Co-pilot

You're leading change and that can be challenging. That's where I come in - to bolster you with action and pace. I'm not a coach, I'm a co-pilot. Let me lighten your load.

With outsourced senior support you could get more good stuff done at the speed and standard you need, without lengthy oversight.

In the past few years it's been my absolute pleasure to support social sector leaders and champions like you with your challenges, transitions, opportunities and innovations.

I have a deep and versatile trove of knowledge and practical skills in executive leadership, agile operations, philanthropy, impact investing, collaboration and tech-for-good, with an international eye and inclusive lens. I've led and fundraised in startups and nonprofits. I know what gives, so I could quickly become your relay, gap fill or co-pilot.

How much is it?

There are two options:

Co-Pilot Monthly costs £480 a month for 8 hours, with a minimum 3 month booking.
Co-Pilot On Demand costs £100/hour, with a minimum 3 hours discovery to get into your situation
A longer term contract (negotiable fee with at least a 10% discount)

In all cases we'll have an advance 30 - 45 minute free discovery chat, so that we can check I fit the bill.

What could our co-work look like?

Refreshing or simplifying strategy into an actionable path
Creating a specific Case for Support or holistic philanthropy strategy
Elevating your research for education and outreach
Creating some thought leadership collateral
Conducting a skills audit or assessing capacity v goals
Communicating your vision of what good looks like to teams + Board
Fresh insight for problem-solving or getting out of 'stuck' or 'spiralling' mode
Brainstorming a digital innovation - internal or external
Putting in place some digitalisation, whether tools, automation or GenAI
Creating or uplifting a Communications Plan
Ordering the disorder so that we can plan ahead
Pragmatic guidance when you can't see the wood for the trees

I use an agile approach to start where things are, unblock barriers and leverage levers. I am known to ask a lot of whys and talk a lot about audiences, goals and problems. Ultimately, I'll give you deliverables, tools, methods or a creative boon, and you'll need me less and less as things progress.

"Sarah is a safe pair of hands, a trusted partner, at senior level"

Rose Maruru, CEO APIC-Africa

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Let's talk

Burning out? Neurodivergent? Brain fog?

Please don't worry. I am becoming adept at supporting different thinking, information processing and work styles as well as recognising and adapting my own. From body doubling to visual cues or brain dumps, I can give you space to think in a way that improves your energy rather than depletes it. I am open to new ways of working so you can always suggest what works for you.

Recent co-piloting assignments:

Often the things I help with have hit an imminent deadline, a skills or headspace block or gap, or simply wouldn't get off the ground at all.

Thought leadership

Ghost wrote long form editorial for a charity CEO, for publication in a leading philanthropy journal.

Re-framed a unique pan-African individual giving research report to ensure structural clarity, honed messages and impactful recommendations for different audiences.

🔸 see Challenging the Myths

Created a 'thinking space/sandbox' for a creative but overwhelmed leader.

Digitalisation

Designed and commissioned a lightweight, low cost digital resource to showcase and classify social impact infrastructure organisations around the world.

Strategy and Fundraising

Created a helicopter view of the context and organisational health of a small charity needing to re-examine the problem it solves & hone its grant-making outreach.

Wrote a project Case for Support for the CEO of a movements infrastructure organisation.

Create a Business Model Canvas for a new service for a philanthropy organisation.

Refined a techforgood funding pitch for a digital media platform.

Analysis and Writing

Analysed a qualitative survey using genAI to speed insights but brainpower to frame and write the results into an engaging campaigning piece.

Organising / Planning

Created an organisation Year Plan in Trello to manage cadence and prioritisation across peak and lag times of the year for a campaigning organisation.

Let's talk