Great feedback from Diabetes UK

A team of volunteers has recently finish a project with Diabetes UK (case study slide to follow shortly).

This is what Diabetes UK had to say at the end of the project:

'I would recommend to other charities looking for consultants to deliver operational projects that they reach out to O.R. in the first instance – securing first class consultants/volunteers who will deliver a project for free is something that no charity should overlook!'

Here's what the had to say about the volunteers:

'The team were able to pull out the key issues that were causing delays/duplication within our processes and systems and make a wide range of recommendations for us to deliver on. They were really easy to communicate with and took on board feedback from us at various stages and were dedicated to helping us achieve our goals.'

This is what they said about the difference it would make:

'We now have a raft of recommendations to deliver that will help us reduce inefficiencies in our processes. It has also highlighted areas for us to spend more time evaluating and we will now take them forward. Ultimately, this work will help us provide a better standard of supporter care to all donors across the charity.'

All the Pro Bono O.R. volunteers are doing a great job and making a significant difference.

To find out more and to see how to get involved, please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx

Impact measurement news (workshop, blog and tweet chat)

Impact measurement Impact measurement is a big talking point at the moment.  I've come across a workshop and a blog that may be of interest to you.  Additionally Pro Bono O.R. will be taking part in a tweet chat on this topic. Workshop: Methods for Change are holding a workshop on Monday 9th November from 1:45pm -4:45pm which will focus on how to use questionnaires for impact evaluation.  The details can be found here. Blog: The National Institute of Economic and Social Research published a blog: 'Evaluating impact in the social sector: a practical perspective' which may be of interest. Pro Bono O.R. have also been invited to participate in Charity Hour on Wednesday 21st October from 8-9pm.  The topic of the tweet chat will be 'Impact Measurement.' The tweet chat is hosted by @CharityHourUK and you can join the tweet chat by using the hashtag #charityhour.  All input would be appreciated from both Pro Bono O.R. volunteers and charity leaders who have experience in this area. The latest Pro Bono O.R. newsletter will be out shortly.  It's been an incredibly busy and successful year for Pro Bono O.R. so I look forward to sharing the news with you. If you would like to receive Pro Bono support or sign up as a Pro Bono O.R. volunteer please visit the website. Thank you for all your support of the scheme. Felicity McLeister Pro Bono O.R. Project Manager

Pro Bono O.R.'s experience with #charityhour #ORblog

Charity Hour write up

On Wednesday 15^th April #ProBonoOR was invited to participate in #charityhour which takes place every Wednesday from 8-9pm.

Over the course of the hour the #charityhour coordinator, Tahera Mayat, posed these 5 questions to the audience:

• What role does Pro bono consultancy have to play in the Third Sector?
• What's your experience of using pro bono consultancy?
• What tips do you have for others considering using pro bono consultancy?
• What type of projects benefit most from pro bono consultancy?
• Big data is a big thing! What tips do you have for getting insights from your data?

There was great discussion and I must say I was following notifications on my phone and computer to keep up with all of the conversations happening.  It was very fast paced but very rewarding and a fantastic experience that I would love to be involved in again.  #charityhour is a great way to get charities talking about things that are important to them and a great place to make new connections.

These are a selection of tweets I sent out during the hour:

• The purpose of O.R. is to enable managers to make more effective decisions #charityhour
• #ProBonoOR can address a wide range of operational improvements #charityhour
• O.R. can address many issues inc: Strategic planning/review, Impact measurement, Process improvement, Data analysis #charityhour
• O.R. can address many issues inc: Business planning, Efficiency improvement, Options appraisal, Decision making #charityhour
• 3rd sec orgs have even greater need to improve efficiency & effectiveness #ProBonoOR can address this #chariythour
• Vol feedback: Being a #ProBonoOR vol is a great way to contribute some professional expertise to some truly worthwhile causes #charityhour
•  For more information on #ProBonoOR please visit http://ow.ly/LE90S  #charityhour
•  To see how #ProBonoOR could help your charity, check out all the projects we have completed so far http://ow.ly/KMJFM
• Org feedback: from an org perspective it's enabled us to take a highly professional approach to increasing our efficiency #charityhour

To get involved in #charityhour just attach the hashtag #charityhour to your tweets and then follow the discussion by searching for the hashtag in the search bar on your twitter account.  This will then display all the tweets containing the hashtag.

#charityhour takes place each Wednesday from 8-9pm and has a different topic each time.  Follow them at @CharityHourUK to learn more.

For more information on Pro Bono O.R. please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx

#CharityHour Pro Bono O.R. tweet chat Wednesday 15th April 8-9pm (GMT)

Join @CharityHourUK using the hashtag #charityhour for a tweet chat on Wednesday 15th April from 8-9pm (GMT) 

We will be exploring the following questions:

• What role does pro bono consultancy have to play in the Third Sector?
• What's your experience of using pro bono consultancy?
• What tips do you have for others considering using pro bono consultancy?
• What type of projects benefit most from pro bono consultancy?
• Big data is a big thing! What tips do you have for getting insights from your data?
• What is Operational Research and how can it be used to help the Charities?

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for your support!