Please complete the survey in full to be entered into the draw to win £1000 for your Organisation

Help Us To Help You By Understanding the Needs of Your Organisation
And Get Your Opportunity To Obtain £1,000
Please Respond to The State of the Sector Survey 2024/25

It is important for Community Action Suffolk (CAS) to fully understand the needs of your organisation as part of the Voluntary, Community, Faith & Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector in Suffolk. Your participation in the State of the Sector survey will allow us to accurately identify challenges and concerns, and respond accordingly. It will also provide partners both in and out of the Voluntary Sector with key data that can be used to influence, lobby and advocate decisions and policy making locally, regionally and nationally.
We will make sure you receive a copy of the resulting survey findings. And to be in with a chance of obtaining £1,000, just complete the survey*.

In previous years, the report has been based primarily on desktop research, to provide comparisons with the national picture, but we are delighted to announce that this year we are broadening scope by collaborating with Suffolk Community Foundation, and introducing the survey will create a front line viewpoint, and sense check.

It is therefore important for us to get as much relevant information as possible, and that includes information about the demands on your organisation. We hope you can find the time to contribute. It should take no more than 30 minutes.

The resulting report will allow us to understand and track trends, and analyse developments. Each year, the report will place particular focus on one key activity, and this year it will be on volunteering. This is in response to its decline in recent years.

Thank you for your consideration in completing the survey, and we look forward to sharing the results with you.

The closing date for responses is 9.00 a.m. Monday 3rd February 2025
Hannah Reid, Community Action Suffolk and Hannah Bloom, Suffolk Community Foundation

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* 1. Which of the following best describes the structure of your organisation?
(Please tick all that apply)

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* 2. How many staff (full and part time), volunteers and/or trustees does your organisation have?

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* 3. Where does your organisation provide services?

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* 4. Where is your organisation based (or registered if you have more than one location)? (Please provide the first half of your post code, e.g. IP14 or CO5 or NR32)

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* 5. What is the annual INCOME of your organisation?

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* 6. Which of the following best describes your organisation’s primary activity, or the community your organisation primarily supports? (Select one)

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* 7. What are the top three challenges your organisation is currently facing? (Please select up to three)

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* 8. What is the biggest challenge you currently face as a professional in the VCFSE sector?

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* 9. In the past 12 months, has your organisation seen increases to any of the following costs? (select all that apply)

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* 10. Of the costs selected above, which make up the largest portion of your organisation’s expenditure? (select up to 3)

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* 11. In the past 12 months, has your organisation experienced a decrease to any of the following? (Select all that apply)

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* 12. Of any of the income streams selected above, which do you feel have decreased the most? (Choose up to 3)

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* 13. In the past 12 months, has your organisation undertaken any of the following in response to increasing costs/decreasing funds? (Select all that apply)

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* 14. Roughly what percentage of your organisation income comes from grants & contracts?

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* 15. Roughly what percentage of your organisation income comes from donations and/or public giving?

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* 16. Do you have any other income ? If so, please name them below along with what percentage of your total income each provides.

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* 17. How has your organisation income changed over the last 12 months?

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* 18. Charity Commission guidance is that unless an organisation has a specific requirement for more, 3 months running costs is the minimum reserves level organisations should operate with to be able to cover any contractual commitments if closure was necessary. Based on this, how would you rate your reserves level? (select one)

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* 19. Do you charge for any of your services?

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* 20. If no, and you don’t feel able to, please tell us why you feel that way…

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* 21. Are you delivering any services that you feel others have a statutory responsibility to deliver?

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* 22. If you could ask one thing of grant makers and/or commissioners, what would it be?
(free text)

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* 23. In the past 12 months, how would you describe the demand for your organisation’s services, compared to the year before?

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* 24. Over the next 12 months, how do you predict the volume of demand for your organisation’s services will look?

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* 25. In the past 12 months, have you noticed any change to the complexity of the needs of people seeking support from your organisation? (Select 1)

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* 26. In the past 12 months, has your organisation undertaken any of the following actions to meet volume of demand or complexity of need? (Select all that apply)

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* 27. In the past 12 months, how well has your organisation been able to meet the volume and complexity of demand? (Select one)

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* 28. How confident are you that it will continue to operate at the same level, or better, in the next 12 months? (select one)

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* 29. If you would like to give us more information on demand, complexity and the challenges this brings please use this space to do so:

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* 30. How is staff/volunteer morale given the current external climate? (select one)

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* 31. Considering your organisation’s current circumstance regarding expenditure, income, and the volume and complexity of need, have you witnessed any instances of staff or volunteer burnout in the last 12 months?

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* 32. Do you have any concerns about staff or volunteer wellbeing in your organisation? (tick all that apply)

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* 33. Have you seen any change in staff sickness levels in the last 12 months? (select one)

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* 34. Considering the current needs of your organisation, what type of funding would support your organisation the most? (select up to 3)

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* 35. Considering the current needs of your organisation, which of the following poses the largest concern in regard to funding? (Select up to 3)

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* 36. Aside from monetary support, what else could sector partners and/or funders do that would assist your organisation’s needs? (select up to 3)

SPOTLIGHT ON VOLUNTEERING
We know recruitment and retention of volunteers in Suffolk in recent times has been difficult for many organisations and community groups. Our spotlight this year is on understanding the challenges you face with regard to volunteering to gather better data on the Suffolk picture and improve support services and campaigning in this space. Please answer the following as fully as possible to assist us with this.

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* 37. At present, how many volunteers does your organisation have?

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* 38. In the past 12 months, have you experienced any challenges in recruiting or retaining volunteers? (Select 1)

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* 39. What types of roles do you most commonly need volunteers to support with? (Select up to 3)

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* 40. What is the average age of your volunteers?

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* 41. How do you find volunteers? (select all that apply)

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* 42. On average, how frequently does someone volunteer with you?

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* 43. Does your organisation have a specific role dedicated to finding and retaining volunteers?

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* 44. If you have noticed a decline in volunteer levels in recent years, why do you think this is?

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* 45. Do you offer volunteering opportunities to 14-25 year olds if so what are they?

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* 46. What do you think is the most important or urgent issue affecting volunteering in Suffolk currently?

To be in with a chance in the draw for £1000 for your organisation, (please note the survey must be completed in full to be entered, and only one entry per organisation will be accepted) please ensure you list your organisation name and provide a contact email address below.

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* 47. Please enter your Organisation's name and provide a contact email address if you would like to enter the draw for £1000 for your organisation (please note we can only accept one entry per organisation, and please ensure that you have answered the survey in full to be eligible to go into the draw).

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* 48. Have you and your organisation signed up to CAS to Join Our Network?

If you have answered no or not sure, please go to https://aideforms.co.uk/join-our-community-action-suffolk-cas-network to sign up to any or all of our newsletters.

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* 49. Are you aware of Suffolk Community Foundation and the grants that are available for community groups and organisations?

If you have answered no, please go to https://www.suffolkcf.org.uk/subscribe/ to sign up for our newsletters.
We welcome any other comments or feedback about Community Action Suffolk at any time. Please feel free to email us on CASNetwork@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey, your responses will help us to make sure we understand how we can continue to support the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise Sector to support Suffolk.

Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation

The information provided will be stored on a secure database and will be used for the administration and delivery of services including Community Action Suffolk mailings and for no other purposes. All personal information will be held in the strictest confidence. It will not be made available to any third party other than those directly concerned with Community Action Suffolk. Please see Community Action Suffolk’s Privacy Policy (https://www.communityactionsuffolk.org.uk/privacy-policy/) and Cookie Policy (https://www.communityactionsuffolk.org.uk/cookie-policy/) for further details. Survey results may be shared with potential partners and funders across the Suffolk system (Suffolk County Council, District and Borough Councils, Suffolk County Foundation, other VCFSE leaders).

The information provided in this survey is provided to Community Action Suffolk via Survey Monkey. Please see https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/surveymonkey-committed-to-gdpr-compliance/ for further information.
 
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