consultancy Services
Ali specialises in setting up development operations from scratch, evaluating and auditing existing activity and working with organisations and their staff to make fundraising, engagement & membership programmes more strategic, sustainable and cost-effective.
She can provide ad hoc support and advice, manage specific projects, or provide senior part-time interim cover. Ali works holistically across an entire range of activities - back office and front-facing - helping clients to become more joined-up and data-focussed. This approach enables organisations to: create more realistic targets, devise better performance-driven metrics and understand the impact of their activities for all elements of their development operation.
Applying 30 years of experience, every project is approached in a bespoke, hands-on way, providing practical knowledge from working in senior management positions for in-house development offices. Unusually for a consultant, Ali considers it vitally important to regularly update her ‘at the coalface’ experience with interim roles, which ensures she continues to truly understand what it’s like to work in a contemporary non-profit environment, with budgetary and resource constraints, sometimes within complex cultural environments. Only by having this approach does she feel able to offer realistic and practical solutions.
Alongside establishing a comprehensive view of a client’s operational environment, she invests time in fully understanding every element of their activities and the challenges they may be having, working closely with senior management and their wider team to help them develop their own solutions. Clients are supported from start to finish, helping them gain the results they need in a pragmatic and relevant way.
CONSULTANCY & ADVICE
From a few hours to a longer-term contract, Ali can offer ideas, advice, and recommendations, sharing real-world experiences and suggesting best practice to help clients solve problems and create a more strategic and sustainable operation.
Happy to jump on the phone to sense check or gain a second opinion on specific approach, through to taking on larger and/or more complex issues, Ali can be a handy extension of your team.
PROJECT WORK
Ali works on stand-alone projects, such as evaluating the effectiveness of a development operation, or devising a new programme, through to preparing an organisation for a forthcoming campaign or appeal.
She can also advise and help create a fundraising, engagement, stewardship and/or membership programme from scratch, or develop new activities, such as: carrying out an audit of a client’s regular giving data to better inform strategy and planning, or support more comprehensive impact reporting.
INTERIM & STAFF TRAINING
Whether it is maternity cover for a senior post, or offering interim support to bridge recruitment issues, Ali has a lot of experience of ‘helicoptering’ into a development or fundraising team and hitting the floor running to help out in a staffing crisis.
In addition, she has extensive HR, recruitment and board training experience, within the context of development, so is happy to offer workshops to trustees, review job descriptions, and sit on interview panels.