Andrew Wilson – Workforce Development Manager – Mental Health Charity

A major element of this study was a survey of a very wide range of stakeholders in the local area, including potential service users, other providers in the area, local community leaders and the statutory sector, all undertaken through one-to-one confidential interviews.

The survey helped to identify clear, but defined sets of needs, with specific client groups, for the charity to focus on. It also clearly identified areas of existing and potentially overlapping provision and areas where demand was likely to be weak, as well as potential new project partners, and supporters within the community. An important outcome of the work was to raise the profile of the charity significantly, both within its immediate community and more widely within the local area.

Much of this attitude stems from the fact that charities give a higher priority to delivering the work they were set up to do than to managing the funds they have had to raise to enable them to do that work.

In these increasingly difficult times for charities it is paramount that they manage and are seen to manage money effectively and efficiently.

The ability to record faithfully all financial transactions, whether for income raised or for funds spent, is important for number of reasons:

• The charity itself fully understands its own financial position and can pinpoint weaknesses and future possible difficulties
• The charity can inform its public (beneficiaries and donors alike ) how it spends their donations and how it gives good value for money
• The charity satisfies its accounting requirements to the Charity Commission, Companies House ( if limited by guarantee) and the tax authorities e.g. for VAT and GiftAid

We have noticed how many charities do not invest in an appropriate accounting/bookkeeping system. We have also discovered that many do not invest in skilled personnel to operate the systems often leaving it anyone who has spare time, rather than an appropriately skilled person. This is a risky approach.

Most funders we know now demand transparent and timely financial reports as an integral part of the evidence that the charity is fit for purpose.

Of equal concern is the lack of skills at board level. Frequently trustee boards do not have a Treasurer with a finance background, or someone who is not only fully conversant with Charity Accounting requirements (SORPS 2005 etc) but also is prepared to ensure that checks and balances are in place and implemented. This has often proven to cause major problems and conflicts within the charity.

Achill Management now provides a bespoke service that can help to eliminate such risks.

• We can conduct a financial review looking at policies, practices and processes. Based on our findings we can provide suggestions for change
• We can research, test and assist in the process of installing an appropriate accounting software package if none exists or the present system is failing.
• Since most charities now raise their funds from a variety of sources, their ability to differentiate how these funds are allocated to the various projects and how they are actually spent is essential.
• Achill Management can review current arrangements to help the charity avoid the risk of “ robbing Peter to pay Paul” –or leaving it to the auditor or independent examiner to sort out at the year -end accounts stage. This is often too late and the damage to reputation will be difficult to repair.
• We can also assist charities to ensure that they try and fully recover the real costs of a project when they make funding submissions to potential donors. Clear presentation of budgets will help a donor in making a positive funding decision.

• Engaged in an internal process to examine your position and determined your plans for the future
• A clear vision and grasp of the issues you face and your operating environment
• Created a feasible and manageable road map for all staff and Trustees to follow

Charities face challenging times and the surviving and successful organisations will be those which move forward positively and with imagination, building on their strengths and seeking out successful partnerships with others where goals and objectives are shared.

Any successful planning process will incorporate and connect an organisation’s values, vision and mission statements to its strategic aims and operational outcomes. We believe that the best plans are ones where the guiding concepts are ‘inquire’, ‘imagine’, ‘innovate’, and ‘inspire’.

Your business plan not only outlines your strategy, but highlights how you intend to implement it and what resources you need. A robust business plan needs to demonstrate your capacity to translate social goals, aspirations and good intentions into effective and efficient delivery of services for beneficiaries and be able to measure the impact of those services in the short medium and longer term.

Strategic Business Plans need not be long and complicated: they should be dynamic, continuous and living!

The stakeholder interviews provided a detailed insight into how the charity’s processes were perceived. Although they were highly positive overall, the responses delivered clear messages about the need to simplify processes, and to improve the transparency of decision-making and applicant feedback, as well as useful comparisons against similar funding organisations.

The work with what was a large Board of Trustees identified a wide range of potentially differing values and priorities, alongside some broadly consistent principles. Importantly, this also raised awareness within the board of their diversity of views as well as the areas of agreement. Through further work, this made it possible to develop a more coherent Vision, with a high degree of buy-in, and a defined list of agreed Values for the Business Plan.

An essential component of this was 360-degree stakeholder feedback, which included delivery partners, clients, the statutory sector, funders (both statutory and charitable foundations), trustees and staff. This involved confidential one-to-one interviews of all stakeholders, followed by staff group sessions as the project developed.

The feedback helped to identify the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, those services that were most valued, and areas where both internal and external stakeholders felt that new and remunerative services could be developed. Staff engagement helped identify the most important existing services, as well as ideas for new or expanded services using their existing skills, experience and networks, and helped to deliver buy-in to the results.

The result was a new business plan which took full account of national and local contexts, built on its strengths, and identified clear and achievable aims and outcomes.

We have a lot of experience in identifying and managing stakeholders, and in working with them in a way, which quickly identifies their needs and expectations, to deliver high quality feedback and results for you.

We can undertake stand-alone stakeholder surveys and stakeholder management projects, but we also use our stakeholder expertise to add real value to project assessments, organisational evaluations and strategic business planning.

Every piece of work we do is therefore tailored to your needs and developed using our knowledge and understanding of your organisation and the wider field it operates in.

Stakeholder Surveys

These can take a variety of forms including paper and e-mail questionnaires, focus groups and structured one-to-one interviews both face-to-face and by telephone. Surveys can be in quantitative or narrative in style, although we often find it helpful to clients to blend the two approaches, to provide both quantitative feedback with qualitative insight.

It is essential to devise the right sort of questions to ensure that responses are incisive and relevant, at the same time ensuring that the overall messages are coherent and, above all, helpful to you.

At the same time, we recognise the importance of your stakeholders to you, and the handling ofthose relationships with a sensitive and intelligent approach, thus helping to enhance and develop those links.

Stakeholder Management

Good stakeholder management is key to any effective organisation. We can help you map your existing stakeholders, identify potential new contacts, and suggest ways in which you can make better use of existing links. This might include: indentifying potential new sources of funding; strengthening existing relationships; helping you work better with the statutory or voluntary sector; or investigating new business opportunities or delivery partners. We will always start from an understanding of your organisation and its aims and objectives to ensure the work delivers what you need.

Project Assessments and Organisational Audits

Good stakeholder feedback is essential to any assessment or evaluation. Our expertise is in blending stakeholder feedback with other elements of the work in a seamless way, based on a thorough understanding of your organisation and the market in which it operates. Our strong analytical capability enables us to make the links between stakeholder expectations and needs, and your aims, objectives and service delivery.

“We first used Achill Management with funding from Capacity Builders. I was so impressed by the high level of knowledge, professionalism and presentations skills within the organisation that I was pleased when the tendered to do further evaluation work for us on one of our projects. They has a true understanding of our sector, empathy with those working in it and a high level of knowledge of the impact of the political environment on our future. I have not hesitate to pass their details on to others who have been looking to appoint a consultant” Jan Perfect CEO CASE Kent