What will the UK population be like in 5 years' time?

Hot off the press - the next in the popular Future Focus series. Changes to the UK population will impact all areas of your organisation. Future Focus 6 explores the opportunities and risks that key demographic drivers such as changes to family structures might present for your organisation in the future. It also offers tips and suggest ways to plan for how these changes might impact on you.
Collect the set special offer available, or buy Future Focus 6.

What's affecting you?

There are over 100 drivers on www.3s4.org.uk - which ones are you really feeling the impact of?

We want to hear from you which drivers you think are offering your organisation the biggest opportunity or presenting the biggest risk. The credit crunch is an obvious contender, but what about the localism agenda, in light of the recent political activity?

Each month we like to feature thoughts from one of our members on these questions. Have your moment in the limelight and let the rest of the network hear your views. Let us know!

Drivers of the day

Here are some drivers which we think would be particularly relevant for you to think about at the moment:

The EU agenda - New driver

Conservative focus on social justice

Engagement in formal politics

International campaigns and movements

What do you think of the new drivers' page format?

These elections were a chance to shape the future local and European agenda, but have implications for the next general election as well.

What does it mean?
Natalie discussed what she thought the implications could be, and the most likely outcomes...

What happened?
...Sarah provides a handy one stop shop with information on what did actually happen and some though-provoking questions on what it all means...

A European slant
...with our resident European experts giving us the lowdown on the European outcomes.

What is happening to legacies in the downturn?

Does your organisation rely on legacies? Do they form part of your funding strategy? If they do, this post provides some invaluable insight into how the recession is impacting on them. It also provides another thread to the thinking about giving more generally, and the recession. As society entered the recession, we featured some posts about giving. The report on legacies seems to suggest this tide is turning. What do you think? What experiences have you had with this?

Sustainable Fundraising

Another discussion on money! Two of our members, Olof and Muriel discuss sustainable funding, focussing on child sponsorship. Is this something your organisation has experience of? How does sponsorship rank alongside other types of fund raising in your view? Read their conversation and add your experiences.

Launch of Looking Out

New and improved!
Looking Out: a practical guide to planning for a changing environment has been revised and renamed. This key publication has been given an overhaul to make it even more user friendly and relevant.

Buy your copy now.

How do leaders view the future?

The results of the last Charity Forecast survey are out. Decreasing recruitment, concerns about governmental policies - see what else your peers think may be affecting them over the next 12 months.

Read the full report - £100 or free to NCVO members.

Future of membership project focus groups

What do you think the future holds for membership organisations? Want to get involved with this exciting new project? We're looking for volunteers from membership organisations to come together and share their expertise and ideas on the future of membership in focus groups. A key part of our Future of Membership project, participate in these groups and help us explore what might be over the horizon for membership.

Read more on being part of the focus groups.

Are you signed up to all our website feeds? Do you know what RSS feeds are? Subscribing to our feeds will save you time by notifying you when we or Third Sector Foresight members update the website with new pages, news, or comments. This way you don’t have to keep checking the site, you can just subscribe to the feed on their page using a news reader like netvibes or bloglines which collects all your feeds (of any news that has been updated) so you can read them all in one place. You can sign up to as many as you like, just look out for the RSS icon on the site. We have several different feeds on the site:

78 new members - welcome!
The Foresight team hope you enjoy reading your first bulletin. Why not suggest to your friends or colleagues that they subscribe to this bulletin? Joining is easy.

Thriving in tough times: Securing a diverse and sustainable income base

SFP Annual Gathering
17 June, London
Reasons why you cannot miss this year’s Sustainable Funding Project’s Annual Gathering:

• Get one-to-one professional advice from legal and financial experts
• Learn from charity marketing expert Prof Ian Bruce on how you can develop a dynamic marketing strategy to grow your organisation’s income
• Hear from the ex-Deputy Director of the Bank of England, Rachel Lomax,chair of the Funding Commission (see our forum) who will help us make sense of the challenges and opportunities we face as a sector
• Be inspired by leading social entrepreneurs Sophi Tranchell MBE, Managing Director Divine Chocolate and Peter Holbrook, CEO Sunlight Development Trust
  Bursaries are available - book online.

NCVO Summer Marketing Conference
7 July 2009, London
Come away with the tools you need to ensure that your organisation stands out in a crowded marketplace and that you are engaging with a range of audiences. One of the worlds most recognised and highly respected marketers Drayton Bird will give the keynote address and show you how marketing can make a real difference to your organisation.

For more and to book visit www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/marketingjuly09.

Harness the power of the web for your organisation

Do you have a new service you want to let people know about? Is there something you want to work together with others on? Reach over 1400 people from the VCS and futures organisations by putting your piece here.

Introductory rates available for a limited period. For more information contact Kathryn .