theEducationCollective

The hard part isn't the website

It's the contract you've never written, the sponsor prospectus you don't know how to price, and working out whether the whole thing pays for itself. All of that already exists, and it comes with the platform.

What arrives on day one

Not a blank site and a login. Everything below has been used by networks already running, and you're welcome to adapt any of it.

Platform

Your network, running

Membership records, renewals, communications, events, a resource library, polls and surveys, conference sign-in — and a public website on your own domain.

Spreadsheet

A three-year financial model

The one behind our planner, as a working spreadsheet. Meetings, conferences, delegate costs, sponsorship income and what carries forward each year.

Document

A sponsor prospectus you can send

Written and ready — what each package includes, how home page logos rotate, exhibitor spaces, meeting sponsorship, waiting lists. Put your name and your rates on it.

Document

A contract for services

The agreement between your network and the people you serve. Written for exactly this, rather than adapted from something else at midnight.

Document

An acceptable use policy

A model policy for your members' area, so the rules are clear before you need them to be.

Guidance

A data protection factsheet

What you're responsible for, what we handle, and what to tell your members. Written in English rather than legalese.

You set your own sponsorship rates — we supply the model, not the prices. Networks using this pack charge anywhere from £150 to £500 for a basic package depending on their size and reach, and the planner will tell you what yours needs to make.

Why it's all written already

Because every network that starts up writes the same six documents, badly, at the wrong time, usually the week before the first meeting. There is nothing proprietary about a sponsor prospectus or an acceptable use policy. Handing them over costs us nothing and saves you a month.

The thing we actually want is for your network to grow, because that's how the sponsorship that funds this works. Everything here is pointed at that.

How starting actually goes

1. A conversation

What you're setting up, who it's for and roughly how many people. Fifteen minutes, and it's with the person who built the platform rather than a salesperson.

2. Your site goes up

On your own domain, with your name on it. We do the setup — you don't need to know anything about hosting, email or DNS.

3. Your members join

Bring a list and we'll import it, or let people sign up themselves. Renewal dates and reminders run from then on without you.

4. Sponsors, if you want them

Send the prospectus with your rates on it. Or stay on the free model, where we place the sponsor notices and you never have to ask anyone for money.

And the unglamorous bits

Ask if you want them. They aren't packaged products and they aren't for everyone, but they're often what stands between a good network and one that looks like a real organisation.

Microsoft 365 on your domain

Proper email addresses instead of a personal account, including licences if you need them.

A phone number

A landline going to answerphone, so your letterhead doesn't carry someone's mobile.

Sponsor finding

£60 a sponsor and we do the outreach. Worth comparing against the hours in the planner before deciding.