Invitation to tender

Succession planning and organisational sustainability

Introduction and Overview

Forever Manchester is the only charity that raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester. Since 1989 when we were established, over £67 million has been delivered into local communities. All the money raised for Forever Manchester is used to fund and support over 1,300 community projects each year.  This means that Forever Manchester has supported community activity within one mile of your home or work if it is within Greater Manchester.  Forever Manchester brings local people together to create something special.

As outlined in our strategic plan Forever Manchester is built on the compassion and expertise of our staff, trustees and volunteers so it is important that all employees feel valued and engaged in meaningful and exciting work; our service and delivery culture work around the principles of Asset Based Community Development, ensuring that we use the talents and assets that we already have to achieve our ambitions.

We are seeking proposals from suitably experienced consultants to undertake an important project aimed at ensuring the medium to long-term sustainability of this vital charity and its  subsidiary Forever Consulting*. This project will work with the Chief Executive, the Senior Management Team and the Board of Trustees  to develop and implement succession plans to support the organisation into the future. This will require a thorough understanding of the organisational culture to ensure all that is amazing about Forever Manchester is retained.

*Forever Consulting is a social enterprise providing social and economic research and consultancy services with all profits going to Forever Manchester

Scope of Work

(Note: these are assumptions based on work to date, while understanding that the selected partner might have other suggestions)

 Phase 1: Initiation

• Presentation from Senior Management Team on existing organisational structure, processes and procedures.
• Meet with Chief Executive to build a positive relationship for the course of this programme, and to develop a supportive plan for the future.
• Conduct meetings and stakeholder consultations (including staff and board members)

Please note that we anticipate this work being undertaken in person in the Manchester office.

Phase 2: Review, analysis and recommendations 

Primary:

• Develop a sustainability strategy and provide recommendations for the activities required to ensure a smooth transition of leadership and the sustainability of Forever Manchester into the future.
• Create a report for the Board of the organisation structure which identifies any areas for improvement that will support the team in their implementation of succession plans.
• Review job spec for the Chief Executive role.

Note. We are keen to use the opportunity of the sustainability research findings and the expertise of the selected partner to ‘sense check’ related processes within the organisation, such as  of:

• HR and people processes
• Organisational culture
• Staff recruitment, training and development processes
• Staff happiness and wellbeing levels
• Data capture and monitoring/evaluation of above.

Proposal submission

Interested parties should submit any questions about the tender or requests for further information by email by September 13^th 2024.

Proposals should be submitted to claire@onthelevelconsultancy.com. They should be PDF documents of no more than four (4) sides of A4 by 27th September 2024 and should  include:

• An overview of the approach and methodology.
• Experience and qualifications of the team.
• Detailed timeline and milestones – we are keen to complete this project as soon as realistically possible. We welcome your views and will consider your recommended timeline as part of your proposal.
• Budget breakdown – proposals should include a detailed budget, individually itemising all aspects of the project from initiation to reporting.
• Examples of similar projects undertaken.

Please note that it is extremely important to the Board that the Chief Executive is involved in this process and is supportive of it because he brings considerable knowledge and experience of how this charity and the wider Community Foundation sector work. Please be clear on how you would ensure a positive working relationship in this regard.

Shortlisted proposals will be invited to present to the project team on 8^th October 2024.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

• Understanding of the project objectives
• Quality and feasibility of the proposed approach
• Relevant experience
• Cost-effectiveness, particularly considering that Forever Manchester is a charity.
• Past performance and references
• Cultural fit with the Chief Executive, Board, Staff and other relevant stakeholders.

Submission information

For further information or to submit proposals, please contact Claire Ebrey, Trustee & Board Member – claire@onthelevelconsultancy.com.

Terms and Conditions

• We will ask you to sign a contract and an NDA
• Payment terms will be agreed upon contracting.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and working together to ensure the future success of our wonderful charity.