Building confidence to be bold

We developed an ambitious new strategy for a not-for-profit service provider. It wasn't what they asked for but we showed them the value of being bold.

Our brief was to get our client more long term funding and get it fast.

Demand for their services had doubled in two years, driven by changes in government policy and community attitudes. Short term crisis funding had seen them through but it wasn't sustainable.

We decided they needed to take a bold new direction that responded to major changes in government policy, funding, programs and community expectations. Simply asking for more funding wasn't going to be enough.

The client had been operating in crisis mode, which made it hard to be open change. They were focussed on their clients' needs and day to day demands.

So we had to work with staff and the board to give them the confidence to recognise their value and seize bold opportunities in the face of major change.

We met with everyone in the organisation so they felt part of our review. We had meetings with senior staff, attended a staff meeting, met the chair of the board and CEO.

We interviewed key stakeholders and researched the changes in their external environment. We invested time understanding how our client did things and the impact it had for its clients, the community and public policy.

Then we presented the results of our research and our proposed new directions at a strategic planning workshop.

Our strategy positioned our client as bigger, bolder and having a greater impact. They would remain the leader of other services in the sector, not just a leading service provider.

Key elements of the strategy were to formalise partnership arrangements and to invest in new technology to improve efficiency. And we identified viable funding opportunities for each new strategic direction.