Services
Services

BESPOKE CONSULTANCY

A sounding board
It’s always good to have someone to bounce ideas off, so whether your current team needs a fresh perspective, or it’s just you in your 'department', I can support you to sense-check and develop your ideas, or approach them in a different way. 

A compass
With so many competing tasks and responsibilities, it can be really difficult to find the headspace for strategy development. I can support you to carve out realistic approaches, and prioritise your tasks to take the pressure off and ensure it’s the important bits that are being completed. 

A mentor
If you have new team members, or people taking on extra tasks, I can provide mentoring to share ideas, answer questions, and build confidence as they settle into the role. 

With so much on the agenda and limited resources, it can be really difficult to prioritise development projects. Whether you're looking for some additional senior-level capacity, support and skills development for your staff team, or some strategic direction to get things off the ground, I can support you to identify your needs and offer bespoke packages to suit you. 


Some of the areas I can support with include:


Communications

What is 'comms' and why is it important for us? 

How do we identify and express our 'brand'? 

How do we make sure the content we put out is going to further our aims? 

How can we keep up when we can't afford an in-house comms function?


If you find any of these questions relatable, I offer a range of training modules that aim to de-mystify 'comms' and equip you with simple tools and considerations to nail the basics.


I also offer bespoke consultancy to help you make a realistic, sustainable plan for your organisation, and support your staff members to build their skills and implement strategies. This may include developing key messages to engage people in your mission, establishing clear branding, or considering accessibility in your communications.


Strategy 

Whether it's developing or refreshing your Theory of Change, demonstrating your impact, or considering the future direction of your organisation, there's always an element of strategic planning on the go.


I can offer support, big-picture thinking, and senior-level capacity to help you to steer your organisation and stay aligned with your purpose. 


Project design and planning

There’s a lot to consider when designing and planning projects – it may be balancing funders’ priorities with the preferences of your beneficiaries, or considering how much you can get done in a certain timeframe given your capacity and resource. We also want to ensure we are following best practice when planning implementation, with consistent approaches to budgeting, risk assessments and monitoring.


I can support you to develop your plans, and equip staff with the skills and templates they need to manage your activities effectively. 


Staff development

Many organisations I work with rely on the generosity and interest of members of the community to deliver their services. Often, volunteers progress into staff roles, and teams have a wide variety of skillsets and experiences to draw from. This brings so many benefits, but can sometimes mean that not everyone is on the same page with their awareness of the charity sector, or a lack of confidence with certain aspects of their roles, or the skills required.


I can support you to establish a wider contextual understanding of the sector and the importance of e.g. compliance activities, build understanding of how individual roles and tasks relate to the bigger picture for your charity, and mentor staff who are new to their roles to build knowledge and confidence.

FACILITATION

I can work with you to design and facilitate bespoke sessions - whether you're looking for an induction, development, or training session, away day, or team building activities. Sessions can be delivered online or in person, depending on your location and preferences, and can be one-off or delivered as part of a series.

TRAINING

I deliver practical, interactive training workshops to help you and your team to master key concepts and learn simple tools to put them into action. I can develop tailored training for your organisation across a range of areas, or deliver 'off-the-shelf' workshops on the following topics:

How to talk about what you do
Objectives:
● To understand why clear, consistent messaging is important for small charities.
● To understand the basis of key approaches to consider when writing messaging and how to break them down in practice.
● To understand how language choices can impact brand perception and how to ensure messaging aligns with organisational purpose.

Understanding brand and branding
Objectives:
● To understand what brand and branding are.
● To understand why brand and branding are important (even for charities!)
● To understand your charity’s brand and key considerations for your branding.

How to plan your charity's comms
Objectives:
● To understand the purpose of our communications, and ensure this is always central to any comms plan.
● To build understanding of stakeholder groups and what to consider when mapping audiences.
● To build awareness of what to consider when shaping your message.
● To consider different ways of sharing your message, and tools to help you with planning.

This could be to members of your organisation, or to a group of different organisations, offering opportunities to connect with peers, network, and share learning. Training can be delivered online or in person, depending on your location and preferences.

FEES

Whatever your budget, I will try to support your organisation - whether with guidance, or more involved intervention. As a guide, my day rates for organisations of different sizes are listed below, however, if you're interested in support and can't stretch to this, please do get in touch to discuss the level of engagement possible within your available budget.

Organisation turnover Day rate
£0-300k £200
£301-750k £275
£751k-1.25m £350
£1.25m+ £425

WHAT IS COMMS AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Comms is how your organisation presents itself to the world, at every touch point.

It covers the reputation that is being built in every conversation, email, read of your website or glance at a flyer.

It shapes how professional, trustworthy or relevant people perceive your organisation to be. 

Strong comms can ensure that people build an accurate image of your organisation in their minds, one that reflects how you see yourselves and inspires them to want to work with you, whether as a beneficiary, funder or partner. 

Good comms doesn't have to be hard or time-consuming - it can be planned according to a few key principles and slotted into your day-to-day running.

If you need some extra headspace to think about how to present your organisation, or a few pointers along the way, please get in touch.
 
If you are interested in training or consultancy, please get in touch to discuss how
The Olive Training and Consultancy can support you and your organisation. 

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