Below is a write-up of the key points delivered by Philippa Bonella during her Getting on Board webinar with Falkirk’s third sector, on Tuesday 22^nd November, along with her presentation to view or download.

Philippa is an independent consultant within the Consultants for Good CIC consultancy network, working independently with a diverse range of organisations including charities, faith-based organisations, government and non-departmental public bodies at Scottish, UK and international levels. Her bio states:

“I … have 6 years’ experience as an independent charity consultant, building on 20 years within senior strategy, policy and communications roles in the voluntary and public sectors. I take a personal approach to help bring your values to life.

I particularly focus on:

Strategic reviews – organisational values, horizon scanning, internal/external stakeholder engagement, customer and competitor mapping, theories of change, implementation plans.
Improving organisational culture and governance – change management, team building, supporting good governance.
Funding – adaptive and relationship-based funding programmes; effective fundraising strategies.
Policy and research – strategy, monitoring and evaluation, drafting policy recommendations, strategic influencing at Scottish and UK levels.

On behalf of all our attendees, we extend our thanks Philippa again for her time, and her extremely comprehensive overview of developing an organisational strategy, whatever the size of your group or organisation.

“Developing an Organisational Strategy”

Philippa’s presentation is available to view or download as a pdf.

Key points:

The question Philippa is asked the most: “What do we do in strategic planning when we have no idea what we’ll face in the next few years?”
OSCR is very clear that it is an organisation or group’s board responsibility to develop a strategy plan.
- This might be delegated to the CEO (or equivalent) to draft, but it is always the board’s responsibility.
People are not alone in feeling hindered by the current challenging situation – but there are also opportunities.

Another popular question: “Can we be ambitious when we don’t know where money will come from? Is it better for the organisational strategy to say we will focus on surviving, or should we be talking about exciting ideas to attract people?”
The chair should lead the process of developing the organisational strategy.
“The quicker the process, the better”, but take the time that is needed for your strategy.
“What should an organisational strategy look like?” Philippa gave a range of examples that worked well, including:
- Robertson Trust
- Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
- Paths for All
There is no clear answer about how to navigate uncertainty, as “we just don’t know what the situation will be” – but Philippa asks if we ever did? We thought we knew, and so created plans and strategies, but situations could change just as easily as they do now.
The key to developing an organisational strategy is regular reviews, and thinking about how the organisation looks forward.
- Philippa recommends reviewing the strategy every 6 months (and scheduling those dates in diaries in advance), and creating a design that can be updated easily.
Finally, good communication is essential: