Membership review - the changing focus of the NAVCA network

At NAVCA, we have been reviewing our membership criteria to make sure they reflect the critical role local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) play at place and the changing landscape in which we all operate. Thank you to everyone who has shared thoughts over the past few months. As we work with trustees to finalise proposals in October and November, we wanted to update you on where our thinking has got to.


Local infrastructure is changing in response to increasingly complex political and social challenges, pressures on funding, and changes in how communities and public services work. Neighbourhood working, changes in local government, devolution and changes to health systems are reshaping the landscape. At the same time, reduced investment risks fragmentation and makes it harder to build the relationships and partnerships that underpin effective infrastructure.


Our mission is to advocate for and support good infrastructure everywhere. To do this well, we need a network that reflects the different ways infrastructure support is delivered, while being clear about what makes local infrastructure distinctive. A key recommendation from our National Lottery-funded Development Programme was for NAVCA to have a clear focus on infrastructure support and the unique role of LIOs as convenors, strategic partners and leaders. Members and prospective members have also told us that our membership criteria need to be clearer.


Through 1:1 conversations and drop-ins, we have heard strong support for affirming the strategic leadership role of LIOs at place and defining that role more clearly for the future. This includes being more assertive about the role of local infrastructure in connecting and convening between communities, and with statutory partners including local authorities, health systems and strategic authorities.

We have also heard that infrastructure is delivered differently in different places, and that the criteria should not force a plurality of approaches into a one-size-fits-all model. This particularly raises questions around independence from service delivery. For example, some members have argued that commercial income can provide independence from public-sector funding, while others have highlighted the value of partnerships where organisations collectively have effective influence with statutory partners. We therefore need criteria that recognise different approaches while protecting the characteristics that make local infrastructure effective, including independence and the ability to manage potential risks to wider VCSE relationships.


A future-facing network


Our refreshed and focused membership criteria will help us build the case for LIOs as future-facing organisations that play a critical role at place, while providing greater clarity about what that role involves and what the network needs to succeed.


We want to represent and champion a network of organisations that:

• deliver the four functions of infrastructure, with a focus on strategic leadership at place to convene and connect the VCSE sector and statutory sector
• influence effectively at local authority level and work in partnership to influence at strategic authority level
• stand independently to advocate for the VCSE sector
• champion equity, equality, diversity and inclusion (EEDI).  

These defining features – function, footprint, independence and EEDI – inform the focus of our membership going forward and provide a foundation for our strategy review next year. 


A revised shape of membership


Our proposal is for two types of membership: full and affiliate membership. This reflects the different ways organisations can provide infrastructure support, while ensuring we remain true to our core mission and support emerging and developing approaches.


Members have also told us they want greater clarity about the behaviours and values expected across the NAVCA network, and how we respond where these expectations are not met. We will develop these expectations with members and incorporate them into the membership framework.


All members will:

• work at local authority, strategic authority or regional scale
• be constituted not-for-profit organisations
• place equity, equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of their work
• have a local focus, independent of national organisations
• provide clear strategic leadership and advocacy for the VCSE sector at place, either as an individual organisation or working in partnership with peer organisations
• demonstrate clearly applied principles when deciding to offer service delivery, with guardrails to ensure that provision does not displace other local VCSE organisations

Full members will:

• enable the delivery of all four functions of infrastructure (strategic leadership and advocacy for the VCSE sector, enable partnership and collaboration, build VCSE organisation capacity, enable effective local volunteering systems)
• provide local infrastructure as their primary purpose
• provide local infrastructure for the whole VCSE sector or for particular minoritised communities

Affiliate members will provide local infrastructure but differ from full members in some or all of the following ways:

• provide at least two of the four functions of infrastructure
• have a primary purpose other than infrastructure
• have a narrower primary focus on infrastructure in a particular field or policy area (e.g. focusing exclusively on the health system or social enterprise support)

The new criteria would apply to new applications from the start of 2027.


We recognise that the strength of our network lies in a plurality of approaches, so we propose allowing a small number of strategic exceptions within the criteria where this is necessary. For example, a federated body, or equivalent organisation, developing infrastructure where none currently exists could join as an affiliate member for a limited period while that provision is developed.


We anticipate that the member offer for affiliate and full members will be broadly similar in cost and support. Affiliate members would benefit from NAVCA’s resources, connections and learning, while full members would retain full voting rights, the ability to nominate themselves as trustees, eligibility to achieve LIQA and greater influence over policy development and influencing work.


For existing members, we propose an initial transitional period until March 2029, during which they would retain full membership. We will review the transition period, in light of future changes around government reorganisation, health systems and funding pressures. We will work with members whose circumstances are significantly affected to understand their position and consider what support they need.


We will also build on our existing offer of resources, connections and learning, including work around local government reorganisation, making the case for good infrastructure and strengthening the case for secure and sustainable funding.


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