Supporting small charities through the pandemic and beyond
In late 2020, Clarion Futures engaged Almond Tree Strategic Consulting to develop and deliver their consultancy and training support through their Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme.
In late 2020, Clarion Futures engaged Almond Tree Strategic Consulting to develop and deliver their consultancy and training support through their Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme.
When Covid-19 hit the UK in March 2020, most charities turned to grant funders for help and most funders stepped up to the mark, none more so than Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, the largest social landlord in the country.
In April 2020 Clarion Futures launched its Recovery and Resilience Programme (R&RP) and during the height of the pandemic provided over £726,000 in grant funding to charities and social enterprises to provide vital support in Clarion communities.
the challenge
Clarion Futures recognised early on that many partners (the organisations Clarion Futures supports) needed additional, non-financial support to ride out the pandemic and emerge from it stronger and more resilient. And so, the R&RP non-financial support offer was born.
our approach
We were delighted to be selected to do this having put forward a proposal to be delivered by a team led by our Director, Julian Lomas supported by 10 or so associate consultants.
Our approach was to develop tools for Clarion Futures Communities Officers and our consultants to assess the needs of partners identified as likely to benefit from non-financial support and to assign our consultants to help partners according to those needs, both through direct consultancy support and delivery of online training sessions.
what we delivered
Over 18 months or so we supported 35 partners with a wide range of needs including business planning, financial management, governance, fundraising, organisational development, volunteer management, business continuity planning, impact assessment, human resources and marketing/communications. This included over 50 hours of live online training and over 100 days of bespoke, one-to-one consultancy support, mentoring and training as well as a comprehensive evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of the support provided.
We are delighted and overwhelmed by the positive feedback we have received.
“We would definitely do this again! It has been transformative.”
“I have loved hearing from my partner about how pleased they have been with their progress.”
what we achieved
From the start we put in place an evaluation framework to help us and Clarion understand the difference the support provided was making for partners. The framework was articulated by a Theory of Change (see diagram) and outcomes were based on the five dimensions of organisational capacity building (also known as the 5Cs approach, INTRAC, 2010; ECDPM, 2011):
Organisations demonstrate improving capability to deliver on their objectives.
Organisations demonstrate improving capability to adjust to external contexts.
Organisations demonstrate improving capability to build and maintain networks.
Organisations demonstrate improving capability to work effectively.
Organisations demonstrate improving capability for coherent governance and leadership.
The programme delivered positive results across all five outcomes, with a particular emphasis on improved capability to build and maintain networks and for coherent governance and leadership. Some challenges and learning points were identified by the evaluation, which were addressed in adaptations of programme design as the programme progressed and/or in the design of Clarion Futures’ Grants Plus programme (see below).
Partners valued the mix of in-depth consultancy support (many could not usually afford such external support) and training. They reported being more confident and able to deliver against their mission, clearer about their strategic priorities and better prepared for attracting funding from other donors as well as improvements in governance and strategic understanding of their vision, mission and objectives.
“We now both feel more confident in our own abilities and skillset. Having a third party look inwards to our business and give us that reassurance about what we have been delivering and how we have worked to date, has been fundamental in re-energising us both.”
“The surprise for me has been how much I have learnt about managing a team of directors more effectively and in an open manner.”
what next
It has been wonderful working with Clarion Futures to deliver the R&RP non-financial support offer. Helping small charities and social enterprises navigate their way through the challenges of the pandemic and emerge from it better able to prosper has been a privilege. We are delighted that we have now been engaged by Clarion Futures to develop and deliver their Grants Plus programme, a successor non-financial support offer to benefit their partners on an ongoing basis.
“The pilot non-financial support programme we have delivered in partnership with Almond Tree Strategic Consulting has exceeded all our expectations in how we, as a funder, can support our community partners beyond our grant making and commissioning efforts. Post-pandemic its particularly important for us to support and strengthen local voluntary sector organisations who deliver essential services for Clarion residents and our wider communities. The expertise from the Almond Tree team was integral to the shaping and success of the pilot programme and we look forward to working with them to embed this crucial business development support offer more widely going forward.”
If you would like to talk to us further about the support we could offer your charity or social enterprise, please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk for a free initial telephone consultation.