Started with staff and stakeholder consultations introducing the concept of enterprise-based revenue diversification and the need to build new income streams, the aim of balancing social mission with commercial return, criteria for evaluating enterprise ideas, and organisational readiness. Then moved through structured research and workshops to convert that thinking into a screened, ready-to-plan portfolio of opportunities.
Started with staff and stakeholder consultations introducing the concept of enterprise-based revenue diversification and the need to build new income streams, the aim of balancing social mission with commercial return, criteria for evaluating enterprise ideas, and organisational readiness. Then moved through structured research and workshops to convert that thinking into a screened, ready-to-plan portfolio of opportunities.
Project
- Staff session introducing the social enterprise / revenue diversification concept including the need to diversify income, balancing social mission with financial return, criteria for evaluating enterprise ideas, organisational readiness, and a portfolio approach to opportunities
- Individual interviews and theme-based roundtables with staff, stakeholders and thought leaders to surface entrepreneurial ideas and identify organisational inhibitors
- Global “leading edge” research identifying innovative revenue-generation and fundraising practices among comparable organisations, spanning youth engagement, technology/information services, corporate partnerships, financial instruments and commercial ventures
- Facilitated one day cross functional workshop with staff and stakeholders to brainstorm, screen and prioritise enterprise ideas against agreed criteria
- Assessment of organisational barriers such as culture and attitudes, strategic concerns, resourcing, legal/regulatory issues paired with recommended initiatives for each
- Development of a two-stage feasibility screening framework so future revenue generation ideas could be evaluated consistently (concept, fit, market, competition, execution, risk, financials)
- Policy and governance recommendations including an internal business-development function evolving into a separate enterprise holding company, with defined board composition and IP/competition policy
- Staffing recommendations such as a profile for the commercial/entrepreneurial leadership role required, with guidance that senior leadership act as interim lead during set-up
- Transition planning guidance drawing on wider sector best practice
Results
The idea-generation phase drew on structured consultation across the organisation, surfacing well over a hundred potential revenue-generating concepts. A cross-functional, multilevel team then applied a consistent set of screening criteria to narrow this pool down to a focused shortlist of twenty priority areas, spanning several strategic categories from new partnership and financial-product models to extensions of existing income streams. Each shortlisted area was assessed on a common scorecard weighing revenue potential, profit potential and development cost, giving leadership a ranked, evidence-based portfolio of opportunities rather than a loose list of suggestions. The result was a disciplined pipeline: raw ideas converted into a small set of comparable, ready-to-evaluate business concepts, positioned to move directly into feasibility analysis and business planning.