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News & Insights

Insights Henry Lane and Ben Randall Insights Henry Lane and Ben Randall

The Firetail Guide to Time Travel: Part One

The ability to travel into the future isn't just for daydreamers or science fiction. It's a critical skill for strategy and planning, particularly when so much feels uncertain, volatile, and fast moving.

Being a time traveller is not about predicting the future, it’s about being better prepared for a range of possible futures and better placed to shape the future you want to see.

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Insights Sandra Tasić Insights Sandra Tasić

Making Consulting Count: Lessons from the Field

Many civil society organisations struggle to know when and how to work with consultants, especially if it's their first time. The most successful consulting relationships start with clear thinking about the challenge you want to solve through your collaboration, and can turn unexpected insights into an opportunity to co-create and strengthen outcomes.

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Insights Nicola Doyle Insights Nicola Doyle

The power of purposeful networks

Today’s mission-driven organisations are fuelled by their relationships. Networks provide adaptability, shared leadership, resilience, and innovation, making them vital models for impact in an interconnected world.

Strong networks are powerful, when they are purposeful.

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Insights Henry Lane Insights Henry Lane

Disconfirming evidence: From theory to practice

We have discussed the challenge of 'disconfirming evidence' and why it matters in philanthropy. Our new framework guides foundations through a process of understanding and incorporating contrary evidence into their decision-making. It's designed specifically for organisations pursuing systemic change, where traditional evaluation approaches often fall short.

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Insights Andy Martin Insights Andy Martin

Beyond safe bets: How can philanthropy shape the future?

When philanthropists think about their impact, they should recognise that timing matters. What if the billions being spent on climate philanthropy today were spent in 2007? What will be boring to fund in 2044 that is weird to fund now? What are the opportunities and responsibilities of philanthropy to think about these issues?

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Insights Rachel McLachlan Insights Rachel McLachlan

Fundraising: Growth without a magic wand

The pursuit of fundraising growth can be a daunting challenge for many charities. Trustees and other stakeholders may push fundraising teams to “be more innovative”, but there is no big bang solution. Successful growth strategies focus on changing how the organisation thinks and works.

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Insights Andy Martin Insights Andy Martin

Do you have a “Futures Gap”?

If your organisation no longer has a point of view about the future, then you might have a Futures Gap. Discover how identifying and bridging this gap can reignite your mission and reshape your impact.

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Insights Andy Martin Insights Andy Martin

Two difficult strategy questions for 2024

The strategic questions that kept coming up in 2023 were about networks and emotions. They were about pace, agency and power. These questions shift the focus of strategy from a single, rational organisation. They ask us to look outwards to the network, and inwards towards the personal.

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Insights Andy Martin Insights Andy Martin

Whose strategy is it anyway?

Whose strategy is it anyway? Under UK charity law, trustee boards are responsible for effective delivery of a charity’s objectives. They set a charity's strategic direction and ensure legal compliance.

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Insights Ben Randall Insights Ben Randall

Lost in Transformation

“Transformation” must be one of the most over-loaded, over-used terms in discussions about organisations. Countless books, articles, think-pieces, lectures, tweets, conference talks, podcasts (and now ChatGPT answers) all pronounce ‘new’ ways of thinking about transformation, claiming to have finally unlocked the key to success.

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Insights Rachel McLachlan Insights Rachel McLachlan

Making values valuable

Organisational values are powerful tools. They describe who you are and what you stand for. Done right, they provide everyone with a sense of purpose and belonging.

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