"The strategy day was excellent. I came away feeling energized."

Many charities are in difficult times. They are experiencing pressure on income, increased risk and regulation, and yet the need for their services is greater than ever.

For learned societies, members are under financial pressure and many societies are seeing membership numbers decrease. There is less funding available for members to attend conferences. Journals are under threat from reduced funding and issues associated with open access.

Grant-making charities are being affected by factors such as public loss of trust, reputational risk from possible malpractice by grantees, and the need to demonstrate measurable impact.

Charities with significant investment portfolios need to manage market volatility, and fund performance, balancing financial return with ethical considerations.

Never has it been more essential to have a clear strategy. Yet charity trustees are usually busy and often do not have the time to carry out the preparation and focus on the high-level vision and strategy.

Sue Thorn Consulting can guide and facilitate a full strategic review. I prepare by assessing your organisation’s strengths and limitations, and opportunities and threats, including by surveying members and talking to Key Opinion Leaders. I will liaise with staff and trustees to produce an assessment of past performance, the current situation and future issues, and use this to work with trustees and staff to develop a new strategic plan; with five-year implementation plan if required. I can provide ongoing assessment of progress and outcomes if required.

I can also review and comment on your existing strategy, highlighting issues that the trustees may wish to focus on rethinking and reworking.

I can also facilitate reviews of specific topics. Recent topics have included: facilitation of a review of publishing strategy, facilitation of a review of a specific committee and developing plans for radical reworking; facilitation of a session to evaluate how the subsidy to a conference could be reduced.

For an example, see Case Studies.

"...the analysis showed us that it was so obviously not working as well as it could that there is a strong desire to change"

"I hope that we will engage Sue further as we work through what the changes will look like, her clarity of thinking and knowledge will be very helpful"

"my first thought when she finished her presentation was 'how come we couldn't see that before?'"