1 / 22

Charity Talks

Charity Talks . Getting Your Strategy Developed and Implemented The journey so far………. Catherine Johnstone CEO Samaritans. Our Founder. Chad Varah. Samaritans Journey. Set up in 1953 Founded by Chad Varah

nitza
Download Presentation

Charity Talks

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Charity Talks Getting Your Strategy Developed and Implemented The journey so far………. Catherine Johnstone CEO Samaritans

  2. Our Founder Chad Varah

  3. Samaritans Journey • Set up in 1953 • Founded by Chad Varah • Federated structure with Central Charity as coordinating body for the 201 Samaritans branches (separate charities) across UK & ROI • 161 Centres internationally operating under Befrienders Worldwide (BW)

  4. Vision & Mission Vision Fewer people die by suicide Mission To alleviate emotional distress and reduce the incidence of suicidal feelings and suicidal behaviours

  5. What do we do? • We provide confidential, emotional support by telephone, email, SMS, letter and personal visit. • We provide range of outreach services including prisons, schools, hospitals.

  6. Values • Listening • Confidentiality • People making their own decisions • Non judgemental • Human contact

  7. Governance • Volunteer led organisation. • Board of Trustees (15) of whom majority are active listening volunteers (11). • Council of Samaritans – 234 members. • 18,500 highly trained volunteers deliver 24 hour services. • 100 paid staff at head office (General Office). • Range of support volunteers offer support for non listening duties.

  8. Strategy • New Strategy ‘Taking a lead to reduce suicide 2009-2015’ • Published Sept 2008 with go live April 2009 • Took 2 years to develop. • Real step change for the organisation. • Passive, below the radar to proactive and wanting to take a lead. • Positioning as ‘expert agency’.

  9. Strategy Development • Federated nature of organisation meant long time to develop new strategy. • Key that all branches and volunteers were consulted and engaged in process. • Hugely differing views on way forward. • Consensus decision reached in June 2008. • Go live date set for 1 April 2009.

  10. Implementation • Step change meant back to basics • Organisation been very modest (below radar) • Done same thing for decades and cultural change very challenging. • Recognised need for new approach. • New CEO appointed Feb 2009 • Set approach out in 1 year getting started plan (corporate plan 2009-2010).

  11. Implementation • Split strategy into phases which happened naturally • Year 1- getting ready (Fit 4 Purpose) • Years 2-5 – Making it Happen. • Year 6 – What next?

  12. Organisational Outcomes Identified 6 key outcomes; • Reach more people. • Alleviate serious emotional distress. • Become a knowledgeable organisation. • Positively impact upon public policy. • Influence service provision. • Improve public awareness.

  13. The processes Year 1 • Huge resistance to ‘Corporate/management speak!’ • Introduced structure and tangible products and activities. • Gathered lots of data and increased organisations evidence base. • Increased understanding within organisation of the change in approach.

  14. The successes – Year 1 • Board of Trustees adopted more structured planning approach which led to a 3 year corporate plan 2011-15. • Spent far more time on prioritisation and focus of activities. • Increased investment in fundraising. • Increased research capability and capacity. • Embedded the new strategy across the federated organisation with high degree of success and recognition.

  15. 2011-2015 • 3 year corporate plan. • New management processes developed and implemented at Head Office. • Completed governance review and streamlined existing arrangements. • Moved to working across 5 programmes to avoid silo mentality and offer clarity of activity. • Began implementing evidence based programmes/projects. • Shifted culture to put Callers at the heart of what we do.

  16. Challenges • One strategy, one voice, one national service model and 202 separate charities….. • Very varied workforce with hugely differing perspectives on the organisation. • Increasing impact of devolution across separate nations/jurisdictions requiring more flexibility of approach without diminishing impact of national outcomes. • Governance model (volunteer led) significantly increases time to make change. • Increasing funding to meet the strategies aspirations in an economic downturn interesting!

  17. The successes so far.. • Increasing our own understanding of the organisations strengths and weaknesses and addressing these collectively. • Increasing our own capacity to deliver more services and meet the increasing demand. • Significantly increased profile of organisation. • Taking a lead in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in suicide prevention. • Increased income and strengthened pipeline.

  18. The successes so far.. • Volunteer and staff retention increased. • Developed and delivered £5m partnership with Network Rail to reduce suicide on the railways (year 1 saw 11% reduction) • Negotiated 3 year contract with prison service to provide consistent service. • Secured free to caller short code number (116123) and piloted in 2 regions. • Nominated for 11 Awards in 2011 (a first for Samaritans)

  19. Why has this worked so far.. • Put callers back at the heart of what we do and it is what we all have in common….. • Stayed on mission but just articulating it more clearly. • Forced us to focus on what is important to achieve our vision. • Prioritised activity and been realistic about doing fewer things better. • Reached outside of the organisation and working better with others.

  20. Why has this worked so far.. • Been bold about using proper, tried and tested management processes but softened the language and approach to fit with culture. • Been patient. • Been brave enough to try new things. • Been confident in the value of what we do and our 57 years of experiences.

  21. Just ordinary people doing extraordinary things..

  22. Samaritans Contact Details

More Related