Reaching Higher is a charity working with young people in the London Borough of Croydon. It engages and mentors young people to improve their life skills and prospects.
Still relatively young, the charity came to Pilotlight with big ambitions to expand both geography and services. However, as the story unfolded, it became clear to the Pilotlight team of business volunteers that large-scale growth was not as simple as it may have appeared.
What we did
Reaching Higher used Pilotlight's tools and framework to unpack their thoughts on the charity’s present position and future direction.
One key reflection emerged. In order for the charity to grow in the future, it needed to consolidate its position in the present. This included a number of important factors:
- Clarifying the exact model through which the charity achieves its mission
- Professionalising operations in order to create stable, effective foundations
- Developing clear goals for the talented and committed leadership team
Utilising the Pilotlighters' combined wisdom as a sounding board, Reaching Higher honed its social and business objectives, teasing out a powerful but realistic strategy.
Outcomes
Since refining the charity’s focus as part of Pilotlight 360, Reaching Higher has seen engagement from volunteers and funders increase, resulting in better staffed and better funded projects. The financial position has strengthened considerably since completing the programme. 2016 will see a 20% growth in turnover on the previous year, with a similar amount forecast for 2017. Success with grant bids means the funding plan for 2016 has already been achieved, with a real head start on 2017.
As well as supporting growth, this has given the charity scope to strengthen reserves and invest in back-office support. These were key areas identified during Pilotlight 360 to ensure the charity’s sustainability.
The impact of all this is more engaged young people and greater opportunity for significant progress in their lives. Long term, the programme has initiated a positive cycle of development which will keep Reaching Higher healthy for many years to come.