Toolkits

In response to feedback from our members RAISE has produced a number of toolkits, which you can download free of charge:

• Leadership. Defining Leadership as 'the ability to motivate and guide the people connected to a voluntary/community organisation (VCO) to meet its goals' this toolkit compares the job of leading a VCO to the role of the leader of an expedition, who must think about the terrain, the weather, the skills of the team, and the best route to the destination. Download the Leadership toolkit here.
• Accountability. Accountability is 'providing effective ways of explaining how power is or has been used'. This toolkit explores the five elements of Power, Responsibility, Trust, Communication and Transparency that are necessary to achieve true Accountability. Download the Accountability toolkit here.
• Representation. Representation is the process when 'one person or group of people is acting, speaking or being present on behalf of another person or group of people'. Download the Representation toolkit here.
• Governance. This toolkit invites you to imagine your voluntary and community organisations as a car, being driven by the staff, which the board must keep on track by setting the direction, arranging the necessary maintenance and ensuring that it is driven safely, economically and effectively. Download the Governance toolkit here.
• Equalities. Defined as 'a short-hand term for all work carried out by an organisation to promote equal opportunities and challenge discrimination', this toolkit is designed to encourage reflection – on why Equalities matters, and why time and energy should be given over to Equalities work. Download the Equalities toolkit here.
• Partnership Working. The RAISE Step by Step Guide to Successful Partnership Working. If you work for a Voluntary/Community organisation - as a director, member of staff, management committee member or volunteer - this has been designed for you. Download the Step by Step Guide to partnership working here.
• Social Audit. The aim of the Social Audit toolkit is to raise awareness around the benefits of undertaking a social audit of your organisation. The toolkit also seeks to provide guidance which will assist organisations to decide if social audit is a useful tool for them and subsequently support the organisation in undertaking a Social Audit. Download the Social Audit toolkit by clicking here.
• Compact. The compact toolkit is a practical guide to help Voluntary/Community Organisations to make compacts a reality locally. Download the Compact toolkit by clicking here.

The toolkits act as a resource for those involved in the Voluntary/Community Sector - providing advice, information and ideas in a clear, accessible format and signposting the reader to other sources which may be of interest. The toolkits aim to help groups to take a critical look at their organisation, identify areas for improvement and implement change.