and how it can be encouraged, developed and supported.

Essential skills and experience

• Data

  • Data needs assessment and audit

• Digital

  • Online safeguarding experience, as these orgs all work with vulnerable groups

• Design

  • Service design

  • User research & user story design

• Strong knowledge of existing online tools available that support online engagement and connectivity.

• Experienced building online capabilities with professionals and people with low digital literacy.

• Maximising connection and relationships online

Nice-to-have skills and experience

• Experience in supporting community and individual empowerment

• Experience working with nonprofits

• Content design

• Working with coalitions and partnerships