Project Overview
When a long-standing community charity underwent a major transition, its frontline service remained strong, but the organisational structure needed to support it into the future were unclear.
We were engaged to help the charity transition into an independent, fully functioning non-profit. That meant first understanding what was already in place, recovering and organising key organisational assets, and then building the governance, technology and strategic foundations needed for its next chapter.
Over the following months, we helped establish a new Board, strengthen operational and digital systems, clarify roles and responsibilities, and bring stakeholders together to create a three-year strategic plan.
Impact
Better positioned for funding
The organisational structure, governance and public presence needed to support future funding opportunities.
01
Secure and sustainable
Critical digital and physical assets identified, access and systems clarified, and essential infrastructure brought together without disrupting frontline services.
02
Stronger governance
A new Board of Directors, clearer governance and management responsibilities, and updated constitutional structures.
03
A clear direction for the future
A 3-year Strategic Plan to guide priorities, decision-making and growth, published as a living document.
Secure & sustainable
We began with a comprehensive operational audit to locate scattered digital accounts, domain access, M365 file systems, and physical assets across the state. This initial phase established password governance, secured sensitive client data, and laid the groundwork for an independent IT infrastructure.
Transitioning into an independent organisation also meant untangling legacy systems and putting the right infrastructure in place to support day-to-day operations.
- Technology & digital environment: Reorganising and securing the Microsoft 365 environment to support collaboration and the safe management of client information.
- Recovering critical assets: Tracking down and recovering access to website and social media accounts, working through outdated supplier arrangements and legacy accounts that had become difficult to access or transfer.
- Financial & operational access: Recovering access to defunct bank accounts and other essential organisational accounts, ensuring the organisation could take control of the assets and systems it needed to operate independently.
- Workplace frameworks: Supporting the development of work plans, role descriptions and operational processes suited to a small community organisation.
Stronger governance
To anchor the charity’s long-term sustainability with strong organisational structure, we led the legal verification and setup of a new Board of Directors.
We first worked backward through historical meeting minutes to reconstruct the official membership registry and verify the current Constitution with ASIC, updating it in collaboration with the CEO where required.
With legal standing secured, we created a custom skills matrix to avoid common governance traps like board-stacking or relying solely on single-domain experts.
Using this matrix, we publicly advertised and recruited an independent Board Chair and skilled board members, establishing explicit role definitions to draw clear boundaries between board oversight and day-to-day executive management.
A clear direction for the future
We designed and facilitated a full-day strategic planning workshop, bringing together board members, executive leadership, and key community stakeholders.
This collaborative process defined the charity’s core priorities through 2027, resulting in a published, living strategic plan.
Today, the charity and the new CEO have established secure and compliant foundations and are ready for growth.