Overview:
With the COVID-19 crisis that began in early 2020 disproportionately affecting Black, Asian, Multi-Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities, it quickly became clear that BAMER-led nonprofits were also under disproportionate strain. With increasing demand for their services, fundraising expertise and capacity became increasingly stretched, to the point that 9 in 10 BAMER-led nonprofits were at risk of closing permanently within three months of April 2020 according to the Ubele Initiative.
At Money4YOU, we quickly realised that our flagship AVOCADO+ Accelerator Programme was even more oversubscribed than usual following the COVID-19 crisis, and that high-quality, online educational resources were desperately needed to ensure that small, community-led organisations in BAMER communities could survive and thrive. In September 2020, we launched BAMERHUB.com at our annual Dragons’ Den event.
The platform offers a variety of resources that are open to all BAMER-led nonprofits and is modelled on four years of highly successful development and learning from our AVOCADO+ Accelerator Programme.
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BAMER HUB users have spent over 389 hours browsing content, watching videos, and sending us feedback since our launch in September 2020.
BAMER civil society community is talking about BAMER HUB
”Thank you Money4YOU for making such quality training accessible and available to us.
High Chief Musa AmeduEdo Disapora UK
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71% of BAMER HUB member organisations have an annual turnover of less than £50k. This popularity amongst smaller charities shows us that our resources are both valuable and accessible to small, grassroots BAMERled nonprofits.
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BAMER HUB is modelled on the AVOCADO+ Accelerator Programme, which has a proven track record, having helped alumni organisations increase their income by a factor of 5 on average after graduating.
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Training BootCamps are at the heart of AVOCADO+ Accelerator Programme, so we’ve opened and expanded them for BAMER HUB Full Members with incredible results, delivering over 250 hours of training from expert speakers in 2021 alone.
User-responsiveness
We take an evidence-based approach, informed by both qualitative and quantitative feedback from our users, which we collect through regular dialogue and surveys:
Types of Online Content Most Useful to Organisations
Challenge Areas Amongst Member Organisations
The need for better fundraising, and better resources around fundraising, stands out clearly; so we launched a variety of new tools on BAMER HUB
200+ funding opportunities (and counting) available to sort, filter and apply to straight away
Users can create and refer to their major donor prospect pipeline from right inside BAMER HUB
A guide and checklist for writing grant funding applications
Accessibility
Question: In which region is your organisation based?
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are based in the UK and outside London representing an average of 3.4 staff and 21.5 volunteers per organisation
£3k Grant Giveaway Programme
BAMER HUB member organisations can regularly apply to win £3,000 following a video application, an internal shortlisting process and then a public vote.
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applications over 2 grant rounds
BAMER HUB users have access to high-quality educational content from a wide range of sources. Unlike a Google search, however, this content is carefully curated and is prioritised by topic, based on what they tell us they need. This curation is vital for small charities whose time is severely limited.
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Resource Categories on BAMER HUB
Research by the Charities Aid Foundation has found that charities need six key characteristics in order to be resilient. Each resource on BAMER HUB is categorised into one of these areas and presented to each organisation in the order of their self-selected priorities, so that member organisations understand the broader context of building resilience.
Purpose
Awareness
Effective Leadership
Well Networked
Financially & Operationally Fit
Impact
BAMER HUB is uniquely positioned in the nonprofit ecosystem as the only free, accessible resource centre targeted specifically at small BAMER-led nonprofits, with bespoke resources and tools that are relevant, effective and designed with them in mind.
”Thank you for this wonderful, highly informative workshop. I wish it could be more common to hear this information in a friendly, free format as you offered.
Hau-Yu TamEnd the Virus of Racism
”I just want to let you know how great Money4YOU has been for us. I have learnt so much from the training bootcamps and brunch briefings and also the podcasts which has been invaluable.
VannessaBlack and Minority Ethnic Young People’s Project
”Just a quick note to say that I really enjoyed the BrunchBriefing session with Martha today. Thank you again to the Money4YOU team for organising.
Rui JinBrighton Community Cinematheque
”I want to thank Money4YOU for all the work that the team have done to support organisations and individuals around the country … In these really difficult times, organisations like Money4YOU have played an invaluable role in supporting charities.
Rushanara AliUK Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green & Bow
With Special Thanks to Our Amazing Partners
and to individual donors, who made all of this possible.
Get involved
If you’re a majority BAMER-led nonprofit, join BAMERHUB at
We’re always excited to meet new collaborators!
If your organisation could partner with us or contribute resources to BAMER HUB, please get in touch with us here.
References
- COVID-19 crisis disproportionately impacts Black, Asian, Multi-Ethnic and Refugee Communities
- 9 in 10 BAMER-led nonprofits at risk of permanent closure within three months of April 2020 according to the Ubele Initiative
- Charities Aid Foundation identifies six key areas of organisational resilience for charities
