Something that I quite frequently find frustrating is that my job at ACEVO allows me limited time with our Full members in the third sector. Nearly all of my time is spent recruiting new corporate partners or making sure we are doing a good job for those already in membership. Of course this is what I enjoy doing most, but it's great to get a bit of time off and speak to our full members and last night was a great opportunity to do just that. It makes me feel much more attached to the central mission and values of ACEVO, and not stuck out on a branch.
A couple of other very interesting things happened last night, all due to the great power of networking. I look on in awe and slight jealousy when I see some colleagues work through a room like they did last night. Stephen must be a grand master at it by now.
Firstly, I spoke to the CEO of a large, national charity who expressed considerable interest in the forum. It would be a great coup for us to get her along - she is very pro-ACEVO, and has a lot to say on the subject of 'The perfect partnership'
Second, I had a call from Ben Brabyn, a steering group member and CEO of Bmycharity. He had some very exciting news about their development of the commission free fundraising concept. the great step forward will become public next week. He also mentioned that he had been speaking with a very interesting figure in the Cabinet Office, who would be keen to discuss how to get involved with ACEVO's work on sustainable business, in particular the idea of creating partnerships.
Thirdly, I had a really good chat with Allison, CEO of Social Enterprise London and ACEVO deputy-chair. She is another steering group member, and I am really glad of this. As she said last night, a large part of her job is to make introductions, put people together and suggest partnership ideas. It is very clear that she gets what we want to achieve, and will be a great asset in ensuring the success of the forum.
As well as all this, we had some great remarks from Stephen, from our Chair, Lesley-Anne Alexander and from Liam Byrne, whose praise of ACEVO was very high.
I also had a great conversation with Ian Bird, Partner at Foster Denovo (Employee Benefits Advisory business), our sponsor and long-term ACEVO Strategic Partner. They launched their Employee Benefits Survey at the AGM. I introduced him to Mark Ellis, CEO of Ellis Whittam (HR and Employment Law firm) some months ago, as they have very aligned businesses and could offer some much needed services to our members.
Today I wrote the invitation to the Forum - it will go out tomorrow to a couple of hundred business professionals. I'm hoping it will generate the interest that I know exists in the third sector for this kind of work. I'm feeling like the momentum is building now. Once we get going in February, it will be very hard for anyone to put the brakes on.
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