What we do
Direction. Funding. Voice.
Our work usually connects several parts of an organisation. A strategy only works if the systems and people behind it can deliver. Fundraising depends on clear priorities and strong positioning. Communications are stronger when they are grounded in both.
Direction
Helping organisations decide where they are going, what matters now, and what needs to be in place to get there.
We work closely with leadership teams to turn ambition into clear priorities and practical ways of working. That might mean developing a new strategy, strengthening planning and management, or helping an organisation make difficult choices about where to focus.
What this can look like
Understand
We might begin by spending time with your leadership team and, where possible, visiting the landscape where you work. We listen to how the organisation operates today, what is changing, and where the pressure points sit.
Build together
From there, we work together to clarify priorities and build the strategy, plans or systems that will actually be used.
Stay alongside
We stay close as the organisation starts applying them, joining key meetings, testing what works and adjusting where needed.
Across the collective
Our network brings deep experience in the fields that shape how a strategy will actually work on the ground, including regenerative agriculture, social sciences, community engagement, protected area management, conflict mitigation, legal rights, leadership, finance and blended finance. This helps us build strategies and systems around the realities of the people, places and organisations they need to work for.
Our strategy and systems work is led by Sanne Bitter, who spent five years at Boston Consulting Group, a leading global strategy consulting firm.
Funding
Helping organisations build stronger and more sustainable approaches to funding.
We work alongside teams from the earliest questions about where funding might come from through to building the internal capability needed to develop and manage strong donor relationships.
What this can look like
Understand
We might start by sitting with the team to understand the organisation’s ambitions, current donors and funding gaps. Together, we look at where realistic opportunities sit and what the organisation needs to strengthen before approaching them.
Build together
That can lead into donor positioning, pipeline development, proposals or preparation for specific conversations.
Stay alongside
We can join donor meetings, help leadership prepare for visits and negotiations, and work alongside an existing fundraising team as the function develops.
Across the collective
Our fundraising network brings experience across Africa, Asia, Europe and the US, with expertise spanning institutional fundraising, foundations, major donors, donor mapping, proposals and long term donor relationships. We can bring in regional knowledge, experience with different types of funders and language capabilities including French and Italian, depending on what an organisation needs.
Our fundraising work is led by Stephanie Sluka, who has raised more than USD 250 million across conservation, humanitarian and development organisations and previously led global fundraising at African Parks.
Voice
Helping organisations communicate what they do clearly, credibly and in ways that fit the audience.
We work with teams to clarify how they talk about their work and then help put that into practice across the moments and channels that matter.
What this can look like
Understand
We might begin by spending time with the people closest to the work, listening to how they describe it and understanding the audiences they need to reach. Together, we identify what is already strong, where the story is unclear, and what the organisation needs to communicate differently.
Build together
From there, we may work alongside the team on positioning, donor communications, media, film or digital content.
Stay alongside
Sometimes we set the direction, sometimes we produce the work together, and often we do both while strengthening the organisation’s own communications capability.
Across the collective
Our communications network lets us support almost any part of an organisation's communications work, from a press release or social media content to a full communications strategy, brand review, website or film produced from concept through to final delivery. We bring together strategists, journalists, filmmakers, designers, web specialists and other creatives as the work requires.
Our communications work is led by Beezie Burden, who brings more than 15 years of conservation communications experience and has produced more than 40 short films.
The collective
We are proud of the experience, integrity and care each member of our Collective brings to their work.
Meet the collective