Here is a sample of our work over the past two years.
International development strategic advise
Alliance for Religions and Conservation (ARC)
Enable ARC to have a clear picture of what the target development agency is looking to achieve in the next ten years and how they can best align the articulation of ARC's goals with those of the donor. This resulted in...
WWF UK Water Stewardship Programme
“The insights and knowledge that Rachel was able to draw on really helped me to work through some complex questions and gain a real insight into government funding. She’s also great to work with, going above and beyond the brief to bring together threads from different areas of work.”
Inception meeting training and facilitation
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
One day rapid inception meeting training for 15 staff from Libya, Germany, Spain and the UK, involved in a project funded under the EU SPRING Programme.
90% of participants rated the course as 8-10 out of 10 and 80% rated the trainers as 9-10 out of 10. All participants said they would recommend the training.
“I want my organisation to have kick-off workshops like this for all projects.
I wish there was training like this on the US side of things.”
“The training has given me the confidence to handle EC projects. It gives the opportunity for staff from different departments understand what EC projects require. Book and go on the course!”
“The training will let you save money and time by avoiding issues later.”
“The course takes complex EC regulations / requirements and breaks them down so they are easy to understand.”
“Very well targeted at what we need to know. EC rules are a minefield. Similar training for other major donors e.g. USAID would be useful.”
WWF Pacific Programme Office
Five day extensive inception meeting for a New Zealand Aid Partnerships Fund Sustainable Seafood project . The workshop brought together staff focused on project management, field implementation, international development, monitoring and evaluation, communications, finance and HR, as well as management teams. The process was highly interactive, designed to leave a cohesive team with a mutual understanding and their roles, responsibilities and what it takes to build a successful partnership with development agencies.
The average course rating was 8 out of 10 and the facilitator was rated an average of 9 out of 10. All participants said the training had increased their knowledge and confidence in delivering a public-sector grant. Most said they would change the way they work as a result.
“The sessions were very interactive allowing participants to talk freely and share their experiences especially the field officers.”
“The workshop was delivered in a positive way which created an environment for everyone to participate. I was especially impressed with the way Rachel managed to draw some of the more shy members out and her ability to do so resulted in valuable input from those participants. ”
“The meeting allowed me to identify weaknesses or stumbling blocks to getting what needs done, prioritising and delivering outputs as stipulated in our donor commitments.”
“I gained many insights from the workshop which will make a big difference to my work over the coming years. ”
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I honestly think Rachel did an awesome job. I also facilitate but based on the subject matter and keeping the momentum going for a whole week, she needs a bonus. I give her high points on clarity, participant engagement, keeping the process flowing despite vagueness on WWF Pacific side at times and fun.
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“Rachel’s drive and energy, got us through the workshop, with fun and humour.”
“I like the fact that the facilitator drew from the knowledge of those who attended and actually allowed them to be active participants rather than dishing everything out. ”
“The five day workshop was intensive and required constant energy. I was impressed with the commitment and positivity with which Rachel achieved this. Very professional whilst maintaining good humour.”
Proposal development
We have experience with a range of EC budget lines for actions in the EU and around the world. We also have experience with calls from development agencies such as DFID, USAID and NZ Aid, as well as the UK Big Lottery Fund and the DFID/DEFRA Darwin Initiative.
WWF UK Freshwater Programme, the Rivers Trust and the West Country Rivers Trust
Coordinate the development and submission of an EU LIFE Information and Governance proposal under the water theme. Take the WWF UK and Rivers Trusts teams through the process from understanding the objectives of LIFE, through design and development of a monitoring plan, to final submission and subsequent revisions during the review process. The proposal was successfully funded in April 2014. Project total €2.2million.
WWF Pacific Programme Office Marine Programme
Oversea the rapid submission of a New Zealand Partnerships Funds concept note, which led to a funded deisgn phase. Creatively explore the project design through a three-day team workshop in Fiji. This ensured that the viewpoints and experiences of all staff members were incorporated and what can really be achieved in the time period was groundtruthed. This was followed by a iterative process with with NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The proposal was successfully funded in November 2013. Project total: NZ$2.1 million.
Organisational effectiveness
International HIV Aids Alliance
Explore the methods and processes used by UK NGOs to aggregate people reached across multiple indicators. Examine the challenges faced by NGOs in aggregating data and the ways in which they have sought to overcome their difficulties. Challenges included how to avoid double-counting beneficiaries across multiple services or projects, or from one year to the next. It also look at the need to define direct and indirect beneficiaries, and to deliberate on counting target groups (e.g. teachers) versus beneficiaries (e.g. children with an education). The report provide recommendations and advise for the Alliance and other organisations on the best practice processes and methodologies being used by UK NGOs at the present time.
Develop a strategy for targeting European Commission development aid and support the design of winning proposals. This included the development of best practice guide and resulted in a proposal success rate within the organisation of 40% (average success rate for targeted budget lines was 4%).