Strategic Planning

Support for organisations undergoing change

Change brings the need to reflect, plan, and unify your team. But strategy takes time, experience, and research to get right, and when you’re busy you may not have the capacity or capability in house.

We provide strategy, project advice, management services, and capacity support for not-for-profits, charities, councils, and for-purpose businesses. If you need support with a special project that’s not in your day-to-day wheelhouse there’s a good chance we’ll be able to help.

Flexibility is our hallmark. It’s about your needs, not our processes, so we shape our services to fit you, becoming an extension of your team.

Strategic planning services

Research

Validate a hypothesis or investigate new possibilities with expert recommendations in an easy-to-read report.

Strategy

Support with operational and financial strategies. We lead strategic development, from discovery workshops to reporting to your board.

Planning

Develop action plans and work programs to implement your strategic planning and bring your team on the journey.

Grants & RFPs

Put your best foot forward with a professional application created by an experienced team with a track record of wins.

Project management

If you haven’t the capacity or capability in-house to lead a key project, our team of experienced project managers can help.

Upskill your staff

We can upskill your team by sharing our processes, knowledge, and experience and connecting your people to our network.

“Gemelli are very good at understanding problems, unearthing relevant background, and prioritising needs. That gives us a sense of how to pilot a new idea safely ... Gemelli give us the data to focus our future strategy.”

Dominic Foote, CEO, New Zealand Housing Foundation

See us as an extension of your team

Expertise on tap

Call on us whenever you need extra capacity and capability. Our team hit the ground running and start delivering fast.

Clarity on next steps

If you’ve a great idea but you’re unsure how to proceed, we can help you create a realistic plan that works for your team.

See projects succeed

When your team don’t have the time or the experience to handle a critical task, we can step in and see your project to fruition.

The strategic planning process

Every strategic planning project is different. But while our solutions are always tailored to your needs, most projects move through a four-step process.

1. Discovery

We start with your end goal, asking what support you need, what success looks like, and what resources you have at your command. Flexibility is key here. Whether you need someone to run a series of workshops, or a hands-on project lead, we tailor our proposal to your needs.

2. Proposal

Your proposal includes a reverse brief covering your needs and desired outcomes, our scope of work, approach, timeframes, cost, and project team. This proposal clarifies exactly what you’ve asked us to do, outlines what we’re all doing, and confirms expectations before we get started.

3. Kick off workshop

Not all projects require a kick-off, but many do. Bring all key decision makers to this workshop so everyone’s on the same page. We’ll walk through your proposal to make sure nothing's changed. Then we explore your needs and context in more detail, before gathering your ideas for potential solutions. It’s also important to understand your resources and your appetite for risk.

4. Develop and present deliverables

Outputs vary depending on your needs, but often there's a report involved, which we present in person and discuss, to help your board decide which direction to take. Reports typically cover:

Your context, your purpose, and your definition of success
The problem you’re trying to solve / the hypothesis you want to test
Summary of what you’ve tried, your successes and failures
Summary of our approach
Summary of research and recommendations
High-level financial modelling to test viability of your options.
Review how each option delivers on your objectives

Recommendations and next steps.

Our reports are real and human. We don't do impenetrable 80 page reports in consultant speak. Expect a short, snappy read anyone can understand.

We work collaboratively, so whether we’re researching, developing a strategy, or writing an RFP, expect regular check-ins to keep you in the loop.

BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL

“When Gemelli are working on a project for us, they check in regularly. They’re knowledgeable, experienced researchers who communicate without losing people in statistical jargon, so strong communicators and strong collaborators as well.”