Turning a strategy about engagement into the way a team works

Philanthropy Australia · Strategy Implementation, Facilitation · Philanthropy

Helping Australia's peak body for philanthropy turn a strategy about engagement into the way its team works every day.

The challenge

Philanthropy Australia had set a bold new strategy to inspire more and better giving, and at its heart was a big shift: from “membership” to “engagement”. Members had said loud and clear that they wanted more connection, more collaboration and more say. But in practice, many conversations still started and ended with signing people up. The team needed to understand what engagement really meant, look beyond members to the partners who could help deliver the strategy, and build it into the culture rather than leave it on the page.

What we did

We designed and facilitated a team workshop focused on embedding engagement into Philanthropy Australia's culture. We opened by sharing what members had told us through surveys and interviews, and what the strategy shift really asked of the team. We mapped an engagement journey for non members, from choosing a strategic goal and finding the right partner through to delivering together, with membership as a natural outcome rather than the opening pitch. The team then explored the culture and skills that great engagement needs, drawing on their own best experiences, and tested how well engagement lined up with the organisation's values. Small groups worked through real projects using a team alignment map, and we closed by agreeing how success would be measured and asking each person to make a personal engagement commitment.

The impact

The team left with a shared understanding of what engagement means for Philanthropy Australia, practical ways to bring its values to life, and clear signals of success to track, from member retention and member initiated contact to the number of touch points with each partner.

Deliverables

Workshop design and facilitation

Member insight synthesis

Engagement journey for non members

Culture and skills mindset shifts

Values and engagement alignment

Success measures for an engagement led culture

Case studies

• Monash University: Building resilient communities, and proving it
• Libraries ACT: A new chapter for Canberra's libraries, written with the community
• Bayside City Council: Shifting a whole organisation from outputs to impact
• Cancer Council South Australia: A clear strategy to carry a century of impact forward
• Afford Disability: Three years turning strategy into reality, with people with disability at the centre
• Fire to Flourish: Turning complex ideas into a story people can see
• NDIS providers: Finding where the NDIS opportunity really sits
• Bush Heritage Australia: A clearer digital story for some of the country’s most important landscapes
• Interact Australia: Proving the difference, in a way everyone can answer
• beyondblue: Rethinking workplace wellbeing, one leader's story at a time
• Indigenous Business Australia: An impact framework that helped secure $150 million for self-determination
• City of Greater Dandenong: A people-centred strategy, co-designed by the people who deliver it
• Snap Send Solve: One shared purpose, three pillars and a roadmap to take a homegrown app from local favourite to global platform.
• Cathy Freeman Foundation: A sharper story and a stronger funding base to close the education gap
• Philanthropy Australia: Turning a strategy about engagement into the way a team works
• Collaboration for Impact: Telling the story of systems change
• Orygen: A national youth mental health brand, launched on deadline
• MONA: A ticketing platform built for the arts, not the ferry
• Alannah & Madeline Foundation: Eight websites, one connected story
• The Reject Shop: Getting clear on why it exists and where it wins
• PrimeSafe Victoria: A board and executive, realigned around a clear strategy