We work with and for social service organisations in the Waikato region. Social service organisations provide care, support and advocacy services for people in our communities. They include organisations working with the young, the elderly, the poor, people with physical disabilities, mental disabilities, education and community health.
Services
Our Advisors will work one on one with organisations when invited. Click
here for a comprehensive list of the issues they can advise you on.
They can:
- Facilitate a workshop
- Run a training session or series of sessions
- Run a planning session or series of sessions
- Advise on good practice.
You can ask an Advisor to work with your organisation in the areas of:
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Governance
The Advisor will outline the responsibilities of a committee or board and ways to work effectively for the benefit of the organisation and the services it provides.
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Policy development
Advisors can discuss with you why policies are useful, what policies are relevant for your organisation, how to develop and review them.
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Strategic planning
Our Advisors will visit your organisation and meet with key staff and governance members to discuss what a strategic plan can do for your organisation and the steps required to develop an effective three to five year plan.
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Operational or business planning
Advisors will talk about what the annual business plan covers, the process for doing it and reviewing it.
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Legal structures
Advisors will help with information about setting up a legal entity, how you choose and what’s involved.
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Risk management
Advisors will provide information about the legal and other obligations for your organisation and how to meet them. They can also work with you on planning for what happens to your organisation and its services if there is a natural disaster or other catastrophes.
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Budgeting and funding advice
An Advisor will help with planning your budget and your income for the year, finding information about funding opportunities and making funding applications. They will also talk about accountability and reporting.
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Financial systems
Advisors will help ensure you have the best system for the size of your organisation and how to use it effectively.
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IT
Our Advisor will provide advice about your technology needs, development of appropriate systems, purchasing, security, IT policy and support.
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Employment matters
Advisors will provide advice about employment matters and issues and accessing information about specialist employment advice and help.
Other services
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Facilitation
If you need someone to facilitate a meeting, workshop or planning session you can ask one of our Advisors to do it or they can refer you to an experienced facilitator.
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Training
Our Advisors generally work one to one with organisations but if we see a need for a number of organisations to have particular training we will organise a group training session, and either run it ourselves or get in a trainer with the appropriate expertise.
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Advocacy
Community Waikato staff work with a wide range of organisations around the region and can identify issues that are of general concern. We will keep you informed and collect your thoughts about issues and ensure that funders, government departments and local authorities become aware of them and what they could be doing to improve the environment in which we work and live.
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Research
We are aware that to provide good services and develop them we need good information. Our research centres on community needs and issues, and the results are posted at our website for anyone to use.
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Evaluation
The better the feedback, the better informed we are to develop a relevant and effective service. To ensure we’re kept informed and our work is enhanced, we evaluate training courses and the work our Advisors are doing.
