With almost 2000 organisations and groups across Dumfries & Galloway, how can we embrace our collective efforts, skills and impact when resources are so scarce and demand continues to rise? Our individual purpose and objectives are wide reaching and varied, some providing services and others creating opportunities. Why shouldn’t we aim to get the best of our collective work for Dumfries & Galloway?
Collective working doesn’t take away individuality but imagine what we could do better when working together.

To ensure our collective work and efforts have positive and sustainable impact for people and places and that we can demonstrate our individual and collective value to communities and partners.

The Collective Leadership is made up of Leads from sector organisations and groups who are part of at least one Collab. Anyone can join and contribute, but not everyone has to.

The role of the Collective Leadership could be to:

• Set the values that all members will abide by to ensure equity and fairness
• Ensure representation and the voice of the wider sector is heard
• Make decisions on how DGCollective funding is invested
• Support other leaders
• Protect the independence of each member (including their own governance, memberships
  and funding)

Eliminating unnecessary competition

Supporting each other, big and small.

InvestDG is the potential new vehicle for community and third sector collective investment across Dumfries and Galloway. The concept would attract and distribute the investment for action/change identified across DG Collective and together with our communities.

A vehicle to attract and deliver investment in the things that the sector and communities decide

While the Collective isn’t solely focused on money matters, we’re all for bringing in investments to our sector and  communities. The investments gathered by DGCollective concepts and managed by InvestDG, whether from national or local sources, will be separate from the individual funds of various groups and organisations who will continue to own their own funding and fundraising . Collective/Collab members have the option to pitch in their own funds for ideas, but it’s not a must.

Where the Collective is successful in securing investment, it could be categorised through InvestDG like this:

This is the large fund category that will be focussed on delivery. Collabs will shape how projects and ideas are delivered and evaluated. These may also be shaped by funders, especially local services, in partnership.

Agreeing what we (and our communities) think is important will make a huge difference. Whilst we are realistic about reporting to funders, the real measure of success is whether we are actually making a difference in our area(s), not just notional indicators. A focus on outcomes & impact, not volume of activity. That way, we can identify what to stop and what to do more of. And that doesn’t have to look the same across the whole region!

DGCollective & InvestDG provide new approaches to maximise capacity through thematic development work, that could mean:

• Colleagues becoming Collab Facilitators (where needed) and equipping them with the necessary tools for development.
• Using DGCollective as a means to improve our sectors collective communication, data, impact, and influence with additional resources.
• Providing support for funding applications and managing investments for DGCollective and individual Collabs through InvestDG
• Distributing funds/resources across the three funding categories agreed with the Collective Leadership and managing other funds that invest in our region’s sector.
• Strengthening the connections between DGCollective, Collabs, and Dumfries and Galloway Partnership structures in our representative role.

Whilst there are examples of organisations working together, the reality is that often there isn’t the capacity or the will to do things differently. We should be honest about some of the challenges to be overcome, the bumps we could experience along the way and what could stop us entirely. These include:

Capacity: Not everyone has the resources to invest in serious collaboration. Some feel they don’t have the skills, experience or confidence. That’s why it’s needed. Joining the Collective will mean valuing difference, respecting individual organisational boundaries and abilities and supporting each other to participate. Not all Collabs will mean extensive group working either – it could be a WhatsApp group to stay connected or an online space to share ideas.

Motivation: Not everyone will see the value of working together when we have our own organisations and groups to run – that’s the priority. This means we should accept that not everyone will be on board with the Collective, that our ambition isn’t 100% participation, but also being clear that to benefit from the Collective efforts you need to play a part.

Competition: There isn’t a doubt that competition for funding (and sometimes for attention) plays a big role across our sector. Driven by many factors, including competitive contracts and grant making, the Collective can’t thrive if competition is at play. It will be hard for some who have become used to navigating competitive funding processes to accept a change. It feels risky for your own survival. The Collective won’t take away any members ability or requirement to secure funds. The ambition is to make best use of available resources for the best possible impact across Dumfries & Galloway and attract even more investment.

In addition to the engagement of sector leaders to refine the final model that works for us, there are three important enabling factors we are currently exploring.

Enabling Funding: We recognise the sector cannot simply be asked to innovate and change the way it works, largely because of the‘sticking points’ but mainly due to capacity and resource which are already tight and allocated to delivering activity and outcomes. We are seeking external, enabling funding that will allow TSDG to secure the support and coordinating resources needed and to allow us to begin investment in priority Collabs to get things moving.

Enabling Tech: DGCollective and its Collabs can’t be just a series of meetings, not only because we need to DO more, but also because that way of working will exclude some of our sector from the outset. Building a DGCollective digital platform for engagement, sharing, discussions and simply raising awareness of what’s going on across the sector will mean anyone in our sector can join in at a time and pace that suits them.

Enabling Policy: Recent publication of the Population Health Framework and Public Service Reform Strategy centre the third sector (community and voluntary sector) and its role in communities. It’s our position, on behalf of the sector, that to play its fullest part and realise the potential, our sector also needs the investment and recognition. Whilst TSDG already played a role in ensuring our sector is recognised in the development of these Government approaches, we also need to make sure we are properly included in any design and implementation that flows from them.