Our Work
Recognising the complexity of delivering impact in the world today, our knowledge and expertise sits at the intersection of the philanthropy, business and nonprofit worlds.
Across these audiences, we deliver a range of services, bespoke to your ambitions and circumstances. We regularly invent things for the first time for our clients. Here are some examples of the work we’ve done so far.
Philanthropy
From high-net-worth-individuals and family foundations, all the way through to large, global institutions, we design and implement dynamic philanthropic strategies that align with the best practices of equitable grant-making.
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Giving Strategy & Activation
We work closely with philanthropists to develop giving strategies and manage their grant-making.
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We provide a full range of services, from deciding the cause area and type of funding that will create the change they want to see, all the way through to finding niche organisations, vetting them, and reporting on the grants. Since 2015, I.G. has helped disburse over £7 million to dozens of organisations of all sizes around the world.
“If you’re not sure how to begin your philanthropy journey, I.G. Advisors are exactly what you need. They helped us define our approach to philanthropy and develop a giving strategy that honours the memory of our parents, incorporates the best practice ideals of grant making and aims to create social justice impact most effectively with the funds we have available.” - Lucy Scanlon, Sara & Michael Scanlon Trust
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Feasibility Studies
Sometimes before developing a full strategy, our clients want to test the waters of an idea first, and fully scope out the potential. We regularly conduct feasibility studies to explore this in a range of thematic areas.
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For example, I.G. collaborated with the LGBT+ Consortium and a number of major trusts and foundations to explore the feasibility of establishing a participatory LGBT+ community fund in the UK. This included in-depth consultations with LGBT+ groups, organisations, leaders and funders, and desk-based research into the historical and contemporary funding needs and experiences of the sector.
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Flagship Programme Design
We take pride in translating the visions and passions of our clients into established, real-world impact programmes that change the status quo.
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Examples include the Packard Foundation’s fully operational fellowship, A Million Realities, which supports social entrepreneurs who are looking for large scale investment, and the Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation’s Arab Women Filmmakers scholarship at the pre-eminent UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
“The mixture of visionary and pragmatic approaches works very, very well. Any big ideas you have - take them to I.G. and they will make them happen.” - Antonia Packard, CEO, A Million Realities
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Sectoral & Thematic Research
Our research work is varied, and we use tools from landscape analyses to in-depth consultations with stakeholders to hear directly from those with lived experience on specific issues.
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For example, in 2019, we worked with the Garfield Weston Foundation to map the UK environmental landscape and develop a gap analysis to inform their strategic support to the sector. Our findings were published by the Foundation - in a report titled Prioritising Our Planet - alongside the launch of a programme to improve communications between environmental charities, funders and the public.
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Theory of Change & Strategic Planning
We specialise in distilling the complexity of systems change work into clear, compelling, Theory of Change graphics, and facilitating best-in-class strategic planning processes for philanthropic institutions of all sizes.
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Recent examples include the Theory of Change I.G. developed for EMpower, which articulates the value and change created from all work streams of the Foundation, beyond traditional grant-making; and the strategic plan + Ecosystem Theory of Change I.G. developed for the Elevate Children Funders Group (ECFG), which acknowledged the ways through which each stakeholder group can inform, influence, and add value to the others’ work - framing the ecosystem as regenerative, rather than extractive.
“I.G.’s sophisticated understanding of the funding ecosystem and excellent strategy process design allowed us to create a top-notch strategy with an ecosystem-level Theory of Change for the field which is already informing others’ Theories of Change.” - Heather Hamilton, Executive Director, Elevate Children Funders Group (ECFG)
Business
We work with businesses of varied sizes and remits to provide corporate philanthropy, CSR and partnership advice that delivers both financial and social returns on investment.
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Foundation Launch & Strategy Development
We have supported a wide range of global businesses such as Kurt Geiger, Coach, Belron, Sonnedix, DLA Piper and Primark to develop pioneering approaches to their corporate philanthropy through their foundations and other flagship programmes.
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Examples of this work include the design and launch of Kurt Geiger’s Kindness Foundation, the creation of a flagship programme that addressed young people's opportunities worldwide through grassroots initiatives, improved access to skills and employment in the renewable energy field for underrepresented groups, and the setting of standards for how the garment industry pursues gender justice.
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Facilitating Partnerships & Employee Engagement
We work with companies to build shared-value partnerships that effectively engage teams, shareholders and customers to deliver both business and social returns on investment. We’ll work to understand your commercial priorities, and integrate these with charitable purpose partnerships that raise the bar of what’s possible.
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In 2019, we helped Adobe UK source and build a partnership with two London-based nonprofits local to their office, The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN) and Hatch Enterprise. Together, we designed and ran a hackathon event that matched 100+ Adobe’s employees with entrepreneurs coached by the two nonprofits, based on the skills and needs of all participants. The partnership was so successful that the events are still running to this day.
In 2021, we worked with Unicef’s Corporate Partnerships team and Unilever’s Global Sustainability team to audit their co-creation partnership, identify challenges and celebrate achievements at the global level. The result of I.G.’s interviews and workshops with the teams was summarised in I.G.’s Co-Creation Manifesto, aimed at guiding all current and future partnerships between Unicef and Unilever.
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Programme Evaluation & Refinement
Sometimes, our corporate clients already have a programme or initiative in place, and they want our help to refine and strengthen it. I.G. has a robust impact evaluation process we take clients through that is agile, participatory and bespoke to each company’s unique context.
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For example, I.G. has been working with law firm DLA Piper on a six-year evaluation of its flagship community programme, the Global Scholarship Programme (GSP), aimed at supporting outstanding law students in low and middle income countries reach their potential and contribute to the rule of law in their communities.
Our team co-developed a comprehensive evaluation framework that speaks to DLA’s impact goals, and every year we collect quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and interviews with students, mentors and partners to develop evaluation reports that speak to the firm’s progress over the years, alongside recommendations for action to take the Programme to the next level.
“There are not many consultants who you can trust to sit down and have a conversation with your CEO or present to your board. Crossing between sectors, they are the most credible advisors you could ask for. They work very effectively and are constantly adding value.” - Nicolas Patrick, Head of Responsible Business, DLA Piper
Nonprofit
We work with nonprofits, charities, social enterprises, NGOs and UN agencies to build knowledge, resource and resilience for their work. This includes fundraising strategy and implementation; governance and operational health; programmatic design, delivery and evaluation; and all-encompassing strategic planning.
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Strategic Planning, Operations & Governance
Strategic planning is a critical process for any organisation. Rooted in the principles of human-centred design, we thrive on facilitating processes that are creative, inclusive and rigorous across varied contexts.
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Among many organisations, we had the opportunity to work with Fora (formerly known as G(irls)20). Initially based around the G20 Summit, Fora places young women at the centre of powerful decision-making spaces. Closely with their CEO, Board, staff team and programme participants, we lead a highly participatory strategic planning process that ultimately led to the rebrand of Fora and its international expansion.
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Fundraising Strategy, Feasibility & Implementation
I.G. has been instrumental in some of the biggest global mobilisations of resource for social impact – at every stage from management and governance design, through to fundraising and campaign strategies, and coaching and training of the sector’s principal fundraisers.
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Fundraising support has been one of I.G.’s core services from the beginning. We specialise in relationship-based approaches to resource mobilisation, host an award-winning fundraising podcast, and have even launched our very own global fellowship to support emerging and senior fundraisers to thrive in the funding system.
Client examples include the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria, Mama Cash, Fundación Avina, the Equality Fund, Freedom Fund, Women’s Link Worldwide, Futuro Media, ODI, Wildscreen Film Festival, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, and many others.
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Programmatic Design & Evaluation
The I.G. team has a wealth of expertise across many programmatic areas - from gender, to climate, LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, human rights, disability, animal welfare, young people, education, arts & culture, and more - backed by rigorous methodologies in programmatic design, and evaluation.
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We regularly design impact evaluation mechanisms for our clients and facilitate MEL processes for their core programmes. Examples include evaluating London Friend’s mental health services, Shannon Trust’s support for incarcerated communities, Fora’s support for youth leadership, and much more.
Sector Transformation
We’re constantly collaborating with brilliant people to develop creative solutions to our sector’s biggest challenges. Our business model goes beyond traditional consultancy - we’re here to change the status quo.
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#FixTheFlow Fellowship
Our global fellowship brings together cohorts of ambitious funders and fundraisers (both senior leaders and emerging professionals) who want to lead the movement for change across the funding system so we can #FixTheFlow of resources - for good.
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This isn’t your average professional development programme. Yes, we provide expert instruction and coaching on best practice, but we also come together to do systems change projects, and you learn from the experience of your peers, too. This is about both playing the game, and changing the game. We don’t believe these need to be (or should be) mutually exclusive.
Visit fixtheflow.org to learn more and apply to a future cohort. You can also hear our fellows talk about their experience - and their dreams for the funding system the future - on our podcast.
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Impact & Grow: A Leadership Lab
Our intimate, immersive Leadership Lab is a six week programme for social impact leaders all over the world. We support them to experiment, test and level up their practical leadership skills, as well as their personal motivation and brand.
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In the Lab, we explore:
The Motivational Stuff: An articulation of your unique professional strengths and superpowers, and a Theory of Change for your career that you (actually) find motivating.
The Practical Stuff: Expert training in line management, financial literacy, strategic decision-making, and time management, as well as personalised support on a specific organisational or business challenge.
The Fun Stuff: A LinkedIn bio & headshot you can be proud of and that’s a match to your highest potential.
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Fundraising Field Guide
In partnership with the Ford Foundation, we created this practical resource designed to demystify the art and science of fundraising, and help you create a strategy to successfully grow and diversify your income.
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Designed with and for fundraisers from all over the world, the Guide features an initial organisational readiness and self assessment quiz to make sure you’re set up for success, and then takes you along a (donor) journey of best practices and inspirational case studies.
Visit fundraisingfieldguide.org to access the Guide in English and Spanish.
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The Mesa
In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we created The Mesa to help philanthropic networks, and the members they serve, connect online, grow together - and give better.
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Visit themesa.org to learn more, and to access other tools and resources associated with this initiative (for example, our free Donor Community Needs Assessment).
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Thought Leadership
We regularly produce thought leadership and insights to drive forward important conversations, and we host a podcast, too. We know our position as consultants gives us a unique birds-eye-view of the space, and we want to use this to build connections - and pursue change.
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We host an award-winning podcast about the nonprofit sector; we publish reports on critical topics like Digital Fundraising & Racial Justice and The State of Funding For Girls; we host events and conferences to collaboratively explore big questions; and we partner with clients to create new sector resources like Funding Frontline Impact.
If you want to collaborate with I.G. on a piece of thought leadership, please get in touch!
