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8. Networking

Areas of Support

Figure 8a shows the percentage of all organisations who have:

a) Used external support;
b) Have internal capacity; and
c) Anticipate future support needs;

In each of the specific networking areas. The graphs are arranged in descending order of anticipated future support needs.

Figure 8a: External Support, Internal Capacity, Anticipate Future Support Needs

The main areas where organisations have used external networking support are:

• Sharing information and practice (21%)
• Sharing information between partners (17%)
• Creating networks (13%)

The main areas where organisations have internal capacity for networking are:

• Sharing information between partners (53%)
• Creating networks (51%)
• Sharing information and practice (49%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future networking support are:

• Measuring network/partnership performance (20%)
• Creating networks (15%)
• Providing a shared voice (15%)

Sharing information was where the majority of external support had been accessed. There was also relatively high levels of reported internal capacity to share information and create networks.

There were low reported levels of internal capacity to measure network/partnership performance, and this was the highest anticipated future support need.

Internal Capacity & External Support Costs

Figure 8b shows that the cost of internal support for networking is less than 10% of annual turnover for the majority of organisations. Only 10 organisations (7% of the survey sample) reported the internal cost of networking as more than a fifth of annual turnover.

Figure 8b: Internal Cost of Networking Support

Figure 8c shows the cost of external networking support for each financial size of organisation. The majority of organisations with an income of under £2m per year reported the internal cost of networking support was less than £500, while there was a greater variance of internal cost in the largest organisations.

Figure 8c: Cost of External Networking Support

Figure 8d shows that 51% of organisation mainly pay for networking support while 35% mainly receive external support for free.

Figure 8d: Networking Support Received Free of Charge

Figure 8e shows that 72% of organisations reported external networking support was providing value for money. Only 2% believed it was not value for money while 26% were unsure. This higher level of uncertainty may be linked to the reported lack of internal capacity to understand network or partnership performance.

Figure 8e: Value for Money of Networking Support

Figure 8f shows that external networking support is most commonly reported (43%) as being required once per quarter.

Figure 8f: How Often External Networking Support is Required

External Support Provision

The table below shows which agencies and organisations have provided external networking support and the average quality score of that support.

* A list of specifically identified providers is presented in Appendix A

There was no particularly dominant type of networking support provider; a broad range of different organisations are reportedly used for external support. Quality was reported as fairly high across many different types of support providers. Intermediary bodies, local voluntary organisations and local CVS offices score very high in terms of quality.

Unlike other core topic areas, almost no organisations used private companies or consultants for networking support.

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