Funding the Future: Diversifying Income for VCSEs

Join the Empowering Communities Partnership for a whole day filled with fundraising expertise, skill-sharing and opportunities for networking, with lunch and refreshments included! This event sold out quickly the first time we ran it; this year it’s back with more tickets and a bigger programme!

• Ready to shake up your organisation’s funding?
• Curious about corporate giving?
• Eager to explore social investment?
• Want to learn about new income streams and reimagine the future funding of your organisation?

We will be joined by a range of local funding specialists and those with lived experience of diversifying their voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE) organisations’ income streams. We welcome any Norfolk-based VCSEs to join us for the chance to learn from experts and peers, ask questions of local funders and make new connections!

Maybe you’ve felt intimidated or overwhelmed by where to start with new fundraising streams? Or perhaps you’re unsure how to explore your options? There will be chances throughout the day to network with both funders, practitioners and fellow VCSE professionals, gaining insights, expertise and useful contacts.

Here’s what to expect:

Keynote speech from Richard Morris, Co-Founder and CEO of The Giving Machine, on funding challenges, innovation and changing the mindset of VCSEs

Your choice from 6 workshops:

1. Workshop: Unlocking Youth-Led Funding
2. Workshop: Funding Pathways for Skills and Employment Projects
3. Workshop: Winning Public Sector work: A Practical Guide to Tendering for VCSEs
4. Workshop: Write Bids that start with Strengths: Embedding ABCD into Funding Applications
5. Workshop: Earning the Ask: Connecting with your Audience on Social Media
6. Workshop: Building Meaningful Corporate Partnerships that Fund your Mission

• A range of information stands with local and national funding opportunities, support and signposting
• Inspirational panel discussion on Social Investment featuring Good Finance, Rebecca White and SIB Group
• Plenty of opportunities to network with speakers, contributors and attendees to learn from each other
• Delicious lunch from local caterers Tall Orders, plus tea and coffee throughout the day

Other things to note:

This whole day event, unlike many of our other events, incurs a charge of £20 + VAT and Eventbrite fee per participant . This is to ensure attendance and increase the scale and reach of the event as well as to contribute to the costs of the day, which are subsidised by the Empowering Communities Partnership.

Lunch and all refreshments are included in the price. We kindly ask that you pay via credit/debit card when booking. The price has been kept the same as the 2025 event.

• Venue: Dereham Memorial Hall
• Date: Thursday January 29th 2026
• Time: 9.30am - 4pm

Tickets are limited to a maximum of 2 per organisation, to allow as many VCSEs as possible to benefit from the day.

Find out more and book your place on Eventbrite.