Spring Impact Spring Impact

Social Impact at Scale

Spring Impact Spring Impact

Scale Accelerator Women's Empowerment

Expert Consultancy

2 years of fully-funded, tailored consultancy for a select group of locally-based NGOs in Southern Africa working on issues related to women's empowerment.

"This isn't something you just do and forget about. It's something we will forever and ever build on to make us permanently better" (Scale Accelerator participant, 2019)

Do you have a solution to a social issue that you know works? Perhaps you’ve been wanting to work with the government to scale, or explored other partnerships, but it’s all proving really tough?

Expert Consultancy offers free, tailored consultancy for a select group of locally-led NGOs in southern Africa – including Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – who are working on issues related to women’s empowerment.

This Scale Accelerator programme route will help you work out how to reach more people sustainably (without necessarily needing to grow your organisation!). Our team of scaling consultants and experts based in the region will work collaboratively with you, providing hands-on technical assistance. By taking part, you will:

  • Build a scale strategy, a financial model for scale, and the systems and processes required to scale up
  • Develop the know-how, confidence, and frameworks needed for scale
  • Gain a critical friend in Spring Impact to support you along the way

The programme will commence in February 2023, taking place over 2 years.

Applications are now closed

Register your interest

Complete the form to stay informed of the latest news and developments

Click here
“

People get personal trainers to keep them honest. Spring Impact was like our personal trainer for scaling.

”
StrongMinds, 2021

Programme details

Location

The cohort will consist of NGOs, CSOs, and coalitions of organisations working in Southern Africa. We are particularly focused on the following countries: Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The workshops and support will be delivered through a mix of online and in-person visits, with our consultancy team working alongside you to get to grips with your solution, context, and organisation.

Duration

The programme will commence in February 2023, and will take place over 2 years.

 

Expertise

Our team is composed of specialised scaling consultants, with expertise in multiple forms of replication, including scaling with government, working in partnership with other NGOs addressing a common goal, facilitating community adoption, and more.

To ensure our support is rooted in a true understanding of the context you are working in, we are delivering the programme in partnership with associates and advisors with local knowledge and experience.

Time Commitment

We tailor our support to the needs of each organisation so it can look quite different from organisation to organisation.

At least 3 – 4 team members including leadership will be expected to engage with the consultancy throughout the duration of the programme.

What you'll leave with

"We lacked a solid understanding of the details of replication. We have learned a huge amount through this process, and I now feel confident in implementing our plan." (Reclaim, 2020)

Robust strategy and actionable plans

  • An ambitious strategy for scale that we know works in reality and creates impact and value for all stakeholders at scale
  • A detailed model for scale which maps out how you will achieve your scale strategy in the real-world

Financial sustainability at scale

  • A well-defined financial model showcasing the costs and income associated with delivering your scale model 
  • An opportunity to think critically about who might pay for your solution at scale, whether government, corporate partnerships, foundations, INGOs, as well as a strong case to bring to funders and potential partners

Upskilled leadership and wider teams 

  • You will develop a strong knowledge of our scaling methodology, and gain practical skills and knowledge to apply this within your organisation
  • You will upskill your wider team within this methodology, so that they can use the principles and tools learned in their work, in other projects, in their future careers in the sector. 
  • You will have the opportunity to learn from other organisations on a similar journey

The mindsets, knowledge, and tools needed for scale 

  • An impact-driven mindset, focused on long-term outcomes, rather than short-term project outputs 
  • A detailed understanding of the processes, mindsets, and capabilities needed to accelerate the journey to scale in a sustainable way
  • An in depth knowledge of how to scale in partnership with others, reaching new locations otherwise unreachable, and making use of partners’ competencies, skills, and technologies

Applications are now closed

Register your interest

Complete the form to stay informed of the latest news

Click here

Is it for you?

  • Are you an established NGO delivering a solution (programme, service, intervention, or other initiative) supporting women’s empowerment? Examples include, but are not limited to: financial inclusion, business/enterprise skills, sustainable livelihoods, women and girls education, political participation, violence against women and girls, and more. For more info, read our definition in the FAQs below.
  • Is your team excited to take your solution to more people and more places?
  • Do you have at least 3 – 4 team members including leadership available to engage with ongoing consultancy throughout the programme?
  • Has your solution been running for more than 2 years?
  • Is your NGO locally-led with an office in the country where your solution is delivered?

If you answered yes to the questions above, you could be eligible for Expert Consultancy.

Not sure? Why not check out:

Leaders of Scale

Find out if this route is a better fit

What does the programme involve?

Expert Consultancy

Tailored support

Organisations will receive bespoke support from a dedicated team of consultants (meet them here!) and experts based in the region. Your consultants will work collaboratively with you, providing you with the structure, frameworks, and processes needed to make the scaling process achievable and a whole lot easier.

We’ll walk the journey to scale together with you, aiming to really get to grips with your solution, context, and organisation.

“It genuinely felt like we were collaborating in partnership with the consultants. The consultants brought expertise around scaling and systems.” – (Scale Accelerator participant, 2019) 

Programme stages

The programme will take you through the following stages of our methodology:

Stage 1: Strategy Incubator – organisations will develop a foundational strategy for scale, identifying who they need to partner with and what needs to be in place to scale up. You will begin to test whether your solution can achieve scale in the real world, using lean innovation principles.

Stage 2: Model Accelerator – organisations will be supported to develop a model for scaling the impact of their solution and a financial model to demonstrate financial sustainability. The models will continue to be thoroughly tested in the real-world, using lean innovation principles.

The programme will take place over 2  years with one organisation receiving additional consultancy support to explore how to implement, test, and iterate the scale model designed in stage 2 and begin the scale up journey.

Learning together

Up-skilled teams

The programme includes learnings, tools, and frameworks transferable to other areas of your work, and applicable to your wider organisation.

We will provide technical assistance and train-the-trainer support to ensure your wider team is upskilled in key scaling methodologies.

“Spring Impact brings a framework to help break down very big issues and challenges into manageable components.” (StrongMinds, 2021)

Valuable connections

Become part of our prestigious cohort of Scale Accelerator alumni and you will: 

  • Receive exclusive invitations to free training sessions
  • Meet and learn from organisations on a similar journey
  • Gain networks of like-minded teams who want to achieve a greater impact on issues related to women’s empowerment

“It was very useful to have the chance to meet other organisations that were at different points of scaling.” – (Scale Accelerator participant, 2020)

FAQs

What is the time commitment?

We tailor our support to the needs of each organisation so it can look quite different from organisation to organisation. However, as an indication, the time required from you might look something like the following

For the 2 year duration of the programme, at least 3 – 4 members of your organisation’s leadership team will need to allocate a minimum of 1 day a month to:

  • Take part in bespoke, collaborative workshops with your Spring Impact consultancy team both in person and online
  • Attend regular check-in conversations
  • Become upskilled in Spring Impact’s scaling methodology
  • Spend time testing and innovating your solution and scale model
  • A nominated project lead will need to allocate up to 1 day a week for the duration of the programme.

What do we mean by 'women's empowerment'?

We define women’s empowerment solutions as those that support women and girls to enhance their power, voice, skills and opportunities in the economy, at home, and in their community.

NGOs addressing issues related to the economic, cultural, or social  empowerment of women are eligible to apply. Examples include, but are not limited to: financial inclusion, business/enterprise skills, sustainable livelihoods, women and girls education, political participation, violence against women and girls, and more.

Organisations do not need to be led by women and solutions that work with both men and women to challenge attitudes and behaviours are eligible to apply.

What do you mean by 'scaling impact'?

At Spring, we recognise that ‘scale’ can be a buzzword that’s talked about in different contexts but often not understood or practically defined. To us, scaling is about increasing social impact to better match the size of the problems that exist in society. This way, if your team is scaling a solution, you are dramatically expanding its impact in a way that is operationally and financially sustainable.

This programme will focus on replication as a method of scaling impact – simply meaning taking your existing solution and setting it up in new locations. This may involve approaches such as scaling with government, working in partnership with other organisations addressing a common goal or upskilling key implementers to deliver a solution.

Is there any cost to the programme?

This programme is fully-funded so there will be no cost for organisations to pay if selected to take part. Therefore both routes, Expert Consultancy and Leaders of Scale, are free. However, in return selected organisations are expected to engage fully with the programme including ensuring the buy-in of their wider internal team and other key stakeholders. You can read more about the time commitment in the question below.

Where will the programme take place?

NGOs, CSOs and coalitions of organisations working in the southern African countries of Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are eligible to apply for the programme. The Expert Consultancy will be delivered through a combination of:

  • In person workshops and meetings at the office (or a nearby location) of the selected organisations
  • Online workshops and meetings hosted using Zoom.

I'm a funder, how can I support the programme?

People investing in social change play a vital role in ensuring great solutions can meet the size of the problems. If you’re interested in finding out more about how this programme could support your grantees, how you could provide direct support to the organisations taking part or just want to know more.

Reach out to our Head of Programmes, Hannah, on [email protected].

Not sure? Why not check out Scale Accelerator:

Leaders of Scale

A 6 month programme equipping you with the know-how and confidence to be in the driving seat of your organisation's journey to reaching more people.
Leaders of Scale

GETTING SCALE READY

This practical training programme helps leaders ensure solutions are scalable, impactful and sustainable. It equips you with the tools, mindsets and structures to overcome the most common barriers to scale and create a plan to get your organisation ready.
Register your interest

Case Studies

Our expertise

Previous Spring Impact clients

Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy
Village Enterprise equips rural communities in Africa with resources to create sustainable businesses and new business activities which promote environmental best practices. Through this, they strive to end extreme poverty in rural Africa.
Expert Consultancy
A U.S nonprofit & Kenyan NGO that aims to alleviate poverty and build resiliency in the drylands of Africa.  To date, the BOMA project has impacted +44, 000 woman and children.
Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy

Silulo Ulutho Technologies have a social mission centred on bridging the digital divide through providing ICT services that are geographically and economically accessible. The organisation already have twenty six branches located in deprived areas of the Eastern and Western Capes of South Africa. Each café can serve 200-300 clients a day and Silulo have already trained over 12,000 students.

Silulo Ulutho Technologies was a participant in a South African Scale Accelerator programme we delivered in conjunction with The Rockefeller Foundation, Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Cape Town University and Franchising Plus.

Expert Consultancy

Marie Stopes International (MSI) is one of the largest international family planning organisations in the world. Millions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable women trust Marie Stopes International to provide them with quality family planning and reproductive healthcare.

We work with MSI in Zambia on their Diva Centres initiative which is a human centred design approach to encouraging adolescents to access sexual health services. We are helping MSI to think about how this programme can be scaled and made sustainable.

Expert Consultancy

BeadforLife provide business training, programmes and support that enables women in Uganda who live in extreme poverty to become self-sustaining entrepreneurs thus, improving their livelihoods and well-being. One example is the Beading programme where fashionable fairtrade products are created in conjunction with business concepts such as accounting and quality control being taught.  We have worked with Bead for Life since August 2015 with the purpose of helping the organisation assess feasibility, develop a scale strategy and design a model for replicating their Street Business School (SBS), a programme that supports women to develop their capacity and business skills.

   
Expert Consultancy

The African Development Bank (AfDB) aims to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries, thus contributing to poverty reduction. AfDB funded a series of workshops, facilitated by the Social Fund for Development in Egypt, in which we participated by introducing social and micro franchising to the Egyptian market.

Through events and workshops, we discussed case studies, illustrated best practices, outlined financing mechanisms and drove awareness about the benefits of social and micro franchising to the country’s key stakeholders in large micro finance institutions (MFIs), corporations and NGOs.

Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy

RECLAIM is a social change organisation that challenges the homogeneity that exists in the leadership profiles across UK society and supports youths and the working class people.

 
Expert Consultancy
Expert Consultancy
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