CONSULTANCY

advice2Go offers a variety of services to meet the needs of all types of not-for-profit organisations:

·         Does your organisation need a new direction?

·         Have you reached a flat patch after a long run of success?

·         Perhaps your work no longer appeals to funders and you don’t know how to make them sit up and take notice?

·         Have any key staff or trustees moved on and you are not sure how to pick up the threads?

At times like these, advice2Go can help out in a number of ways. Scroll down the page for more information.

Along comes a funding opportunity that is too good to miss. It would be useful to know what were your chances of success before you spend too much time on it. We can help you to find out:

·         Who you might be competing against

·         What sort of organisations have been funded before

·         How much they received

·         What sort of projects they supported.

·         Who are the key decision makers who can influence the outcome

·         How you might argue for a bigger grant

·         Where you might find match funding

·         What are the funders’ hidden priorities

·         Any examples of projects that can inspire you or help you to shape your submission

Talk to us if this would be useful for you. Otherwise continue browsing.

How can you measure how well you are doing?  Our audit services look at:

·         Funding history – where you have applied, your successes and failures

·         How well you have argued your case

·         The quality and relevance of your research to date

·         Fundraising resources – including staff and systems and how effectively they are applied

·         Outcomes

·         Impact of competitive activity

·         External factors

An audit can give you a new perspective on your problems. Contact us for a quote.

Whether a study is a requirement of a funding bid or you just want to test out some ideas, we can provide you with a fundraising plan which looks at:

·         The climate for funding your type of work

·         Competitor activity

·         What funders are looking for

·         How best to argue your case

·         Refreshing  your budget to secure maximum funding

·         All the routes to funding you might qualify for

·         How approaches should be made

·         Appraising your resources to see to what extent your needs can be met in house

·         Exit strategies and fallback plans if your target is not achievable

We aim to prepare our clients as thoroughly possible for every fundraising eventuality before anyone makes any approaches to funders. The studies and plans we prepare for you would be designed to leave no room for doubt, the positives and negatives would be fully explored. Most importantly, we look at competitor activity and the general economic climate as part of our assessment, as well as your organisation’s readiness to take on a new initiative or expand its work.

Call us for a quote.

We have undertaken a variety of strategic contracts for clients. These include:

·         Studies investigating the role of fundraising in a public body

·         A review of the most appropriate opportunities for external funding

·         A report detailing how to benefit from longer-term government imperatives

·         A strategy for setting up a fundraising function from scratch in a public body

·         Research to identify funders’ hidden programmes and how to access them

Contact us if you want to explore how we could enhance your strategy or policy work.

We also help clients to evaluate the effectiveness of their programmes either to satisfy a requirement of a current grant or to enhance their case for future funding. Call us to discuss your requirements and for an idea of costs.

For many organisations, lack of expertise is not the problem. Rather it is lack of time and what they really need is an extra pair of hands. We operate a variety of flexible plans to deliver the right package to meet your needs. 

These might be…

Capital and major gift campaigns

Planning and testing – researching prospects – setting up a campaign board – finding the lead gift – resourcing the campaign – private and public campaign phases – admin and donor tracking – winding up…

Individual and Community fundraising

Planned giving – legacy campaigns – house-to-house collections – street collections – face-to-face fundraising – direct mail, telephone or new media fundraising – involving and managing volunteers – event management – membership schemes – merchandising – lotteries and gaming – donor database management…

Corporate support

Institutional bids

Applications to…

Trusts and foundations – the National Lottery – statutory grants programmes, (local, regional, national, international) – Non Departmental Public Bodies – the EU – hidden programmes

Bid development work

Data capture – community consultation – partnership brokerage

Board appraisals – board recruitment – ethics – recruitment and training – admin systems – change management – project and interim management…

We can also assist with interim, midpoint and final evaluation of programmes, which, as well as meeting essential monitoring and evaluation criteria, test your organisation’s potential to secure succession funding.

We can review your funding bids, offering guidance on where the application needs strengthening, any data that might be missing and whether or not the questions have been adequately addressed.

We still view this sort of work as working with our client, because once our work is completed the client needs to have been intimately involved with the process, so they can answer any follow up questions the funder might have.

Our client list and case studies area give you some idea of whom we have worked with and the sort of contracts we have undertaken for them. We provide references for new clients once we have been offered a provisional contract. Contact us for an indication of fees or further guidance on meeting your organisation’s needs.