Services we deliver
Research and community consultation
Part of any evidence base should include a quantitative review of the appropriate data sets and secondary information sources to help understand the local context, trends in relevant indicators and key issues. Our research skills enable us to carry our statistical analysis and documentation / literature review work with accuracy and efficiency.
Primary research adds significant value to any quantifiable evidence base and this is a real strength in terms of what Chimera Consulting offers to our clients.
We gather public opinion to test ideas, understand levels of support and demand and gauge feedback to help shape a project, programme, service or strategy. We develop bespoke tools for gathering opinion - key issue prompts, questionnaire surveys, workshop tools etc. – and we have interviewed over 10,000 individuals across various communities, mostly through face to face questionnaire survey work but also through online survey and group workshop formats. Public opinion is vital for clients seeking to understand the support and demand for project proposals to test viability, to inform busines planning work and support a grant application campaign, also for planning permission. We utilise various techniques including online surveys, traditional paper-based surveys, workshops, focus groups and "open day events".
Our largest community consultation exercises to date have included a survey of 1,830 young people in a relatively deprived neighbourhood to inform a new youth services support strategy to meet their needs (the volume of responses to our survey equated to 40% of the entire 8-19 year old cohort in this area), and 961 residents (across all ages) in another community to test the levels of support and demand for a new community swimming pool and associated well-being activities.
Business Planning
A good business plan should clearly "tell the story" of a project or a business, and include some context, evidence to support proposals, identification of issues, vision, objectives, operational and management issues and income and expenditure projections. From our vast experience of developing business plans for clients we devised a toolkit in partnership with PR Principles under the banner “The Big Ideas Factory” and this can be drawn upon for new clients. Some clients want a simple critique of their own business plan or help with a refreshing of their plan; others want us to work with them from scratch. We are happy to cut our cloth according to a client's needs.
Funding
Our CEO has worked in senior positions for public sector organisations with responsibility for project funding: he has appraised funding applications and he has evaluated funding programmes. This enables us to help clients raise finance by having experienced life as a funder and understanding what makes a compelling case.
We have appraised various projects for strategic organisations in the public sector and for funders. An outside, independent and expert view can help a client review a project application or a business case for funding. I have worked as independent assessor for the first incarnation of the Lottery (The National Lottery Charities Board), for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and I am approved supplier of consultancy support for the Lloyds Bank Foundation under its “Enhance: grant + consultancy” support package for charities.
In the main, clients tend to seek help in accessing grant or loan finance and Chimera has secured over £4 million for community sector clients. We have delivered workshops to the Non Profit sector on "how to write a great funding bid" and we constantly remind prospective clients that they should have in place a robust plan first and check whether they are fully prepared to mount a funding campaign. A review of possible options and a prioritised strategy is key too, as we never advocate a "scattergun" approach to grant applications. We can also help by reviewing opportunities for income generation, helping groups become more financially sustainable.
Organisational development and mentoring
A number of clients asked us to review their partnerships and organisations to help them from top to bottom, to help them understand what they were doing well, what they could improve upon and how they could deliver more impact. Also, to bring a fresh perspective to help identify where they could focus their efforts in the future and what partnership relationships they should spend time nurturing. This has entailed business planning review work, consultations with senior management and delivery staff, project beneficiaries and those at strategic levels – Trustees, Board Members and key stakeholders.
I started my business life with a mentor who helped provide a great sounding board as I was getting the business off the ground and looking to develop. I have supported others who are setting up a social enterprise, or in the early stages of development, often on a probono basis and I have supported several individuals going into private business, with generic and specific advice and mentoring support for those seeking to go into self-employment.