Building resilience and funding capability across the community sector

CONTEXT & CHALLENGE

Local not for profit and community organisations play a vital role in delivering services and programs across the Sutherland Shire. While many organisations access grant funding, long-term sustainability increasingly depends on broader organisational capability, including early planning, stakeholder engagement, evidence of impact and the ability to clearly articulate value to funders, sponsors and partners.

Through discussion with Council, there was a shared recognition that traditional grant-writing workshops, while useful, did not fully address these broader capability needs. Both parties identified an opportunity to move beyond application focused training and deliver a more holistic, outcomes driven program that would strengthen organisational resilience and position community groups to pursue a wider range of funding opportunities.

APPROACH & STRATEGY

Building on this shared understanding, Infodec Communications was engaged to co-design and deliver the Resilience, Capacity Building and Grant Readiness Workshop (November 2025).

The workshop was designed as a practical, hands-on session focused on early preparation rather than last-minute applications. The emphasis was on helping organisations build strong foundations for funding success, regardless of the specific grant program or funding source.

Infodec developed a comprehensive, plain-English workbook to support learning and application throughout the session. The content focused on transferable tools and strategies that participants could adapt across grants, sponsorships, partnerships and other funding models, supporting longer-term organisational sustainability.

OUR ROLE

Infodec Communications was responsible for:

• Co-designing the workshop in alignment with Council priorities and projected outcomes
• Developing the Resilience, Capacity Building and Grant Readiness Workbook
• Facilitating an interactive, outcomes-driven workshop
• Leading guided group work and practical exercises to apply learning in real time
• Supporting participants to develop core organisational documents, including:
  • project plans
  • stakeholder engagement tools
  • outcome and impact narratives
• Assisting organisations to refine their story to attract funders, sponsors and community support
• Encouraging peer learning, collaboration and shared problem solving

The facilitation approach prioritised clarity, confidence and practical application, enabling participants to leave with tools they could immediately apply within their organisations.

OUTCOME

Post-workshop survey results demonstrated a clear uplift in confidence, capability and readiness across participating organisations.

Key outcomes included:

• 92% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they felt better equipped to identify a broader range of funding sources, including grants, sponsorships and partnerships
• 92% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they now had the knowledge and tools to gather appropriate supporting evidence for funding or sponsorship applications
• 79% of participants reported feeling confident or very confident in mapping and managing partnerships to support organisational capacity building following the workshop
• Participants identified improved project planning, funding diversification and readiness as the most valuable outcomes of the session, with multiple respondents highlighting the importance of aligning projects with funder objectives rather than pursuing one-off opportunities.

Importantly, the workshop also supported Council’s broader objective of strengthening long-term organisational resilience. More than half of the participants indicated interest in follow-up support or mentoring, reinforcing the value of a capability-building approach rather than isolated training delivery.