A non-profit charity organisation sought support from FPL Advisory to assist in the formation of a strong, comprehensive government engagement strategy that was effective while considering the bounds of their operational capacity. The charity’s work aligned closely with the FPL Advisory values and due to the demonstrated commitment to the project and implementation as well as the confined project scope and our ability to quickly add value, we progressed the program on a pro-bono basis. The charity sought quick, effective and targeted advice to gain more organisational visibility and to build relationships with key government stakeholders.
Situation
While in the early days of formation, the charity identified a need for higher profile with government stakeholders. Their small but high functioning team, particularly at a senior management and executive level, faced a capacity gap to develop a strategy to engage stakeholders. They sought advice on how to identify and appropriately engage with important government stakeholders and key departments of significance within their space.
Action
After gaining an understanding of the organisation’s background through phone calls with executive team members, FPL identified that they charity was facing substantial opportunity risk. Resources were allocated to a range of activity that was not resulting in the level of desired impact because of a lack of ongoing relationships and awareness of government stakeholders and their priorities. In particular, the charity needed a more strategic and planned approach to government activities including applying for funding, support and policy partnership but lacked the capacity to formulate a plan. We were able to assist the charity in identifying several methods to achieve their strategic goals and how to begin to create strong relationships with government on a state and federal level. This included providing advice on timings for budgetary submissions and identifying key state government stakeholders with whom to begin meaningful engagement as part of an actional government engagement plan.
Resolution
Taking the advice in their stride, the organisation initiated new engagement activity with key government stakeholders that centred on more important and strategic conversations. They continued to identify areas where future communication would be beneficial in order to continue to build organisational profile and develop more meaningly and beneficial relationships with government. They were able to apply the advice in future scenarios and shifted the dial on their engagement program.
FPL Advisory supports clients across many industry sectors to resolve risks, create opportunities and support government engagement.