VCSEs who want to work with business

The city of Manchester has increasingly become a place where people come to do business. From small enterprises to corporate giants, growth over the last 20 years has seen the city become a hub for several key sectors. In value terms the wider Greater Manchester economy generates more wealth than Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool combined1 and in 2021 amounted to £87bn.2

Potential benefits to your VCSE

  • There are many potential benefits from working with businesses including access to:
  • Volunteers, including trustees
  • Expertise to help your organisation
  • Products, resources and venue hosting
  • Support for campaigning and awareness raising
  • Buyer of your services
  • Fundraising

How businesses benefit

  • Access to Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) opportunities for fun, entertainment, a break from working, team-building
  • Staffing and recruitment - boost morale, wellbeing and inspire people would rather work for companies that do good, develop knowledge / experience of staff
  • Develop their customer base
  • Build the economic potential of their local market
  • Improve reputation / good PR - customers prefer to buy from brands with a purpose
  • Help to meet Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental Social Governance (ESG) or Social Value obligations 

Established initiatives to link up VCSEs with support from businesses

There are many established schemes encouraging partnerships, including:

  • In Kind Direct - quality consumer products donated by some of the UK’s best known manufacturers, retailers and brands
  • A Good Thing – free items or use of space donated by local businesses
  • Tech for Good – skilled support from businesses to help charities with digital challenges
  • Your Local Pantry – support to help establish a Pantry in your neighbourhood

Next steps and support available via Macc Help and support on offer

At Macc, we are here to help, support is available:

  • VCSEs working with business drop in. Every last Thursday in the month between 11am and 1pm is a time when any VCSE can book in for a 15 minute chat about working with business.
  • Introduction to working with business for your VCSE organisation session
  • VCSEs working with business peer support session

Details of these sessions can be found on our Training pages

We would love to hear from you!

By working together, we can create a more resilient and sustainable community. We invite stakeholders to shape our offer and help us build a stronger, more collaborative community in Manchester.

Contact our Business Partnerships Lead:

1 365 Invest Limited 2023 - https://365invest.co.uk/locations/manchester/

2 Investing In Success: An Economic Strategy For Manchester, Manchester City Council