The Impact of Community Organising

It was a pleasure to be in east London for the launch of a substantial new report describing the positive impact that can be made when local churches begin to employ the principles of community organising.

We’ve been providing consultancy support to the team at the Centre for Theology and Community (CTC) who, along with Citizens UK, have been running the ‘Organising for Growth’ project.

Funded by the Church of England, the project has worked within six parishes located in communities experiencing a range of complex social and economic challenges. However, the fascinating thing about Community Organising methodology is that even in the most difficult of situations it steadfastly refuses to become deficit-defined. Rather, there is a hope-full attitude, rooted in a strong belief about the inherent capacity people possess to change the circumstances around them, especially by working together. This belief is strengthened within a faith-based context that honours the essential dignity and equality of each person.

Having completed an interim evaluation in 2021 this has been a particularly longitudinal study that has provided a special opportunity to observe changes occurring as a sort of time-lapse. Having been first introduced to some of the key people involved in the work more than three years ago it has been fascinating to observe their journeys.

The event itself, inclusive and ecumenical in nature, was a real pleasure to be part of. Whilst hosted in an Anglican context (the historic St. George in the East, Shadwell) key parts were played by Catholic and Pentecostal clergy and congregations too. There were some lovely, poignant moments, and a lot of joy, as people reflected with gratitude on meaningful change taking place at the intersection of the community and the church.

Notes:

Click here to find out more about the work of CTC

Click here to find out more about Organising for Growth and download the full report.

Citizens UK defines Community Organising as:
“Bringing people together to win change. This means building community-led solutions to big and small problems, that work for everyone”. Find out more at: citizensuk.org/about-us/what-is-community-organising/

Complex Needs, Cimpl Data

People can be complicated, but data shouldn’t be

A charity in the West Midlands recently asked for our support to transform their data management practices in relation to the recording of interactions with their clients. Their service users have multiple and complex needs, often relating to mental health, addiction, or both. A range of services are offered including 1:1 support, group work and also accommodation.

Through our Cimpl CRM for charities we were able to migrate them over to a more efficient and organised way of operating. No more client data hiding in Word documents hidden on Sharepoint, in Teams or even worse, on staff C drives. Now the whole team has role-related access to the clients relevant to their service. For management, reporting has been brought to life with realtime dashboards providing insight into service demand month by month. Clients presenting risks are more easily identified meaning that creating a safer environment for everyone.

The moral of the story is that whilst people may be complex, data can still be Cimpl!

CRM for Veteran's Charity

Charities come in all shapes and sizes, serving all sorts of different groups in society. We were pleased to be asked to support a Veterans charity for the first time.

Veteran’s HQ Liverpool provides much-needed support to hundreds of ex-servicemen and women right across the Merseyside region. The leadership team of the charity and its committed volunteers were beginning to struggle to keep track of all the many diverse requests for support and a busy schedule of participation in a range of groups and activities.

Using our Cimpl CRM application which utilises the security and versatility of the Salesforce platform we were able to deliver a user-friendly and cost-effective solution. In order to ensure that new users to the system had the best possible start we travelled to Liverpool to deliver in-person training.

In particular the in-built report and dashboard features that Cimpl offers have transformed the way that the charity reports back to its various funders, really taking the sting out of producing detailed reports on activity and impact.

Don’t be shy to get in touch if you’d like a demo of how our Cimpl CRM could make a difference to the way your charity manages its data.

The Power of Messaging

Cimpl has a new messaging partner: ValueText

We are always working on ways to improve our CRM application: Cimpl. One of the things we’ve been wanting to add for some time is an integrated messaging service as an alternative to email.

This requirement was really important for a new charity CRM client, a mental health charity based in North Wales. They need to keep in close contact with their service users as their 1:1 and group programmes tend to be quite dynamic. For their service users email is not a channel they use often for communication, but they all have mobile phones. Two-way chatting and also the ability to bulk message to a wide range of different lists was essential.

After testing a number of third party products we chose to go with ValueText. The quality of their solution, ease of use, great customer service and most of all highly competitive pricing (including a charity discount) made them stand out from the competition.

Having live tested this solution for several weeks we’re now really happy to offer it to all of our Cimpl customers who also wish to make the most of the power of messaging!

The Impact of Arts

Goodlabs MD, Matt Wilson, at Gosforth Civic Theatre

Gosforth Civic Theatre is a fantastic arts venue on the north side of Newcastle. It has recently undergone a huge refurb project and has a great atmosphere. The vibe of the place is about far more than the new internal layout - it’s all about the people. GCT is home to Liberdade, an innovative arts charity that supports people with learning disabilities. We were delighted to be introduced as part of our ongoing work with the Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Our work with GCT was twofold…

First, we facilitated a full review of their existing theory of change. Our objective was to ensure that it really accurately and accessibly described the impact being made in the lives of programme participants. In practice this meant mapping out the different participant groups, both PWLD and not. Matt facilitated a staff workshop to develop a draft set of outcomes and the team followed this up with some specific engagement with their LD groups to sense check it. The final draft revolved around five “I CAN” statements: I can be happy, I can be healthy, I can be me, I can be creative, I can belong.

The other half of the work related to preparation for the shift to a CRM system that can be used to monitor participation and measure impact. This involved looking at the wide range of activities that are taking place, how they are currently being recorded, what data is being held at the moment about participants, and how all this might interface with the distinctly different data operation around the marketing of shows, the sale of tickets and receiving feedback from audiences.

It’s always great to work with charities that are so embedded in their local communities and getting on with their work with a sense of vision and of joy. This really came across in this project :-)

Cimpl arrives in Cumbria

The roster of charities around the UK switching to our Cimpl CRM continues to grow with the latest deployment on behalf of a charity in Kendal serving those who are homeless, vulnerable housed, lonely or needing support.

As is often the case, the charity had an existing CRM but it was no longer meeting their needs. The legacy system was causing staff and volunteers a lot of frustration, sapping their time, and all sorts of workarounds were needed to account for its inability to adapt their ever-evolving service.

Having got to know the charity first through a piece of strategic work looking at Theory of Change and a new outcomes framework we were well versed in the impact that the charity was making and the demands of its funders with respect to reporting on that impact.

At Goodlabs we always encourage an ‘impact-first’ approach. This ensures data management is constructed around measuring the things that matter most. Upskilling staff is key to this too, because however well designed the CRM may be ultimately the reports and dashboards it presents are only as good as the data going in. Patiently overcoming system-adoption anxieties is key, including when necessary going at the pace of users who need additional hand-holding.

Feedback from the charity has been really encouraging. It’s great to know that we’ve been able to deliver on our promise to “make impact easier”.

If you’d like a demo of Cimpl drop a line to: cimpl@goodlabs.uk

Pic by Jonny Gios, Unsplash

Children's Community Strategy

Every once in a while we’re approached by an organisation that, pressed by circumstances beyond their control, requires a piece of work done really quickly. This was the case when we were recently asked to support Wallsend Children’s Community, an initiative of Save the Children UK, to write a new strategy.

Supporting charities to create strategic plans is core business here at Goodlabs, using a tried and tested ‘impact-first’ approach. Engaging stakeholder groups, holding away days and co-creating ambition statements, objectives and goals are all part of the process. What made this assignment different, and challenging, was fast-tracking the process to take place over a six-week period.

Fortunately, on this occasion we had the ability to make room in our schedule, and the client was impressively flexible too. A good deal of prep work had been done which we were able to quickly consolidate in order to gather pace and hit initial milestones. As the project progressed a real sense of momentum developed that led to some great ideas emerging as a result of synergies that might not have been achieved had we not been so against the clock.

The final draft of the strategy, which centred around 4 headline objectives linked to 11 organisational goals was ultimately signed off bang on time.

If you’d like to explore how we might help you with a new strategic plan drop a line to: strategy@goodlabs.uk

North East Youth Alliance

Visualising the interconnected elements of the initiative

Goodlabs were appointed as external evaluators and learning partners to the North East Youth Alliance back in early 2022. We are just embarking on the third of our reports into the the progress being made by the initiative against its ambitious aims and objectives.

Whilst we operate across many different branches of the voluntary sector work with children and young people is a key area of strength and expertise within our overall portfolio of work. This reflects the experience of our MD, Matt Wilson, who spent the first two decades of his career involved in leading charities focused in this area. So it’s always exciting to be contributing to the development of new capacity and learning in this sector.

The North East Youth Alliance formed in 2021 with a 5-year £1 million funding award from the National Lottery Community Fund. Its overarching aims are visualised in the graphic above which shows how a change in culture is achieved by work undertaken in developing delivery and strengthening support. The project is being jointly led by two core partners, Youth Focus NE and NE Youth. Over 100 other organisations from around the region are involved as ‘allies’.

Our work over the next six months will involve pursuing several interconnected lines of enquiry gathering evidence of the impact being made in each of the three core themes shown in the model above. One of the advantages of journeying with a client over a period of years is the ability to develop a real depth of insight into what’s going on. A relationship of support and challenge can be developed with the key leaders and there is genuine opportunity to be a critical friend in the best possible sense of the phrase.

As we embark on this next chapter of the evaluation we’re looking forward to what the next few months will bring. Despite continued financial challenges for the youth sector across the UK there’s a very real sense that through the North East Youth Alliance new pathways are being created that show the way to a brighter and more sustainable future.

A framework for tackling Health Inequalities

The Health Inequalities Framework for North Tyneside

The health inequalities that exist across local communities are well-documented and sadly feature right across the country. There is a well-established connection between poverty and poor health, along with a range of other factors.

When it comes to Public Health policy the borough of North Tyneside has been demonstrating increasing ambition, especially in the period following the coronavirus pandemic. A new strategy called “Equally Well” was launched with the Marmot Principles at its heart. In partnership with the NHS a £400,000 funding pot was created to catalyse a new wave of innovation amongst voluntary sector partners. Local infrastructure body VODA were contracted to manage the programme.

One feature of the programme that needed close attention was how it would be evaluated, with an emphasis on ensuring that important learning would be captured. Appreciating our strong track record in producing evaluations VODA contracted Goodlabs to deliver this element of the programme. Recognising the opportunity to contribute to enlarging the body of learning around this critical issue we were delighted to be involved.

Our approach was to create an ‘open source learning community’ consisting of all the VCSE partners who received grants. Rather than everyone working in silos we created a pattern of events and reports through which relationships could be developed and learning could be shared - both in terms of what is working, and what isn’t. By linking in-person events with the six-monthly reporting schedule we highlighted the relevance of evaluation data and created a sense of empowerment around its interpretation.

At the heart of the process was the creation of a new Health Inequalities Framework, co-produced by all the partners at our first learning community back in May 2022. With 8 impact themes and 55 specific indicators the framework covers all the expected changes taking place in the lives of individual people reached through project delivery, as well as a number of system-level changes too.

The programme continues until December 2023, when we will produce our final evaluation report.

The relationship between reporting data and meeting to discuss it is key

Voluntary sector groups co-producing the framework at event 1, May 2022

From Access to Salesforce

Bristol-based counselling charity Kinergy are a very busy service dealing with hundreds of clients per year across Bristol, Avon and the wider area. They came to us with a range of data management headaches.

At the heart of the problem was the fact that their old server-based Microsoft Access database had become pretty much obsolete. It was no longer serving their needs, particularly with respect to remote working, and also due to difficulties when seeking to report their impact to funders. Compounding this was the fact that a commercial Salesforce developer lacking experience in the charity sector had attempted to solve their problems and failed. Frustration was running high and time was running short!

Following an introduction via the Lloyds Bank Foundation we got to work assessing the functional requirements of the charity. Our ability to compare and contrast their operating model with that of dozens of other charities we’ve worked with meant that time could be spent more efficiently. It became apparent that the basic system architecture could be assembled by bringing together a number of tried and tested elements from other Salesforce development projects we’ve led. A number of custom features could then be woven in to ensure organisation-specific needs were met. As a further element of the project we were able to exceed client expectations by introducing new features they hadn’t previously known were deliverable. Moving all referral processes online using digital forms was a real game-changer in terms of efficiency, along with a fundamental shift towards paperless working.

The charity’s business manager Bert Weenink comments:

“We were getting increasingly frustrated that we could not make Salesforce match our very specific needs. This was after spending a considerable amount of money on ‘expert’ help provided by advisors who just didn’t understand what we wanted our new database to produce. Through the Enhance programme sponsored by the Lloyds Bank Foundation we contacted Matt Wilson. From the moment our Clinical Manager and myself started talking to Matt we found that he understood exactly what we were looking for and what could be done to make Salesforce to fit our needs. Matt’s understanding of the needs of our charity and his awareness of technical solutions were second to none. We are deeply grateful to him for getting our new CRM ready for use!”

A new strategy for a new chapter

We were really pleased to be able to support Emmaus Northeast with the development of their new strategic plan. An introduction was made via Lloyds Bank Foundation as part of our work on their ‘Enhance’ programme.

Emmaus Northeast is part of the wider Emmaus Federation which supports people who have been through significant hardships. Here in the North East the local arm of the charity supports a therapeutic residential community of ‘companions’ all of whom have faced many years of serious hardship. For many this has meant periods of homelessness, addiction and imprisonment.

The new strategy was needed following a period of substantial change including the arrival of a new Chief Exec, the welcoming of several new members to the board of trustees and not forgetting, the radically shifting post-covid operating environment.

As always, one of the highlights was the opportunity to facilitate an away day for the leadership team and trustees. Along with working through the important strategic decisions for the future it was also an excellent opportunity for the trustees to get to know another better and to align their new roles around key strategic priorities.

New CEO Ruth Parker reflected on the experience as follows:

“I was put in touch with Matt Wilson through Lloyds Bank Foundation as a highly recommended facilitator for Board Strategy events. The timelines were tight yet Matt made contact vey quickly and proposed his plans for the event. I wasn’t disappointed, the event ran so smoothly with Matt guiding board discussions throughout the day. I was particularly impressed with his professionalism and how much knowledge he had of our charity - he’d clearly done his homework and had a real awareness of the challenges and risks we faced. The work did not end there, Matt continued to support me in editing drafts of the plan which has been very well received. All the trustees have commented that they would like to work with Goodlabs again in the future. Thanks from all of us at Emmaus North East, your support was greatly appreciated.”

Listening to service users

Durham County Carers Support is a fantastic charity that we’ve had the pleasure of working with on a number of projects over the past few years.

Supporting charities to create new strategic plans is one of the “bread and butter” things we do at Goodlabs. Every new strategic plan is unique and interesting in its own way. What made this project particularly enjoyable was the commitment of Durham Carers to involve its service users in the strategic planning process. There was a real determination to design a method of engagement that would be both meaningful for the Carers participating as well as insightful for the charity.

Goodlabs designed and facilitated the process which involved live events in the four corners of County Durham. A lot of miles were covered that week but it was absolutely worth it! Whilst the same process was followed in each location it was fascinating to see emergence of some key local differences along with common themes. All the content generated was written up in headline format and fed into an Away Day for Trustees and key staff. Equipped with fresh insights from the frontline a range of strategic priorities for the future could be devised.

CEO Jenni Wood commented:

We’re really thankful for the support to review and develop our new 5 year Strategic Plan. It involved facilitating workshops with groups of Carers over a tight timescale. This was followed by meetings with staff, volunteers and trustees to scope out priorities and outcomes. Our new plan which clearly sets out our vision and aims for the future was produced efficiently and arrived on time. I can’t recommend Matt and Goodlabs highly enough.