OR in the 3rd sector – where from; where to; where next?

Ruth Kaufman FORS

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Purpose of talk

Share what’s been going on• Because it’s interesting• Because you might want to get involved• Synergy/cross-fertilisation

I’m going to cover

• What is ORiTS?

• Relationship with Community O.R,

• Progress + experience

• How to get involved

O.R. in the 3rd sector: Aims

Improve O.R

visibility and

impact

Help charities do a better job

Help charity beneficiaries

Promote O.R. in 3rd sector

Provide brokerage

service

Support practitioners in

3rd sectorEnlarge skills

pool

ORiTS

Two components (so far)

Pro bono scheme

Special Interest Group

Relationship with COR

O.R. in 3rd sector

Community O.R.

How they differ

Community O.R. O.R. in 3rd sector

Community + Charities, social enterprises, campaigns, …

How they differ

Community O.R. O.R. in 3rd sector

Community + Charities, social enterprises, campaigns, …

Strengthen civil society; support self-organisation; improve well-being

Address problems presented by organisation

How they differ

Community O.R. O.R. in 3rd sector

Community + Charities, social enterprises, campaigns, …

Strengthen civil society; support self-organisation; improve well-being

Address problems presented by organisation

Want to build body of research and guidance

Want to build track record of successful applications

How they are alikeCommunity O.R. O.R. in 3rd sector

Community + Charities, social enterprises, campaigns, …

Strengthen civil society; support self-organisation; improve well-being

Interventions: solve problems

Want to build body of research and guidance

Want to build track record of successful applications

Mainly concerned with ‘improving the world’ via independent not for profit routes

Special Interest Group

• help OR analysts working or planning to work in third sector organisations to do a better job

• promote to OR analysts the opportunity to practise in a wider arena.

Speakers: O.R. volunteers; O.R. consultants; third sector organisations; …

www.theorsociety.com/Pages/SpecialInterest/ORThirdSector.aspx

Pro Bono scheme

• To help 3rd sector organisations

• To promote OR in the third sector

• To give OR analysts new opportunities

What’s on offer?

• Broadest possible definition of O.R.– Whatever it takes to help you deal with your

organisational problem– As long as it is a non-trivial problem– And would not be better served by somebody with

specific expertise• Somebody from ‘the O.R. community’

To whom?

• Any 3rd sector organisation…

• …that can inspire an analyst to want to give their time for free

Matching projects and volunteersVia

Reach Volunteers

ViaCranfield Trust

Direct

Organisations so far…African Prisons project

World Owl Trust

Mankind

Community Network

Reach Volunteers

Myton Hospice

CLIC Sargent

Kaleidoscope Enterprise Limited

Settle Stories

Joint Epilepsy Council

Pontypridd YMCA

RNLI

Crimestoppers

ViaReach Volunteers

ViaCranfield Trust

Direct

Not all ORS members…African Prisons project

World Owl Trust y

Mankind  

Community Network y

Reach Volunteers y

Myton Hospice y

CLIC Sargent  

Kaleidoscope Enterprise Limited y

Settle Stories  

Joint Epilepsy Council y

Pontypridd YMCA y

RNLI y

Crimestoppers y

ViaReach Volunteers

ViaCranfield Trust

Direct

Mainly direct service organisationsAfrican Prisons project service, research, education

World Owl Trust service, education

Mankind service

Community Network social enterprise

Reach Volunteers infrastructure

Myton Hospice service

CLIC Sargent service

Kaleidoscope Enterprise Limited service

Settle Stories service

Joint Epilepsy Council infrastructure

Pontypridd YMCA service

RNLI service

Crimestoppers service

Of various sizesAfrican Prisons project £100k Africa, 20; UK 0

London, Kenya, Uganda

World Owl Trust £200k 9 national +Mankind £200k localCommunity Network £300k 13 nationalReach Volunteers £400k 8 nationalMyton Hospice £8mn 250 localCLIC Sargent £25mn 350 nationalKaleidoscope Enterprise Limited ~ 2 localSettle Stories ~ 1 localJoint Epilepsy Council £80k 1 nationalPontypridd YMCA £100k 4 localRNLI £160mn 1600 nationalCrimestoppers £4mn 84 national

£

BeneficiariesAfrican Prisons project Detainees in Africa

World Owl Trust Owls

Mankind Men who’ve experienced sexual assault

Community Network Various

Reach Volunteers Registered Charities

Myton Hospice People needing end of life care

CLIC Sargent Children and young people with cancer

Kaleidoscope Enterprise Ethnic minority individuals +communities

Settle Stories The public

Joint Epilepsy Council Epilepsy charities

Pontypridd YMCA Local users

RNLI Seafarers

Crimestoppers The public

Nature of projectsAfrican Prisons project Develop plan to extend work

World Owl Trust How to deal with financial challenges

Mankind Help develop new 5-year plan

Community Network Articulate strategy; use data to understand business

Reach Volunteers Process improvement

Myton Hospice Develop KPIs; develop systems to provide them

CLIC Sargent Analysis, problem-structuring and options appraisal

Kaleidoscope Enterprise What to do given financial and people challenges

Settle Stories What to do next?

Joint Epilepsy Council Strategic response to financial +membership challenges

Pontypridd YMCA Help develop a business plan

RNLI Support in-house O.R. team

Crimestoppers Call centre simulation to optimise staff rosters

Nature of projects - summary

• One ‘hard’ project • Several ‘semi-hard’• Most: – strategy/business planning in difficult

circumstances– mainly ‘soft’– done by confident analysts with ‘O.R. mindset’

Feedback (1) Partners + clientsReach, Cranfield Trust

Clients

Delighted to have this partnership

Consultants approached the issues from a holistic point of view and honed in on key issues. Very thorough and professional . Some very useful new ideas which we will explore

We’ve benefited hugely from your work and support in all areas of the project, and from an organisational perspective you’ve enabled us to

take a highly professional approach to increasing our efficiency

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Feedback (2) Volunteers

My volunteering experience helped with my competencies; it helped me plan and

deliver strong relationships with stakeholders and has given me additional confidence in my ability to do a lot more

Being a volunteer enabled me to try tools and techniques without feeling too nervous about whether they would work or not. I developed my expertise in soft OR techniques

Overall, so far

• Have succeeded in establishing a SIG – reasonably active!

• Have succeeded in establishing a pro bono scheme – pilot, at least

• Have identified enthusiastic users

Next steps

O.R. pro bono • To grow or not to grow?• Publicise?• Target?• Learn?SIG• How do we sustain it?

How you can get involved

O.R. pro bono • Write to Gavin.Blackett@theorsociety.com to register your interest (head

your email ‘OR in the 3rd Sector’) • Register with Reach, watch out for O.R. roles www.reachskills.org.uk• Write to Cranfield Trust: vanessa.longman@cranfieldtrust.org

SIG• Add your name to the mailing list to keep in touch: http://

www.theorsociety.com/Pages/SpecialInterest/ORThirdSector_contact.aspx• Come to the meetings• Join the committee

If you are already working with the 3rd sector, we’d love to hear from you

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