Building Financial Sustainability into Wraparound Care
This year’s Club Central conference will be focussing on sustainability, from financial and social responsibility, to looking after the planet.
Financial sustainability is the ability to manage your organisation’s finances (ensuring it remains viable), so that you can meet all your financial commitments, continue operating into the future and make a surplus.
This can be a challenge for out-of-school clubs, but there are measures that can be taken to enable the setting to have the best chance of continued success and a positive future. At the conference you will be able to consider what you can do to ensure a sustainable future and here are a few ideas to get you thinking!
Strategies for Financial Viability
Parent Fees
It can be an annual challenge to ensure fees are competitive yet affordable for parents, whilst covering all your costs. Many costs have gone up significantly over the last few years with increased minimum wage, rising rent costs, increased cost of food and more. Whilst you might want to absorb some of these increases, it is unlikely to be practical or viable for you to do so and when this happens, you need to accept that you probably only have one income source: parent fees! Although it might be uncomfortable, for the good of your business, it is necessary that these costs are passed onto parents to ensure that you are able to remain financially viable. Keeping your organisation running in the long term is more important than not putting up fees and being forced to close.
Grants and Funding Opportunities
There are often opportunities available for funding that are worth investigating, they may be focussed on childcare or business in general. Currently the National Wraparound Childcare Programme is offering funding for creating more childcare spaces before and after school. This funding is a Department for Education programme accessed through Local Authorities.
The National Wraparound Childcare Programme helps settings to cover the costs of increasing the number of places they offer; this could be staffing, resources, transport costs etc.
Managing Costs
Understanding your financial position is key and understanding all your costs and considering where savings can and can’t be made.
Strategic Planning and Budgeting
Creating a strategic plan and detailed budgets is imperative to any business success and if all senior members of the team are aware of the budget, they will be able to make choices based on the budget. It can be surprising how good people are at staying within a budget, once they realise what the spending parameters are.
Efficiency
Considering ways to reduce overhead costs can make a significant difference. This includes staffing costs, premises costs, resource management, and energy-saving measures.
Staff Training
Investing in staff training can improve quality within the setting, efficiency, staff retention and may even allow for ratios to be flexed or viewed as dynamic.
Marketing
How exciting and appealing is what you do for children and do you promote this to the parents who make decisions about booking? Are your marketing messages getting through?
Expansion
Planned-for and sustainable growth into new locations or increasing numbers can have a huge impact, but it is important to understand what needs to be considered to ensure it is a wise financial decision.
Innovative Thinking
Thinking outside the box could help increase your attendance and income. This could be about the programme being offered, additional sessions or hours, or additional services within/outside your setting.
Sustainability goes beyond financial sustainability and the Club Central conference will be looking at sustainability from all aspects.
It encompasses social and environmental dimensions that ensure the wellbeing of current and future generations.
Building sustainable futures in the wraparound care/out-of-school sector requires a holistic approach. By focusing on economic viability, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship, we can ensure that these vital programs continue to thrive and positively impact our communities. Join us at the conference to explore these themes and develop actionable strategies for a sustainable future.
