Whether your charity organisation has recently outgrown its office space or you’re simply looking for somewhere new to move your charity to, you might be wondering what it takes to choose the right space.
Even though the concept of moving to a larger office space can be deemed a stressful endeavour, it is also a very exciting concept. From questions like, will a new location aid the success of the charity and will a new location allow us to better serve the community of focus? We’re here to help make the process of choosing a new office space for your charity a little easier and guide you through what to consider when it comes to moving your charity to a new location.
Here is our guide to the ins and outs of what it takes to choose the right office space to meet your charity’s goals and requirements.
How does the social sector get office space?
There are a range of different ways that social organisations can access office space – the type of office space your charity chooses to utilise will, most likely, depend on a diverse range of factors.
One of the main factors being budget. The issue with office space is that it can be expensive and can quickly eat into your funds, which is why so many of the social organisations settle for subpar office space, such as office spaces that are too small for the operation or don’t offer the appropriate facilities, including heating and cooling systems.
For many social organisations, office space is donated, which can be an exceedingly helpful way to cut costs. Or they are offered space at exclusively reduced rates to help reduce the running costs.
In other instances, shared offices are available for you to pay a fixed price and share space with other nonprofits and social organisations. This not only surrounds you with other people, but often delivers the flexibility many charities are looking for. We at Canopi offer flexible shared office space and coworking desks exclusively for nonprofits, providing collaborative workspaces alongside other like minded organisations. There are lots of benefits to shared space, including marketing your charity and the good work it does, expanding your network and putting you in the minds of other helpful contacts.
What to look out for when choosing office space?
When selecting an office space for your charity, it’s important to take a number of key factors into account. You need to ensure that the space you’re selecting is a good fit for your charity, your regular tasks, the team, as well as the organisation’s goals.
It’s important to make sure that if the nonprofit is a public facing charity, that your office location is situated somewhere that’s easy to access, such as in a town or city centre. As you want to make accessing your services as simple as possible. For example in central London, it’s beneficial to be only a short walk from a tube station.
You should also take the time to consider how much space you want and need from your office space. Can your organisation run effectively with a small amount of office space or do you require a larger space to work in? You need to ask yourself things like, how many desks do I need to fit in the space now, will this like increase, or decrease in the coming years, and does this space offer flexibility? It’s important to take the time to think this through carefully, so that you can ensure that you’re choosing an office space that has the ability to cater to your growth.
It’s also important to consider what facilities you need the office space to have. Do you simply require a room with an internet connection or do you need more to run your charity effectively? If there are certain facilities that you require, such as a cafe, communal areas, or meeting room space with AV technology it’s vital that you know what these are and how these can affect your overheads, so that you can make an informed decision when choosing a new office space.
Free office space for social organisations near me
Want free office space for your social sector organisation? There is free space available if you are lucky enough to gain sponsorship, it’s simply a case of taking the time to think about what exactly it is you need from a workspace because sometimes free space can cost you more than you realise, in other ways other than just money..
If you are looking to try sharing space with other social organisations, you can trial for free coworking spaces for nonprofits from Canopi.
When choosing an office space, remember to take the time and ensure that you make the right choice for your organisation, both at its current position, and where it might be in the next few years. Shared office spaces allow for flexibility and also offer many of the desired facilities that are not often available with the subpar space many charities settle for.