Connections
Being positioned between funders, tech companies and social start-ups means that we're able to provide a range of connections to our partners. Here's a few examples...
Events
We host bi-monthly events for our partners and other organisations to help them build their network, gain inspiration and share insights. We like to connect our partners to people from different disciplines, such as from the tech sector, to get a different perspective and challenge their thinking.
DIGITAL GAPS AND APPS
We teamed up with The Big Lottery Fund to host an event around how the non-profit sector can use tech to overcome challenges. We brought together venturists (like Forward Partners), grant makers (like Nominet Trust), social organisations (like Only Connect), digital companies (like Salesforce) and tech experts (like Google, Neon Adventures).
Other recent events include Demystifying funding lots of open conversations between small organisations and funders, and an event around Responding to Failure.
Nuts & Bolts
The sessions bring together a small group of our partners and experts to share experiences and leanings about all sorts of areas that would benefit from some fresh thinking. Previous experts have included specialists in; Investment, HR, marketing, branding, product development and design.
ESTABLISHING A TEAM AND COMPANY CULTURE
We convened four of our partners, along with Creative Director of Branding Agency The House, Michael, and HR experts’ Tim and Marissa. The session combined sharing insights and challenges as well as practical tips on promoting a positive company culture.
Mentoring
We like to open minds. It is so important that young people are given the opportunity to connect with professionals and positive role models. Whether through workshops and/or visits to workplaces, we take full advantage of being able to expose young people to as many careers, ideas and inspiring people as possible.
FLUENCY GET DIGITAL AT FORWARD3D
Fluency’s Get Digital sessions were being delivered at a different company every week (the likes of Google and eatbigfish), and we were thrilled to host the closing session alongside Forward3D. Forward Foundation Communications Manager, Helen, Forward3D’s SEO Consultant, Matt and Data Analyst, Jonathan participated in a Q & A on their roles.
Other highlights over the last year include hosting Discover a career in tech - filling 70 young heads with lots of career inspiration and a Dragons Den afternoon – helping the ‘You Make It’ ladies work on their pitches.
Hosting
We connect our partners to an amazing space. The office that we get to share (and call home) is pretty unique, and we like to share this with our partners. The auditorium is great for hosting events of all different shapes and sizes, but we also have meeting rooms and other spaces for partners to use.
FRANKLIN SCHOLARS AND GOOD FOR NOTHING
Good for Nothing is essentially 24hours of people coming together to share ideas and skills for social good. One weekend in April, Good for Nothing took on a challenge for our partner, Franklin Sholars. And we were thrilled to host it at the Forward Foundation HQ. The auditorium provided an inspiring environment for everyone to put their strategic, creative and technical heads together.
Showcasing
We’ve built a large network of organisations that donate to or invest in social organisations. We identify donors and investors who might be interested in the work of our partners and approach them to ask if they’d like to be connected.
We were so impressed with the work of our partners Digital Opportunity Trust that we connected them to our friends over at the Zing Foundation. Zing is now supporting Digital Opportunity Trust to set up an operation in the UK.
Meet some of the people we have worked with along the way. Read their stories.