We specialise in supporting organisations who work in across social development including criminal justice, sports, young people and / or the arts.
Maternity cover providing income generation expertise across both grants and social enterprise for this charity supporting those stuck in the cycle of crisis and crime through influencing and creating systems change.
Over 12 months, we brought in more than £850,000 of new grant funds, and supported the securing of a further £670,000 of repeat grants from existing supporters - 90% of all income was for core funding supporting this non-frontline delivery organisation. This achievement sat alongside generating more than £700,000 additional contract income through social enterprise work.
Further, we increased the number of longer term grants and contracts to allow for sustinable planning and growth of the organisation.
“Leah was the best maternity cover I could have ever wished for. Her knowledge of grant makers in particular is fabulous and as a result, our financial position for this year and the next is looking very solid indeed, which has certainly eased my return to work. She is also a lovely person to work with - I know that she very quickly felt like part of the team. [I] can’t recommend her highly enough.”
— KATY SAVAGE, DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS AT REVOLVING DOORS
One year fixed term contract to cover the co-founder’s maternity leave. Managing team of 10 staff and £430k budget to deliver against the organisation’s strategic plan during a phase of operational and financial growth.
Development of the staff team to develop income generation to increase total funds raised in line with growth plans, and creating increased financial security for the next three years.
Increased the charity’s profile and reputation within the criminal justice sector through development of external communications work.
“Leah is a high energy, high impact individual. She has worked for us at Switchback both as a consultant and an interim CEO. As a I trustee I knew I could have full confidence in Leah and her ability to do a great job for us. She is multi talented and passionate, which is a superb combination. I cant recommend her enough.”
— KATHARINE DANTON, TRUSTEE AT SWITCHBACK
Delivery of a year-long package of support to develop the confidence, skills and experience of this small organisation to raise essential core funding and improve organisational resilience.
When they came to us, Lighthouse on the Marsh (formerly the Romney Resource Centre) had been through a period of change with a focus on refining their internal offer and developing their staff and board. However, they needed some help on how to communicate this effectively with their supporters, and to use to access income which would support their core work
We worked to help the staff team gain clarity on what the organisation wanted to achieve in the coming years, and provided practical support for their fundraiser to build their confidence and skills to support both income for core work and new areas of delivery. Within a year, the charity had won three large grants for their core offer, as well as some smaller sums from local grant makers.
“Thanks so much for all the hard work you put in to help us get to where we are today. [Lighthouse on the Marsh] is a far better position than a year ago. We have so appreciated your perspective and support during our Theory of Change work and building our fundraising confidence, especially working with [our fundraiser].”
— AMANDA KING, CEO AT LIGHTHOUSE ON THE MARSH
Delivery of a staff and board away day to consider strategic direction or the organisation in preparation for developing a new strategy.
A carefully planned day to bring old and brand new staff, people who have used the charity’s services, and the board of Trustees together to look at the journey of StandOut and what the future might be like. The session ran over one day and allowed all participants to participate through a range of structured and facilitated exercises.
“Your leading of the day, holding the space and capturing our thinking was just as we needed it, bringing energy and skill to make the morning session feel open and about the team and their thoughts - and as you know we have high standards !I really appreciated that we had that space to have some good conversations. Thank you for bringing us back on track to ensure we answered, or at least noted we need to answer, some big questions. ”
— PENNY PARKER, CEO AT STANDOUT
Provision of light touch governance review, development of new structure and coaching to new chair and board members.
The Founder and Chair at START was looking to take a step back from the organisation after 20 years, leaving the position of Chair. She approached Leah looking for support in making this transition, both through strengthening and preparing the board - and indeed in helping her prepare for this enourmous change herself.
The process involved listening closely to all members of the board and the Co-Managers, ensuring that the solution aligned with the organisation’s ethos and approach, as well delivered the structure and support the charity required. A successful transition took place within a year, in a very positive and successful way.
“I have thought about how to step back from START almost since the beginning and couldn’t find any models that seemed right. Your work has been phenomenal in that you have understood the organisation, listened very carefully and made your wisdom available at every stage. This has meant that I have been able to achieve a transition that feels entirely right for me and for START. ”
— AVRIL BELLINGER, FOUNDER OF START (STUDENTS AND REFUGEES TOGETHER)
Project Art Works were looking for consultancy support to explore opportunities to diversity their income, whilst staying true to their organisational vision and values.
Project Art Works are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Workshops and interactive sessions alongside desk research and work led to a clear plan for the charity.
Created a robust business plan detailing the opportunities to develop unrestricted income, aligning with current assets and resources and with a detailed action plan for next steps included. We also developed a financial modelling tool to support with income generation scoping and testing different approaches.
“[Selinger Consultant’s work was] constructive, relevant and fun! The project was timely and helped us to organise our thoughts, ideas, actions - clearly meeting the project’s objectives”
— HELEN CHARLTON, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR AT PROJECT ART WORKS
Support to the board and staff team at SELFA to develop an impact framework and implementation plan from the organisational strategic plan.
When they approached us, SELFA had developed a clear model and moved towards an outcome based offer, where six social objectives guided operations, and in turn income generation. They wanted help to look at how they could track their impact against these objectives using a new database to capture this in a way which was time efficient for staff, and which would demonstrate the impact of their work.
Leah worked with the staff team and board to review their progress, and support with implementation of opportunities to streamline or improve data collection, reporting and impact measurement. A report gave practical steps to help SELFA staff refine their work and create easy to engage with tools for staff to use to measure progress.
This has dramatically improved data collection and analysis which has in turn supported income generation and profile raising for this briliant charity.