For charities
Busy but stuck? Your board may not need more ambition. It may need a decision.
We work with charity boards and chief executives who need to decide what to do next: what to invest in, what to stop, and how to show funders the difference they make.
Sound familiar?
Four situations we see in almost every charity that calls us.
Every cautious choice made sense on its own
Together they are holding the organisation still. The strategy period is ending and nobody is sure what the next one should say.
You know you make a difference. Proving it is another matter
Funders, commissioners and the new Charities SORP all want to know what changed, not just what you delivered.
Income rests on a few contracts
Recommissioning is coming and the pipeline behind it is thin. The case for support was written years ago.
The building, the name, the way it has always been done
Trustees who care deeply about the history, and a question nobody quite asks: what is this charity for now?
What we do for charities
Fixed-scope pieces of work with a clear question, a clear price and a clear end. Most take six to twelve weeks.
Strategic review and critical-friend report
One question, answered with evidence: what should you realistically invest in next, and what should you stop or defer? Findings with a confidence rating, recommendations in order, and decisions ready to minute.
Theory of Change and impact framework
The thread from purpose to programmes, programmes to outcomes, outcomes to evidence. With the gaps rated, so a small team knows where to start.
Income strategy and cases for support
A costed income model, a funder pipeline, and cases for support that are honest about what is still emerging. Trusts, corporates, major donors, commissioning and trading.
Governance, structures and options appraisal
Charity structures and trading subsidiaries, mergers and partnerships, property and premises, and whether to become a grant-giving foundation.
Market and stakeholder research
Structured interviews, surveys and focus groups with the people who know your organisation best, including the people you serve.
Interim and fractional leadership
Interim chief executive, director of development or marketing when you need a steady hand for a defined period.
Charities SORP
Ready for the new SORP?
The new Charities SORP asks you to report what changed because of your work, not only what you did. For many charities the first report under the new rules covers this financial year.
We help trustees and finance leads work out what to measure, what to say, and what not to claim.
Start with the SORP guideOur organisation had reached a point of stagnation, and Matthew helped unlock a clear path forward through robust, insight-led market research.
Julie Turner Vice Chair, Montgomeryshire Community Regeneration Association
Charity work, recently
Named case studies, published with each client's approval.
Driving with the brakes on
A strategic review for a women's charity that was busy but stuck. Twelve weeks, thirteen stakeholders, 74 documents, and six decisions ready for the board to minute.
Read the case studyWhen a charity stands still
After twenty years of standing still, a Mid Wales charity needed to decide what it was for now. Insight-led research gave the board a clear path forward, including a new name, a property sale and a new role as a grant-giving foundation.
Read the case studyFrom strong delivery to a clear case
A youth charity with strong delivery and real demand, but no thread connecting what it does to the story a funder reads. We built that thread, in a form the team can use themselves.
Read the case studyNot sure where to start? That's what the call is for.
Thirty minutes, no obligation. Tell us what you're working on and we'll say what we'd do next, and whether we're the right people to do it.
