An incubator partnership is our preferred option for maintaining and building the activities of this site, to realise the full potential of this approach.
By an 'incubator partner' we mean an existing agency that is able to step in and support and develop a PIElink project team within its own organisation, perhaps until such time as the new team may be ready and equipped to be hived off and stand alone as a company in its own right.
(NB: Bringing the recently formed 'PIEPR CIC' (HERE) under its wing may be one way to do this; but other options can be explored.)
One immediate key task for an incubator partner would be to attract funding from philanthropic and other sources, for future investment and expansion to begin to build the team and the site's activities. An incubator partner does not need to have not-for-profit status - or ideally, but not necessarily, charitable status - in order to be able to bid immediately for philanthropic funding; the charitable purposes of some aspects of the work (eg: to keep access to the site and forums free to provider agencies and others) may be sufficient.
In the meantime, with support and co-ordination it would perhaps be possible to sustain and further develop some of the current activity of those in existing Special Interest Groups (HERE) and encouraging the small group of volunteers enthusiasts who are aiming to maintain and even develop further the level of activity on this site. It may even be possible to agree 'secondments' of current staff of other like-minded agencies from their other existing duties, to provide additional time and expertise during this 'start up' stage (HERE).
Resuming current activity and re-building momentum
There are three key areas of activity for an incubator partner, at this stage. These three key are:
The first, and the most significant for the future, is to agree and put in applications on behalf of the project for funding to philanthropic and other agencies to continue developing the PIElink as an active interactive community of practice.
- This will then allow us to more quickly and more significantly expand the new activities, with a level of resources that we do not expect the incubator to be able to offer.
The second is to maintain the momentum of the current activities of the website - at least to the activity levels of 2021, before they were suspended through the news of the health of the then editor, Robin Johnson (whose health that meant he had to bring forward plans to retire 'at some point').
- This means using - and co-ordinating - the offers of time to help that we already have from various quarters, extending further the forum discussions, developing the SIGs, re-establishing a ‘PIE surgery’ advice slot. The incubation agency itself does not need to have all the necessary contacts and knowledge in every area, just to work with those that do; and ideally, to be ready and able to enlist more.
The third key task - when funding allows - is to develop further the initiatives that were immediately next in the pipeline in 2021, although limited in scope (or only barely achievable, if at all, by one person on his own, as Robin had been).
- Capitalising on the opportunity for expansion, when the activity levels here are no longer limited by one person's time, means (for example) undertaking or contracting in work on segmenting the current member database, so that future offers to get involved go more specifically to those who have wanted that level of engagement, and on the topics of their choosing.
Future sustainability
There is in fact an income stream already in play - the PIE Abacus - that in the fullness of time, and with effective marketing, may well bring in sufficient income to sustain much of this work. In the more distant future, the prospects for developing training resources for the higher education sector.
These options are spelled out in some detail on the PIElink's pages (especially 'And now a word for our sponsors : HERE) But we can best see these as the future business' flywheel; it still needs a starter motor.
