Business Plan for the Federation of Cumbria Commoners
Jan 2010
Contents
1 Executive Summary 1
2 Introduction 2
2.1 Current situation 3
2.2 Financial situation 3
2.3 Aims and Objectives 3
3 The organisation 5
3.1 Legal structure 5
3.2 Organisational Structure 5
3.3 Staffing 6
3.4 Operational Policies and procedures 6
4 Services 6
4.1 Strand 1: Representation 6
4.2 Strand 2: Membership 7
4.3 Strand 3: Supporting members to solve issues on their commons 7
4.4 Strand 4: Educate policy makers and the general public 7
4.5 Future projects 7
5. The Market 9
6. Marketing plan 9
7. Financials 10
7.1 Membership Fees 10
7.2 Fees/ charge out rates 10
7.3 Financing/ funding strategy 10
7.4 Three-year Income and expenditure forecast 10
7.5 Cash Flow forecast 11
7.6 Financial assumptions 11
8. Risk Management 11
9. Appendices 12
1 SWOT analysis 12
2 CASHFLOW FORECAST 14
1 Executive Summary
The Federation of Cumbria Commoners was set up in early 2003 to be a representative voice to support and protect the commoners of Cumbria. We are a membership organisation and are open to all Commons Associations and commoners in Cumbria. We currently have around 613 members.
The Federation has four main strands of work at the present time:
· To represent the views of commoners to decision makers in Natural England, Defra and other relevant government departments and agencies
· To provide and update members with information on current issues affecting commons
· To support commoners solve issues on their own commons
· To educate policy makers and the general public about commons and communing
We are writing this business plan at time when we want to focus on ensuring the sustainability of our organisation alongside developing new services and benefits for our members and the wider public at large. We are keen to explore the option of becoming the Commons Council for Cumbria. This will give us statutory powers to assist Commoners Associations in the management of common land.
Over the next 3 years we plan to grow the capacity of the Federation through increasing the hours of our part time administrator to 2 days per week. We also plan to pay Committee members out-of-pocket expenses for carrying out duties on behalf of the Federation.
To cover these extra costs we aim to increase and diversify our income streams in the following ways:
· Increase membership by 10% each year for all categories of membership. Membership fees will cover the costs of our basic overheads (administrator’s expenses, office expenses and accountancy)
· Obtain sponsorship to cover the costs of the newsletter
· Gradually increase our earned income through charging for farm walks, other events, training courses, selling advertising etc.
· Seek grant funding to update our website and marketing materials, develop new information materials and undertake research projects
2 Introduction
The Federation of Cumbria Commoners was set up in early 2003 to be a representative voice to support and protect the commoners of Cumbria. We are a membership organisation and are open to all Commons Associations and commoners in Cumbria. We currently have around 613 members.
Our current challenges:
· Membership apathy and ageing membership
· Expenditure is outstripping income
· Need to develop new income streams in a challenging economic climate
· Committee members lack time to devote to the Federation
This Business Plan covers the financial years 2010 – 2012 and outlines our plans to increase membership, obtain new grant funding and other earned income.
2.1 Current situation
The Federation of Cumbria Commoners is a farmer-led organisation with in-depth knowledge of commons and commoning. We have built up an excellent reputation as the respected voice for the sector and have a strong record of dialogue and influence with government agencies and departments. We have achieved significant success at a national and local level to improve legislation and policy for common land. The challenge facing us today is to sustain what we do best, alongside developing new services and project to benefit our members and the wider public at large.
The recent Commons Act (2006) allows Commons Councils to be established with statutory powers to manage agricultural activities, common rights and vegetation on common land. We are keen to explore the option of becoming the Commons Council for Cumbria. This will give us statutory powers to assist Commoners Associations in the management of common land.
For an assessment of our strengths and weakness see Appendix 1, page 12.
2.2 Financial situation
The Federation’s chief source of income is from membership fees, we have also received grant funding in the past.
The Federation has operated at a loss of £2,636 in 2007 and £3,874 in 2008. Currently membership subscriptions (£15 per annum) only cover basic administration costs with other expenses being financed by reserves. In early 2010 the Federation’s net assets stood at £9,931 it is estimated that all cash will be spent by the end of 2014 if action is not taken.
2.3 Aims and Objectives
We have a number of aims and objectives we are working towards. Some are focused towards securing a sustainable future for commons and commoning as a whole. Others apply to the running of the Federation itself to achieve a sustainable business that will be a viable resource for many generations of commoners.
Overall aim:
To increase the overall sustainability of hill farming on common land
Specific aim:
To increase the voice of commoners to support and protect the commons in Cumbria
Specific objectives:
o To provide expert opinion on working parties, government consultations, conferences, research, evaluations, pilot studies
o To provide accurate and up-to-date information to members, journalists and others via the website and press releases
o To build up the membership to increase representation
Specific aim:
To improve the sustainable management of the commons in Cumbria
Objectives:
o To update and promote the use of the Good Practice Guides
o To gather and share new learning about good practice on the commons
Specific aim:
To improve public understanding of the commons
Objectives
o To develop educational and information materials for the general public (leaflets, website, display boards)
o To provide training for public sector personnel on all aspects of commoning
o To organise farms walks on the commons for the public
o To publicise the work of the Federation through articles in magazines of relevant organisations
o To sell and distribute remaining copies the DVD
Overall business aim:
To increase financial sustainability of the Federation
Specific aim:
To increase income from membership by 10% for each year (2010 – 2012)
Objectives:
o To run a recruitment drive
o To develop associate membership categories
o To continue recruiting members outside Cumbria
Specific aim:
To raise grant income
Objectives
o to implement at least one grant funded project per year
o to implement in partnership with other organisations at least one research project per year
Specific aim:
To increase sponsorship and other income
Objectives
o To raise £2000 per year in sponsorship
o To sell remaining copies of DVD
o To develop the website and website sponsorship/ sales
o To develop new income streams
Turnover
2006 £12,560
2007 £15,703
2008 £8,641
3 The organisation
The Federation of Cumbria Commoners was established in early 2003 to support graziers of common land in Cumbria. Our Committee made up of representatives from the 10 Commons groups in Cumbria to ensure that the Federation is rooted in the local practices of each area and 3 non-regional representatives. We also have members who are commoners in Lancashire, Northumberland and Durham and landowners in Cumbria.
3.1 Legal structure
The Federation has a constitution that was adopted on 19th December 2003.
3.2 Organisational Structure
Every person who has registered rights on any common in Cumbria or who is a member of a Commoners Association is entitled to be a member of the Federation.
Membership fees are charged at £15 per annum. A large proportion of the membership fees are collected and paid for by the local Commoners Associations.
Members are entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting and other extraordinary meeting called by the Committee. Members are eligible to stand for election to the committee as long as they are a grazier or a member of a Commons Association and are not excluded as outlined in the Rules of Association. The Federation also has affiliate members who are commoners and members Commoner Associations in Lancashire and Northumberland.
The2009 committee had 13 elected members, of whom 10 are elected to represent specified regions and 3 are non-regional representatives. The 13 committee members are.
Chairman: / Harry Hutchinson / CrosbyDeputy Chairman: / Dave Smith / Eastern Fells
Treasurer: / John Atkinson / Lakes South West
Regional Representative / Region
Roger Bainbridge / Howgills
Ernest Coulthard / Kirkby Stephen
Carl Walters (Bampton) / Lakes North Central
Duncan Ellwood / Lakes West
John Rowland / Lakes North
William Steele (Stainmore) / Eastern Fells
Norman Bowe / Calvo
Pauline Blair / Lakes West
John Jackson / Howgills
Marianne Teasdale / Eastern Fells
The current committee also has the following co-opted people:
· Charles Raine (Northumberland)
· Edward Thomas (Holcombe Moor - Lancs)
· Jane Hilditch (Holcombe Moor - Lancs)
· Robert Benson – co-opted owner representative.
· Andrew Humphries
· Julia Aglionby
The whole Committee meets every 2 months. Sub committees are formed, as and when necessary, and report back to the whole committee with recommendations. Currently we have two active sub committees covering business planning and exploring the implications of a Commons Council for Cumbria.
3.3 Staffing
The Federation has a part-time administrator who works 1 day per week. The administrator is answerable to the Committee and works closely with the Chairman and any sub committees that are formed. All correspondence regarding the Federation is directed to the administrator who collects all the subscriptions. The Administrator is the first point of contact for Natural England and DEFRA and any other bodies who wish to contact the Federation.
3.4 Operational Policies and procedures
The Federation has developed a set of policies and procedures to ensure the effective running of the organisation. These policies are reviewed and updated (where necessary) on an annual basis.
4 Services
The Federation has four main strands of work at the present time:
· To represent the views of commoners to decision makers in Natural England, Defra and other relevant government departments and agencies
· To provide and update members with information on current issues affecting commons
· To support commoners solve issues on their own commons
· To educate policy makers and the general public about commons and commoning
4.1 Strand 1: Representation
We provide representation for the views of our paid-up membership and for commoners in general. For example we have undertaken:
– Consultations and correspondence: we have coordinated responses to relevant government consultations on issues affecting commoners such as the new upland support payment scheme (UELS), electronic identification of sheep (EID), the 2006 Commons Act.
– Advocacy and lobbying across government departments: we have continuous direct engagement and dialogue with senior civil servants of Natural England Defra on the need to maintain balanced active grazing systems based on hefted sheep to deliver biodiversity and other ecosystems services
– Research management: we provided input and researchers into various studies including ‘Trends in Pastoral Commoning’ Natural England Commissioned Report NECR001; The lifecycle of the antler moth;
– Communications: we have attended and made representation at seminars and conferences
This work has contributed to securing a commons supplementary payment for UELS
4.2 Strand 2: Membership
We provide our members with the following services:
– Newsletter: bi-annual and delivered to all members
– Website: our current website is basic and we plan to improve it
– Conference at AGM: we ensure that our AGM is a focal point in the year for our members and invite speakers of note to talk abut topical issues. They are always well attended.
– Good practice guides: a series of 9 Guides of Good Practice on key issues to help Commoners Associations promote good management.
4.3 Strand 3: Supporting members to solve issues on their commons
We provide our members with:
– Coaching: with Chairs of Commoners Association on their roles and responsibilities and updates on legislation, policy and practice
– Informal mentoring: to Commons Associations to problem solve issues as they arise
– Individual support: to help members solve their own problems and issues related to commons.
4.4 Strand 4: Educate policy makers and the general public
We have undertaken the following:
– Study visits and educating civil servants: Organized and provided farm visits, study tours, information, case studies and evidence – for some it was their first visit to a hill farm
– PR: produced leaflets and promotional dvds
– Open days: for the general public (over forty people at Baugh Fell Open day).
4.5 Future projects
All future projects will fit into the 4 strands mentioned above. They are designed to increase our ‘voice’ and bring in more income. The following are projects will we be carrying out during the life of this business plan.
4.5.1 New membership categories
We plan to extend membership of the Federation by adding two new membership categories. These are:
· Institutional members i.e. organisations who are interested in our work and subscribe to the Objects in our constitution
· Supporters i.e. members of the general public who interested in our work and subscribe to the Objects in our constitution
People/ organisations belonging to these membership categories will not have voting rights or be eligible to stand for election to committees, though they can be co-opted on to a committee.
4.5.2 Sponsorship
We plan to cover the costs of producing and delivering the newsletter through sponsorship. We will develop a cost structure for adverts in the newsletter and committee members will actively seek sponsors