OUR SERVICES
Consultancy
Relevant and actionable advice that enables you to meet long-term objectives
We provide advice relating to the strategy, structure, management, and operations of your organisation to help you build capacity and deliver brilliant fundraising. Our practice covers strategy & planning, talent & culture, and partnerships as well as all aspects of your development services function.
Kirsty MacDonald,
​
Deputy Principal (Advancement), Royal Academy of Music
“Alveo were brilliant from the first point of contact - they engaged staff with a sensitivity and warmth that put everyone at ease; conducted the audit with efficiency and thoroughness; delivered a report which answered our brief and has provided the foundations for the programme we have built. I would not hesitate to recommend Jennie and her Alveo colleagues to anyone who wants to raise their game."
Ben Plummer-Powell,
Chief Philanthropy and Global Engagement Officer, London School of Economics
"​We commissioned Alveo to lead a high-level strategic review to ensure we had the very best structure to deliver success across supporter engagement and operations. Jennie and her team were excellent. They took the time to fully understand our brief, they were prepared to challenge our thinking and produced clear and compelling recommendations for change which we have been able to act on."
Recent projects have included:
-
Ongoing Strategic Counsel for Development Directors and Directors of Operations
-
Fundraising team structure review
-
Fundraising project prioritisation process
-
Full review of a development services function and organisation structure
-
Advice on campaign counting policy
-
Planning for the merger of two alumni relations functions
-
12 month strategic plan review
-
Campaign business case creation
-
Campaign mid-point refresh
-
Succession planning and role review
-
Development Services team 'size and shape' review
-
CRM support centre review
-
​Internal business case for CRM replacement
-
​Development Services 'Health Check'​
Strategic Facilitation
Focus on what's most important in achieving your objectives
We can support your strategic planning process through facilitating focussed workshops where we push you to identify and prioritise the most important activities.
Prices from £700 + VAT for a one-off workshop.
“Kate facilitated a workshop for the Talent Management and HR Team as part of our annual planning process. She encouraged us to focus on what we could realistically achieve and which of our ideas would have the most impact. We left with a very clear path for the next 12 months. Jennie subsequently reviewed the Development Office strategic annual plan and provided feedback to help us ensure we were co-ordinated and working together to achieve our aims. Their support has been invaluable to this process.”
Erin Hall-Westfall,
Director of HR and Talent Management, University of Cambridge Development and Alumni Relations
Coaching
Relevant and actionable advice that enables you to meet long-term objectives
Our approach offers a blend of coaching and mentoring to offer advice and insight from our experience of similar roles and to help the coachee come to their own conclusions about the best ways forward. We act as a sounding board and critical friend to help them see themselves and the situation clearly. Kate is a member of the European Council of Coaching and Mentoring.
This can offer a cost-effective way to approach a review. For example, we recently worked with the University of Leeds to coach a team-member through reviewing their stewardship programme. She conducted the review, with our input and challenge, which had the added benefit of her owning the whole process and the recommendations herself.
As well as more general coaching for staff who have had a promotion or are addressing a particular new challenge, we also offer a targeted First 90 Days programme to help your new managers make the most of their critical first three months.
Prices from £1,500 + VAT for a programme of four sessions.
Rachel Third
Head of Philanthropy, Loughborough University
"Kate led me through a series of developmental coaching sessions which not only built up my personal skills to find my feet as a leader but essentially gave me an expert toolkit tailored exactly to my needs, with which to build a sustainable fundraising strategy and navigate common pitfalls. Going forwards I feel equipped to make bold leadership decisions with confidence.”
Jayne Glennon
Deputy Director of Development, University of Leeds
“Jennie worked with the head of our stewardship function to undertake a strategic review and did so in a way that gave us the added value of inspiring the team member so she has more confidence in her own abilities and greater ownership of her area going forward. The recommendations were warmly received by the leadership team.”
Speaking and Training
Inspire and educate your team
Our experience and expertise mean we are often asked to provide training and to speak at staff conferences. We approach each engagement individually and take time to understand what you want to achieve. We can speak on any of the areas of our expertise and have recently done so on:​​
-
How to be productive in uncertain times
-
Staff induction and onboarding
-
Campaign 101 for central finance staff
-
​How to develop a strategy
-
Campaign planning
Prices from £1,000 + VAT for a half-day training programme.
Marnie Middlemiss,
Director of Development and Alumni Relations, University of Brighton
“The training was delivered thoroughly and clearly with the content shared for future reference and referral. The whole process of working together was collaborative and engaging and it was an absolute pleasure working with the whole team. The knowledge you have shared and support you provided will be fundamental to our future success. I can’t tell you how much impact it has already had.”
Bruce Bernstein,
Former Executive Director, CASE Europe
“Jennie is one of CASE Europe’s best regarded speakers and trainers. She was awarded our top speaker honour, the CASE Crystal Apple, in 2016 in recognition of the stellar delegate feedback (4.5+ out of 5) she had received. Jennie is one of the faculty members at our annual Spring Institute in Educational Fundraising where she teaches on a range of topics from prospect research and data management, to personal effectiveness and ethics. Jennie’s expertise and knowledge are complemented by her energy, humour and sense of fun. I recommend her without hesitation.”
Andrea Crowley,
Deputy Director of Development, University of Warwick
“Kate’s training session far exceeded our expectations. It met all the objectives, and kept the team engaged. When everyone fed back on how much they enjoyed it, we asked Kate back to deliver again to a wider audience. At the last minute that training had to be delivered virtually rather than in person and Kate didn’t hesitate to accommodate us and wasn’t phased by the change. Alveo’s approach to designing training for the specific audience rather than broad spectrum introductory sessions, has enabled our new starters to get up to speed far quicker than before and will be a model we continue to use going forward.”