Catalyst x Capacity Weeknotes (22–26 March) — Development programme: it’s a wrap!
This week we celebrated the journey of our second Development cohort — 19 charities (and some of their digital partners) getting together to showcase and share how far they’ve reached in the last 10 weeks — and it was epic!
No doubt we all felt pretty exhausted and a bit cross-eyed by the end of the three-and-a-half hour Zoom event… yet as we wrapped up, the ‘room’ was buzzing with energy, excitement and shared admiration for all the work that has been accomplished in the space of only a few weeks. And if you don’t believe it, ask the llamas (that’s right, courtesy of my good colleague David, who did a brilliant job of facilitating the marathon session).
In just 10 weeks, project teams have created accessibility toolkits, e-learning & e-commerce platforms, online therapy solutions using music & Minecraft, timesaving back-ends, engaging content for their audiences, carefully mapped volunteer and user journeys… They also developed whole new organisational approaches to digital — embracing what can be real cultural shifts in ways of working.
There are still a few weeks to go until the actual programme deadline (end of April), so look out for more Catalyst comms about all the inspiring projects and outputs. In total the development programme will have supported 29 nonprofits to advance their development projects. David wrote about our first Development cohort wrap up back in February.
Alongside the playback presentations, we used the easy retro online tool to briefly capture reflections from participants around: what they have learned (eg a new skill), what they will take into future work, what they liked and what they lacked during the Development programme. Given the number of presentations, time was very tight, and we’re counting on the end-of-programme survey to capture more granular feedback. Until then, here’s a few things that came up:
Getting comfortable with tech jargon
I’ve been so impressed with the level of technical fluency today from everyone — (CAST/Catalyst team member)
Grantees themselves reported that throughout the programme, they got more comfortable and fluent with tech terminology, and this was clearly noticeable during the wrap up event. Charities talked about their digital, design and data solutions with confidence and clarity. This is great, as it means organisations will be in a better position to engage with questions and needs around digital transformation.
Working in the open was new and challenging, yet rewarding and lasting
Thanks to guidance and support from the OWLs, programme participants were able to work in the open and share reflections, learnings and outputs from their journeys. As a practice, this can help on many levels, and the key is to adapt the message, format and content to your target audience. This could be colleagues, senior leadership, other organisations in your network, funders, users etc.
All the weeknotes and blog posts shared by the grantees and the digital partners have been a great way to follow the work that was being carried out. It has really inspired many across the Catalyst network.
Would love to see the OWLs return on future projects — it’s been a really effective initiative! — (digital partner)
The programmes have been an opportunity to offer and test some of the rationale, infrastructure and guidance related to Reuse. So we’re thrilled that participants said there was so much to learn from other pieces of work, and that working in the open was something they wanted to take into future work.
Building on that we’ll continue to explore how we might better promote practices and mindsets which embrace and facilitate Reuse, and consider the longer-term sustainability of digital solutions.
Trusting the process
Yes! We are aware that a lot was being asked from grantees and digital partners in the space of a few weeks. And the broader context around Covid-19 does not make things any easier, with personal and professional challenges thrown into the mix. So a big thank you to participants for trusting the process, embracing the new ways of working, and fully delivering.
This has been very inspiring and can’t wait to see the results of all your projects — lots to learn from! — (Development grantee)
It’s mostly about the people
After all is said and done, what really emerges is that all of this work would simply not have happened without the people behind it: the nonprofits striving to deliver better services to their communities and adapting to the contextual changes; and the digital partners who put their skills and expertise at the service of the civil society sector. Also the Catalyst collaborators supporting the journey. A great bunch of people.
We know that it does not end there and that organisations will need to keep finding ways of sustaining their work and maintaining its relevance. As Catalyst we are also exploring how to continue supporting the sector and our network. This is part of a bigger conversation which also concerns other stakeholders, including funders. It’s an iterative, continuous, collaborative improvement process.
Speaking of people — I’m so looking forward to meeting the team in person for the first time next week! a powerful reminder that so much of this good work is being delivered by people around the country working remotely with ingenious or makeshift setups.
On a less cheerful note this week, we had a small virtual party for the one and only Molly who is sadly leaving us — but as the French say, this is an au-revoir but not an adieu!
