What we do: Building capacity

Why community organisations matter

Community organisations are at the heart of social change. They tackle the interconnected challenges we face - from the climate and nature crises to rising inequality and polarisation.

Locally rooted groups build cohesive, resilient neighbourhoods. Online communities of interest and movements give voice and agency to marginalised groups, and campaign for causes overlooked by established organisations.

But while their work is vital, these organisations are often the least resourced to sustain and grow their impact.

The challenge they face

Even the smallest organisation needs to: 

• Comply with regulation - from safeguarding to data security
• Communicate effectively in fast-changing digital spaces
• Adapt to new technologies such as AI
• Support volunteer and staff well being
• Manage effectively - from governance to fundraising

For small teams, this breadth of expertise is impossible to hold in-house. Training and toolkits can help, but upskilling across every domain diverts time and energy from their core mission.

What they need is direct access to people who can share the expertise they lack.

How Reach helps

Through Reach, thousands of people offer their skills - from finance to digital, fundraising to strategy - to help small charities and grassroots groups thrive. They give advice, deliver projects or join teams on an ongoing basis.

We work with a rapidly growing number of community organisations. Over 60% of the organisations we support are small or grassroots, and many are led by and for communities facing marginalisation. Since 2019, the number of entirely volunteer-run organisations using our service has increased more than tenfold. 

Explore more details about the organisations we work with in our interactive charts.

Our platform helps organisations reach beyond their existing networks to connect with people they might never otherwise meet - people with specialist knowledge, diverse perspectives and social capital that opens doors. They help them to do more, and to do it better.

Skills-based volunteering is a powerful way for charities and groups to build their own capacity: 

• Organisation-led: groups seek support for the areas that they want to prioritise, instead of having to try to fit funders' criteria
• Responsive: organisations can recruit for the skills they need now instead of waiting for funding decisions, or for funders to develop new programmes to catch up with events
• Abundant: there is an untapped appetite among the public to share expertise - and the more its used, the more it grows

Impact in numbers

Our service delivers results at scale:

5,996 placements last year, equivalent to £60m of expertise donated to civil society.

These placements brought charities tangible, transformative support such as:

• Rebranding small charities with new visual identities and websites
• Creating communication plans that improved engagement and supporter retention
• Developing fundraising strategies that opened new revenue streams
• Setting up data systems for volunteer tracking or impact measurement
• Delivering creative campaigns that reached new audiences online
• Offering mentoring and training over a huge range of areas

Last year, in the surveys we carry out three to six months after a volunteer has been appointed, 94% of charities said their volunteer had made them more effective.

In their own words