Surviving year two
Year two is where many community organisations stall. Here's what actually helps you get through it.
Year one runs on adrenaline. The launch, the first wins, the goodwill. Year two is quieter and, for a lot of community organisations, harder. This is the stage where the wheels can come off, and it's almost never because the mission stopped mattering.
Why year two is the danger zone
It usually isn't the idea that fails. It's the infrastructure. The start-up funding tapers off, the founder is exhausted from wearing every hat, and the back office that should keep things steady was never funded in the first place. As we see it, that's why a community hub can deliver brilliantly and still fold around the two-year mark.
If that's where you are, you're not failing. You're hitting a known wall that the system is built to create.
What actually helps
Three things make the difference more than anything else.
- Governance you can lean on. A board that knows what's required, meets properly, and keeps your CIC34 and filings in order takes a huge weight off the founder. Compliance kept on top of is far cheaper than compliance fixed in a panic.
- Evidence you've banked. Capture your impact as you go, not the night before an application. Specific proof points, gathered routinely, are what turn a good story into a fundable one.
- Income that isn't all from one place. Leaning on a single funder or a stack of small project grants is fragile. Look at unrestricted funding, core-cost grants, contracts, and earned income so one rejection doesn't take you down.
Frame for resilience, not just impact
Funders pour far more into new delivery than into keeping organisations alive. You can push against that by framing your applications around endurance: fund the skeleton, not just the next shiny programme. The organisations that last are usually the ones that got honest about needing infrastructure, not just ambition.
You don't have to do it alone
The free CIC Toolkit at tools.inclusifund.co.uk covers the compliance tracking and funding search that eat year-two energy. And this community is here precisely for the stretch where the launch buzz has worn off and the real work continues.
Year two is survivable. Plenty of organisations come through it stronger. We'd like yours to be one of them.
— Reece Dunn