Supporting a significant strategic pivot for Lifes2good Foundation

The Context

The Lifes2good Foundation is a family foundation that, since 2018, has been supporting innovative and impactful projects that made a real difference in Ireland and internationally.

In its first five years, Lifes2good Foundation had a strategic focus on improving lives of women and girls. In 2022, the Foundation took the significant decision to shift its priority to climate change and environmental issues from 2023-2027.

From 2022 to 2023, 2into3 worked with Lifes2good to support them with this transition.

Lifes 2 Good Foundation logo

The Action

In 2022, 2into3 worked closely with the CEO and their family to articulate their strategic pivot in new Vision, Mission and Values statements for the foundation. The new statement of purpose, developed through workshops and conversations, captures the Foundation’s future ambitions and legacy work:

L2GF exists to advance environmental sustainability in Ireland, and to improve livelihoods and promote gender equity, respect and systems change.

Following this, 2into3 supported the CEO to develop a new Strategic Plan for 2023-2027 that identifies the foundation’s 3 Strategic Priorities, its approach to grant-making and partnership, and the impact it aspires to have. This Strategic Plan was informed by consultations with current and past grantees.

Lastly, 2into3 also led conduct a Strategic Evaluation of the foundation’s first five years: its impact, value for money, and the efficiency of its operations. 2into3 worked with the Foundation to develop a consultation process in which key stakeholders would be comfortable to share their views into the Foundation’s work, and recommendations for the future.

2into3’s final report included highlights of those consultations, our assessment of the foundation’s performance, with key questions and recommendations to guide the Foundation to further success in the future.

2into3 also worked with the Foundation and a graphic artist to produce a visual summary of Lifes2good Foundation’s journey and future (see left).

The Result

Lifes2good Foundation is now well-positioned to carry out and communicate its strategic shift, taking into consideration previous successes and learnings into its next five years. They look forward to working towards their new organisational priorities.

NOVAS Fundraising Strategy

From our client’s perspective

“We contracted Fiona to conduct an evaluation of the first five years of the foundation. We wanted the evaluation to focus on achievements to date but, more importantly, to also focus on lessons learned that would help us to plan the future, in terms of our own structure and our approach to philanthropy for the next decade. Lifes2good is a family foundation with a board of trustees, consisting of family, and non-family members.

Fiona was therefore dealing with quite a number of varied and different, complex internal relationships, as well as the relationship between Lifes2good Foundation and our implementing partners. The process was as important as the product in this regard.

Fiona worked collaboratively with the CEO of Lifes2good Foundation and designed a process that engaged all key stakeholders. But Fiona’s real skill was delivering on that process. Her approach in one-to-one interviews allowed people to open up and face issues that otherwise may not have seen the light of day. She worked in a nuanced way. She was diplomatic when she needed to be, but that did not stop her from addressing some challenging subjects and making recommendations that tackle concerns addressed in the context of sector best practice.

The professional way in which Fiona wrote up the final document matched the way she conducted the process. This rendered the final product both very useful and useable for us in the foundation. It was also very educational and enjoyable to work with Fiona. She has a very good sense of humour.” – Maurice McQuillan, Chief Executive Officer.

Maurice McQuillan

Get in touch

If your organisation is seeking support with achieving your mission, contact our Director of Advisory Services, Luna Atkins.

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