We are excited to offer a range of collaborative face-to-face and online training and development programmes. Whether you are an established rescue centre or just starting out, operate with your own kennels or without, Battersea Academy can provide you and your staff with the formal training you need to improve the way you operate.
Battersea Academy programmes extend beyond animal welfare topics and are designed for practitioners of all levels and experience. Use the links below to find out more about the programmes:
Foundations of Shelter Management
One Day Programmes
Short Courses
Local Authority Training
Bursaries
View our calendar of Upcoming Programmes.
For many organisations there will be no charge to attend our training and they may also be eligible for a bursary towards travel and accommodation if attending face-to-face training. Read more about our course fees and bursary structure.
FOUNDATIONS OF SHELTER MANAGEMENT
Overview
Foundations of Shelter Management is a new qualification comprising five modules which can be implemented in a dog or cat setting, and a further collection of modules, specifically targeted to dog or cat welfare and rehoming.
Foundations of Shelter Management (Dogs) = 5 general modules + 9 dog specific modules
Foundations of Shelter Management (Cats) = 5 general modules + 10 cat specific modules
Modules are completed through a mixture of e-learning and pre-recorded sessions which can be accessed at any time, and scheduled interactive online sessions led by the Battersea team. Each module will take no more than two hours to complete, although many are shorter; we recognise that it can be a challenge for animal welfare personnel to attend longer training sessions, so by making the sessions bite-sized, we hope to enable more individuals to take advantage of the learning opportunities.
The qualification is aimed at both staff and volunteers from animal shelters, regardless of their role – whether you are in a supervisory or management position looking to refresh your skills, someone new to the sector, keen to learn with a view to progressing your career, or a volunteer looking to build on the induction provided by your organisation.
Individuals who fully complete the dog or cat qualification will be eligible to attend a further Practical Week of training at Battersea’s London site, from the second quarter of 2024. Bursaries will be available for this.
Find out more about Foundations of Shelter Management.
ONE DAY PROGRAMMES
Battersea Academy offers a range of one-day programmes. Delivered online, these programmes have been specifically designed for anyone working or volunteering in a rescue or rehoming organisation.
Find out more about the one-day programmes offer.
Creating a Fundraising Strategy
This programme is suitable for those with a responsibility for planning and delivering fundraising strategies within an animal rescue. You will look at how to develop your Fundraising Strategy. It will provide a structured road map and relevant tools to enable you to produce and implement a fundraising strategy in your organisation.
What is covered:
- The purpose and key elements of a fundraising strategy
- Strategic planning tools to contextualise the fundraising strategy
- Appraisal of fundraising options and opportunities
- Preparation for implementation (targets, activities, timescales, performance indicators and resource requirements)
- Potential risks of implementation
- Review and monitoring of the fundraising strategy.
Creating an Organisational Strategy
This programme is suitable for those with a responsibility for planning and delivering organisational strategies and plans within an animal rescue. You will look at how to develop your strategy and supporting business plan (or operational plan). It will provide a structured road map and relevant tools to enable you to complete strategic planning in your organisation.
What is covered:
- The purpose and key elements of an organisational strategy
- People and perspectives involved in strategic planning
- Strategic planning tools to develop the strategy and supporting business plan
- Appraisal of strategic options and priorities
- Preparation for implementation (targets, activities, timescales, performance indicators and resource requirements)
- Potential risks of implementation.
Writing a Winning Funding Application
Suitable for anyone working in a UK or international rescue who is involved in writing or putting together funding applications. This one-day workshop will give you the tools and knowledge to support you with the process.
What is covered:
- Theory of grant management
- The application process
- Different types of funding streams.
Fundraising through Digital Channels
Digital channels have never been more important when considering and delivering your fundraising strategy. In the new normal, charities need to have a good understanding of how digital marketing works and how it can support many of their fundraising methodologies. This new course will look at:
- Incorporating digital into your existing fundraising strategy
- How to approach different digital channels to support different fundraising areas
- What you will need to have in place to successfully fundraise in the online world
Developing your Case for Fundraising Support
The importance to your organisation of a clear, concise and compelling Case for Support is vital to your success in securing donors and supporters. Simply put, telling a compelling story effectively, at the right time and to the right audience will have a huge impact on your ability to engage supporters and raise funds for your charity.
The course will empower participants to develop an inspiring case for support that creates a uniform message about why they are important as a charity, how they make a difference and what people can do to support or get involved.
Within this interactive course delegates prepare and deliver presentations to the rest of the group, help each other to deliver their organisation’s best-selling points and leave with their Case for Support structure in place, ready to complete when they return to their organisations.
Good Governance and Sustainable Boards
Strong and effective governance is essential to ensuring charities are able to deliver their purpose and impact. This course will look at the key legal duties and responsibilities of trustees and how these translate in practice to ensure effective governance. It will also examine the challenges of building an active, involved and committed trustee board which is essential for the success of any small charity. A key part of this will include ensuring resilience and organisational sustainability is embedded in governance structures.
Legacy Fundraising
The legacy market is experiencing strong growth with the expectation that by 2025 £3.5 billion will be left to charities via legacy giving. An increasing proportion of this is going to small and local organisations with the average value of gifts left in wills each year being £25,000. No matter how large or small, every charity should consider how they can build a legacy income stream. This programme introduces legacy giving and provides delegates with the tools to develop the legacy giving programme within their organisation.
Major Donor Fundraising
The programme gives an overview of major donor fundraising and provides delegates with the tools to start a major donor programme in a small charity. What is covered:
- How to build and nurture relationships with individuals in order to sure investment in your organisation in line with your organisational objectives
- How to identify and secure major individual donors
SHORT COURSES
Battersea Academy offers a series of short courses covering animal welfare and general business topics. These require no additional software and are open to all rescues.
For details of our next short courses, see our upcoming programmes. Registration for short courses is only available via Battersea Academy Online; if you do not yet have an account, you can create one a new account. There are a limited number of spaces on these webinars, so please only register if you are certain you can participate, as demand for places is likely to be high.
LOCAL AUTHORITY TRAINING
The Dog Behaviour and Safety workshop is aimed at local authorities that work with dogs and introduces key areas in dog behaviour and managing safety around dogs. This interactive programme will equip you with the skills and knowledge to support you in being able to effectively handle the dogs you come into contact with.
What will be covered:
Safety around dogs and how to recognise different body language signals.
How to recognise and manage stress and complex behaviours.
The main areas of dog law relevant to your work.
Handling skills and techniques.
BURSARIES
We want to make Battersea Academy accessible to every rescue and rehoming centre, no matter their size or location. That’s why we’re offering financial support to eligible organisations. If you are a not for profit animal rescue organisation working with dogs and/or cats (working in the UK or overseas) you may be eligible to apply for a bursary towards the cost of attending one of our programmes.
Applications decisions are made based on the following:
An organisation’s ability to pay (based on annual financial turnover)
The scale of the problem that the organisation is looking to address
The potential for positive impact on the lives of the local animal population
Number of previous successful applications
To find out more about our bursaries, register your interest and a member of our team will be in touch.
Register your interest
Fill out the form to let us know you would like to learn more about Battersea Academy and a member of our team will be in touch.