Jack Petchey Foundation

Empowering charities with the confidence and capabilities to thrive!

What will the partnership deliver?

The new strategic partnership between the Jack Petchey Foundation and Cranfield Trust will provide critical management support and guidance to Jack Petchey grantees at a time when they need it more than ever. The support provided by Cranfield Trust helps create better run organisations for a more sustainable and secure future.

How will the strategic partnership work?

Through our partnership, Cranfield Trust can directly offer organisational and management support specifically to Jack Petchey grantee charities. Grantees will be able to access pro bono management consultancy, mentoring and other free business resources, tailored to their charity’s needs, or mentoring support for charity leaders/aspiring leaders.

Why do charities need this type of support?

Many charity leaders are feeling stretched and overwhelmed in the current financial climate. The support offered by Cranfield Trust provides an independent perspective from an objective, expert volunteer consultant to explore options and find a way forward.

What type of support can Cranfield Trust provide?

A Cranfield Trust Regional Manager will spend some time with you to explore where you and your charity would benefit from with support. You will then be matched with a volunteer who may help in any of the following (but not limited to):

• Leadership and strategic direction - Governance, business planning, mentoring, and marketing.
• People management - Organisational structure, organisational change management, recruitment and retention processes, merger and collaborative working.
• Financial management and sustainability - Process improvements, understanding costs, forecasting and scenario planning.
• Performance and impact - KPIs, impact reporting, and developing performance tools.

Which charities/organisations are eligible for support through the partnership?

• The charity/not for profit organisation’s purpose must be addressing the welfare needs of people, including poverty, disability or social exclusion.
• The charity must be registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales (or equivalent Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man organisations), or be a CIC that is formally constituted and listed on Companies House, and ideally have employed staff or a strong volunteer group.
• The charity must have sufficient time available to work with the Cranfield Trust Regional Manager and Volunteer assigned to them, who advise and facilitate, rather than taking the work away from the charity.
• The charity must be based in the UK, even if supporting work overseas. Any project undertaken must be agreed by the charity’s trustees and CEO.
• They must have a management problem, challenge or issue which they need help with or a charity leader/aspiring leader keen to have a business mentor.

As a Jack Petchey grantee how can you access this support?

As long as you meet the criteria above, you are eligible to access this free support.

How will the consultancy and mentoring be delivered?

Cranfield Trust provides valuable, high-quality and intensive support to hundreds of charities every year. This is achieved through the Trust’s team of Regional Managers who are based throughout England and Wales, as well as a network of high experienced volunteers, drawn predominantly from the commercial sector.

Cranfield Trust Regional Managers are themselves highly-skilled and knowledgeable business professionals with experience drawn from the commercial sector. They meet each charity personally to discuss their needs for support and the main areas on which they wish to work. Using their expertise, the Regional Manager matches each charity with a Cranfield Trust volunteer who has the right skills to support them.

Volunteers are central to the Trust’s work: they make the support services possible by giving time, skills and expertise freely to work with charities. Volunteers come from a variety of professional backgrounds and have significant experience within their field; they all have a strong desire to support charities and people in need. Read more about Cranfield Trust volunteers.

What can the charity expect from the management consultancy or mentoring?

Management consultancy helps to improve a charity’s performance by solving problems and finding new and better ways of doing things. The free management consultancy service provided by this partnership offers tailored business advice and solutions exclusively for social welfare charities in the UK. Help can be provided with the charity’s business strategy, governance, marketing or financial processes.

Mentoring provides charity leaders with the opportunity to discuss their challenges with an experienced manager; a Cranfield Trust volunteer, who can help them to explore their options and rehearse their decisions. Cranfield Trust trains volunteers as mentors for charity Chief Executives and managers.

How long does a project take?

Every Cranfield Trust management consultancy project is different. On average volunteer consultants spend about seven days with the charity they are working with but this can be spread over several months, depending on the needs of the organisation.