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professionals4free have gathered some information which may be of use to VCOs and Charities. Browse the list of links and downloadable files listed below.

Guides on Free Services

Assessing your suitability - is business support right for you? It takes skills, time and other resources to initiate and maintain an effective business community partnership. Before spending time trying to engage a business, decide if this form of support is suitable for your organisation. (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		Assessing your suitability for business support

Developing long term business community relationships developing long term business community relationships Long term partnerships between businesses and community organisations are highly effective, but can be difficult to establish and manage. (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		Developing long term relationships

In this section, you’ll find some short guides. You should definitely have a look at these two first:

Free Professional Services - an introduction Explains the pros and cons of using free professional services, how to go about finding them, and some other issues to think about. (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		Free Professional Services - An Introduction

What Brokers Do - Info for VCOs and charities This one-page guide explains what a broker is, how they work and the benefits to VCOs and charities in using a broker. (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		Info for VCOs and Charities

These guides have been designed to be of general use:

What Different Professions Do
A useful glossary of professions.

Click here to view the glossary of professions

You can also find guides on a range of related topics, like writing business plans, marketing, and publicity:

Applying for grant funding Shows the 4 main kinds of funding source you might approach, and a 10-point plan for getting the money. (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		HOW TO PRESENT YOUR CASE WHEN APPLYING FOR GRANT FUNDING

Engaging with Business A guide from Heart of the City (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Download the Engaging with Business guide here

Preparing a Business Plan Every voluntary and community organisation can benefit from a written business plan which sets out the direction and planned performance of the organisation. A business plan is a vital ingredient when preparing proposals for potential funders. Here's a 'how to do it' guide (requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader available by clicking here)		Preparing a Business Plan

The Media Trust The Media Trust has 20 free guides on media, communications and PR. They can be found on the website www.mediatrust.org/ and we also have a selection on our site. Visit the Media Trust website

The ‘askNCVO’ website The ‘askNCVO’ website at www.askncvo.org.uk has a lot of information about finance, personnel and human resources, laws and regulations, trustees and governance, campaigning, IT and communications technology. Visit the askNCVO website here

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