Initiatives Studio

Where new approaches take shape.

The Initiatives Studio is where the Global Strategic Initiatives Group develops new ideas and approaches to important international challenges.

We concentrate on one idea at a time, researching the problem, developing a proposition, engaging with people working in the field, and testing and refining our thinking.

Some ideas may eventually become established services or strategic initiatives. Others may be set aside as we learn more.

The Studio is an opportunity to share our thinking while it is still developing, and to involve others in shaping what comes next.

Currently in the Studio

Strategic Resourcing

Rethinking how humanitarian work is funded.

Humanitarian organisations do not just need new sources of funding. They need a broader way of thinking about where resources come from, why they flow, and how new pathways to those resources can be created.

Traditional government funding has become less reliable, exposing the vulnerability of a system heavily dependent on established donors and funding mechanisms.

Strategic Resourcing is an emerging approach to helping humanitarian organisations respond to this challenge.

It starts from a simple principle:

Resources flow to perceived value.

From this follows a different mental model for securing resources:

  • Value: What forms of value does an organisation create, beyond those recognised by its traditional funders?
  • Resource holders: Who might perceive that value, and what resources do they control?
  • Pathways: How might the organisation translate that value into resources that support its mission?

This approach encompasses traditional grants and donations, but encourages organisations to identify additional possibilities without compromising their mission, principles or independence.

Developing the methodology

We are developing a practical methodology to help organisations apply this model to their own circumstances.

The aim is to help teams identify promising resourcing opportunities, prioritise those worth pursuing and design small experiments to test their viability before committing substantial resources.

An initial workshop pilot has helped us test elements of the approach and identify areas for further development. The methodology remains a work in progress.

Our initial focus is on humanitarian organisations, although the approach may also have applications across the wider international non-profit sector.

Follow the thinking

Strategic Resourcing builds on articles by our co-founder, Patrick Wall:

Further writing will examine how the model can be translated into a practical methodology.

Join the conversation

We’re interested in hearing from people confronting these challenges in practice.

What approaches are you trying? Where are the greatest obstacles? What would a genuinely useful resourcing methodology need to help you do?

We welcome reflections, challenges and opportunities to learn from practical experience as Strategic Resourcing develops.