Pro Bono O.R. projects with Diabetes UK, The OR Society and Action 4 London

Please find details of three new projects below with Action 4 London, The OR Society and Diabetes UK. 

Action 4 London

Project summary:

Project: Impact 4 London

To aid the organization to:

1. Identify and quantify the potential impact of Action4London’s activities

2. Design methods for measuring quantitative impact of activities

Time commitment: approx. 5 days over 2-3 months, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at their first meeting

Location: London, W1C 1BB. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

A4L supports the most disadvantaged communities in London through the actions of sharing of over 150 volunteers.

Main activities of the organisation: 

Group volunteering, mentoring and self-empowerment courses

The OR Society

Project summary:

Project: Development of an Impact Survey tracking and reporting process and tool: Pro Bono O.R. has been tracking the impacts of charities who have been supported by our volunteers. We now need help to develop a spreadsheet system for capturing and reporting project impacts.

Time commitment: approx. 3-4 days, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at their first meeting.

Location: This project can be carried out remotely. An initial kick off meeting could be held in Birmingham, London or remotely via Skype.

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

Advance knowledge of and interest in Operational Research and to advance education in Operational Research. 

Main activities of the organisation: 

·        Publications

·        Training programme

·        Conferences and events

·        OR in Schools

·        Pro Bono O.R.

Diabetes UK

Project summary:

Project: Delivering an excellent customer experience: Diabetes UK want to improve the way they deal with all supporters. Map current processes, identify problems, design improved processes.

Time commitment: approx. 20 days, although though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at the first meeting.  If possible, it would be useful if the volunteer(s) could commit to a block of work rather than spreading the project out over several months.

This project would be suitable for a pair or team of volunteers.

Location: Whitechapel E1 1FH. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To be experts in the field of diabetes care, treatment and research

Main activities of the organisation: 

We care for, connect with and campaign on behalf of all people affected by and at risk of diabetes, reaching people with diabetes in local communities across the UK.  

If you would like to volunteer on a project but are not able to commit to the full time requirement please let me know as it may be possible to pair you up with another analyst.  

Lastly if you would like to work on a project as part of a pair or with the support of a mentor please indicate on your application and we try to facilitate this. 

I look forward to hearing from you and once again thank you for your help and support.

For further information about the scheme please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Probono  

Pro Bono O.R. video - Charities: get more from your data with Pro Bono O.R.

Operational Research (O.R.) is the science of better decision making and The Operational Research Society runs its Pro Bono O.R. scheme to match up analysts with charities and other third sector organisations to improve their operations - for free!

On a bright sunny morning in February a group of people gathered together in a function room at Southwark Cathedral to make a film to promote Pro Bono O.R.

Making such a film had been something I’d wanted to do for a little while and this was made possible by the arrival of a full-time marketing and communication manager at The OR Society.

Volunteers and third sector organisations who had taken part in the scheme would be invited to come and talk about their experiences of the scheme in an informal, script-free day full of cake, coffee and filming.

A venue was selected, a date picked and the requests sent out and I was overwhelmed with the positive responses, given the relatively short notice. The day started bright an early, setting up the room and equipment at 8am for our first interviewee from Diabetes UK to begin at 9am.  Throughout the day we had 12 interviewees: six representatives from The Childhood Trust, Marie Curie, Dachshund Breed Council, Disability Law Service and Bloodwise; and six volunteers who were able to attend, many of who had worked with the charities that were represented.

Representatives of organisations who received Pro Bono O.R. support talked about impact of the project, and the effect of the volunteer who worked on it. Volunteers talked about what it is like to work for a different kind of organisation, how they used their skills on the projects they worked on and the benefits to volunteering.

For me personally this was a great opportunity to meet with many of the organisations and volunteers whom I normally only have email and phone contact with.  It was fantastic to hear first-hand about the projects and the enthusiasm and positivity that all who involved got out of being involved with the scheme.

There was so much footage one film has now turned into two.  One is aimed at encouraging more organisations to take up the offer of Pro Bono O.R. and the other is to encourage more O.R. analysts to sign up as volunteers.

I am delighted with the outcome and you can now view the 'Organisations: get more from your data' video here.

Find out more at about the scheme here or tweet to Felicity McLeister at ‏@FMcLeister to get the conversation started.

Using scientific approaches to improve an organisation’s effectiveness

“Using scientific approaches to improve an organisation’s effectiveness”

- Pro Bono O.R. (Operational Research)

What is Pro Bono O.R.?


Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme that was launched by The OR Society in 2013 that places volunteer analysts in short term projects with third sector organisations across the UK to assist them in making operational improvements.


Operational Research uses a scientific approach to improve an organisations effectiveness. Areas include: strategy, systems, processes, operations and decision-making.

Benefits of free professional support

Third Sector organisations face extremely complex decisions about the direction they should take and how to allocate scarce resources. These are some of the common issues that organisations we’ve spoken with face:

· ‘We have lots of different options for the future but it’s impossible to decide which to choose in such uncertain times.’

· ‘We’re under huge pressure to do more with less, and we don’t know how we’re going to do it.’

· ‘It’s hard to stay objective when we’re faced with such emotionally charged decisions.’

· ‘We know we’re doing a good job – but how can we prove it?’


Time is always a pressure, especially in the third sector and we are often under pressure to ‘do more with less’. Collating and analysing data, planning strategy, improving processes and measuring impact are all areas that require time and in many cases specialist skills. Pro Bono O.R. can provide the time and the skills.


Don’t just trust us

“I would recommend to other charities looking for consultants to deliver operational projects that they reach out to Pro Bono 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!”                      Head of Fundraising & Strategy

“Pro Bono O.R. developed a resource planning tool that can be used to generate new ideas and ways of working and create a budget plan for 2014/2015 academic year and beyond.”
Chief Executive 

"We are enormously grateful for being able to benefit from the advice and support of such a knowledgeable and experienced professional, who was able to raise challenging issues in a sensitive and helpful way"
Performance manager 

So far…

Since launching in September 2013, Pro Bono O.R. has completed over forty projects and is currently working with a further twenty organisations. We have over 350 volunteers across the UK and these range from retired professionals to analysts in their early career, consultants and others in the O.R./analytics profession who either volunteer in their own time, are given company time or a mixture of both. Ninety of those volunteers have already worked/are working on projects and many more are eager to get involved with helping support third sector organisations.


Here are some of the issues the projects we’ve already completed have addressed:


· Strategic planning/review

· Impact measurement

· Process improvement

· Data analysis

· Business planning

· Efficiency improvement

· Options appraisal

· Decision making

· scheduling


To see all the projects we’ve work on and read the case studies please visit: Case studies


What next?


For further information about O.R. and the ways in which is can help please read: O.R. and the Third Sector

For more information about the scheme, to see case studies and to request support, please visit the webpage.

Diabetes UK: Supporter care and process improvement #ProBonoOR

A team of volunteers from Thales recently finish a project with Diabetes UK. The project has been summarised in this case study slide below.  To see this and further case studies Pro Bono O.R. has completed please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/casestudies.aspx

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

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

What is Pro Bono O.R.?

Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme that was launched by The OR Society in 2013 (a pilot scheme started in 2011) that places skills-based volunteers in short term projects with third sector organisations across the UK to assist them in making operational improvements.


Operational Research in a nut shell helps managers make more effective decisions. It is a very broad spectrum and there is usually a way in which it can be applied whether that is increasing efficiency, helping to reduce costs, plan strategy or demonstrate impact.

Since launching in September 2013 the scheme has completed 35 projects with organisations such as RSPCA, Diabetes UK, Work for Us, Elfrida Rathbone Cambden, The Disability Law Service, Parentskool CIC and many more. We work with all types of third sector organisations ranging from large national organisations down to small community groups. We are currently working on 20 projects and have a further 15 in the initial interest stages.

Volunteers are operational research/analytical professionals. These vary from people in their early career to those who are retired. Some work on projects in their own time, others are given volunteer days by their company and some do a mixture of both. Volunteers can work as individuals, pairs or teams on projects.
Pro Bono O.R. volunteers can make a huge difference in a small amount of time by using their skills to enable organisation to make more effective decisions and as a result help them become more efficient.

Projects vary greatly and as a result so do the skills we are looking for in our volunteer analysts. Skills  include: data analysis, data mining, database design, decision analysis, facilitation, financial analysis, forecasting, logistics, mentoring/coaching, modelling, optimisation, performance measurement, problem structuring, programming, project management, regression, risk analysis, scheduling, simulation, statistical analysis, strategic planning/development, system dynamics etc.

The projects vary in length of time from half a day to over a week and can be spread out over a period of time. The types of projects so far have involved: impact measurement, data analysis, efficiency improvement, options appraisal, strategic planning/review, scheduling and process improvement.

Signing up as a volunteer does not require any commitment, volunteers are added to the volunteers database and then receive emails as and when projects become available. Volunteers can then choose to delete the email (which are currently around 4 per month) or if they would like to apply for a project, volunteers are asked to send in a CV and short application form. Volunteers can work individually, as teams and can also be paired up with a mentor if they require some support.


New projects are advertised every month and volunteer applications must be received by a specific date (typically two weeks after the project is advertised) but the timings of the projects are flexible and to be agreed between the volunteer and the organisation.

For more information about the scheme, to sign up as a volunteer, register you support to receive Pro Bono O.R. support and to see the projects we have worked on so far please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx

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