CASE STUDY
Four stakeholder surveys that shaped Cranfield Trust's next strategy
Online surveys with Cranfield Trust’s stakeholders delivered pro bono through the Small Charity Research Award
At a glance
Challenge
Cranfield Trust provides free management support and mentoring to small and medium-sized charities across the UK, drawing on a network of skilled business volunteers. Developing their next strategy, they needed to understand how the needs of the organisations they serve are changing, where the biggest pressures on the small charity sector are being felt, and where Cranfield Trust could have the greatest impact in the years ahead. Cranfield Trust also wanted input from other stakeholders: funders, volunteers and staff, on the sector’s challenges and needs, and the organisation's strengths, gaps, and future direction.
Cranfield Trust was one of three winners of nfpResearch's Small Charity Research Award, a programme that offers organisations with an income under £1 million the opportunity to receive a research project at no cost. We designed four online surveys, one for each stakeholder audience, around a consistent set of themes: the management and leadership challenges facing small charities, training and development needs, the value and experience of Cranfield Trust's services, and priorities for the future. The surveys drew 368 responses in total: 209 organisational clients, 105 volunteers, 37 funders, and 17 staff members and associates.
Approach
Outcomes
Where the research has been published
Challenge. Understand the pressures on small charities and where Cranfield Trust could have the greatest impact in the years ahead.
Approach. Online surveys with 368 respondents across four stakeholder audiences: clients, funders, volunteers, and staff.
Outcome. Findings informed Cranfield Trust's strategic priorities and were published as sector-wide insight.
The research gave Cranfield Trust a clear evidence base for its next strategy. A consistent message emerged across all stakeholders: charity leaders are balancing rising demand with increasingly challenging fundraising conditions and need development and support that is specialist, accessible, practical and human-centred to navigate the environment they are facing confidently. Beneath that shared concern, different audiences pointed to different secondary pressures: volunteers to strategy and long-term planning; funders to leadership capacity and wellbeing; clients to a spread of pressures felt at once. Cranfield Trust's senior leadership team used the findings to shape their strategic priorities, and published the wider insight into the small charity sector as a report to share back with the sector what the research had surfaced.
Cranfield Trust published the small charity sector findings as a report.
“We are extremely grateful for nfpResearch’s support on this important strategic project. Their expertise enabled us to undertake a complex programme of research across four stakeholder groups, providing rich insights into the needs, challenges and aspirations of the charities we support and our partners. The findings have been instrumental in shaping our future strategy, giving us the evidence and confidence to ensure our services continue to meet the evolving development needs of charities and their leaders across the sector. nfpResearch’s guidance and professionalism were invaluable throughout and it was an absolute pleasure working with them.” [Dan Francis, Chief Executive, Cranfield Trust]