Cranfield Trust
We’re the charity that other charities come to for free management guidance and advice, training and professional support
About us
Cranfield Trust is the leading provider of pro bono consultancy and management support for welfare charities in the UK. Our dedicated and experienced staff team work with our nationwide network of almost 1,500 highly skilled volunteer consultants, mentors and advisers who share their professional knowledge and skills with charities to help them succeed and thrive.
From over 35 years of experience and as a small charity ourselves, we know how much of a challenge it can be for charities, especially smaller ones, to address key management and organisational issues.
That is why we provide individually tailored services that are completely free of charge directly to organisations that may otherwise not be able to benefit from this kind of support due to tight budgets and capacity.
Most of our clients are small-to-medium sized organisations with an annual income under £1 million, but we support a huge range of human welfare organisations – registered charities and other formally constituted non-profits including Community Interest Companies (CICs).
We have a proven track record of working with a range of charities in Wales and our Wales Manager is dedicated to working directly with local charities and CICs to identify their needs and tailor the support we can offer through locally based volunteers. Find out about some of the support we have provided to charities in Wales through their stories: Daring to Dream business planning, BWorkz business planning and Arts Care Gofal Celf
Our consultancy and mentoring
To date, Cranfield Trust has delivered 6,000+ consultancy and mentoring projects to support charities and other registered organisations. Every individual consultancy project is delivered by a carefully selected Cranfield Trust volunteer with relevant experience and knowledge and is supported by a Cranfield Trust Regional Manager.
Our consultancy projects cover a wide range of topics from strategic and business planning to marketing, financial management and governance. We have developed a bespoke impact measurement framework, which helps us to work with charities to identify priority and measure the impact of our Consultancy work with non-profit organisations called Journey to Excellence (J2E©).
Our mentoring provides support and development for leaders and emerging leaders of organisations. We have seen a rise in demand for mentoring over the last few years and this continues to be our fastest growing area of management support. Mentoring offers an opportunity for charity leaders to discuss a range of topics and challenges, learn from experienced volunteer mentors and grow in confidence and ability. Sessions are monthly, for a period of 6-9 months.
Our other services for organisations
In addition to our pro bono consultancy and mentoring, Cranfield Trust offers a wide range of other services for organisations. These include:
o On Call – a specialist telephone advice service to help charities troubleshoot and get answers to pressing management questions.
o Peer to Peer – a confidential, neutral thinking group problem solving space to explore leadership challenges with peers.
o Free charity webinars and an on-demand webinar library, offering Essentials to Excellence and Learning from Leaders for charity leaders.
o Other free charity resources and information.
How do I know if Cranfield Trust is right for my charity?
We work with registered charities, community organisations and social enterprises that are delivering human or social welfare services for people who are facing disadvantage or hardship.
We can deliver support with a wide range of business issues for charities. Common ones include strategy development, business planning, governance, finance and accounting, organisational structure, impact reporting and communications/marketing. Our 1400+ volunteer consultants come from a wide range of business backgrounds.
A few examples of the many consultancy and mentoring projects we’ve delivered for Lloyds Bank Foundation grantholders are:
A business planning project for a refugee specialist organisation in Solihull.
An organisational structure review for a domestic violence charity in Staffordshire.
Support with Finance and Accounting software for a community farm in Swansea.
Strategic development and business planning for a charity delivering a range of community support services in the Greater Manchester area.
Review of HR policies and procedures for a mental health charity in Swansea.
How to get support
If you think your charity could benefit from our support, one of our friendly staff team can speak with you about your organisation’s need and how we could best help.
If you decide to proceed, you will fill out a simple application and then you’ll then be connected with one of our experienced Regional Managers who will arrange a meeting to discuss your needs, scope a consultancy brief and engage a business consultant with the right skills to help. Many charities have a range of management issues and challenges and therefore they find that talking them through with our staff team is a useful part of shaping a plan and deciding on priorities.
To access support as a grantholder through Lloyds Bank Foundation, please speak to your LBF grant manager and ask to be referred for our support.
Or to contact Cranfield Trust directly:
Through our website’s contact us form – cranfieldtrust.org
By emailing talktous@cranfieldtrust.org
Or by calling us on 01794 830338