Action Planning 30th Anniversary
£100,000 Consultancy Giveaway Policy

1. Purpose

1.1 The aim of this policy is to provide clear guidance to applicant organisations about the terms and conditions, expectations and processes of the Action Planning £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway Promotion.

1.2 The £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway is a promotion run by Action Planning, which has provided consultancy services to the not-for-profit sector for the last 30 years, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. Through the £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway, Action Planning plans to offer around 50 discrete pro bono consultancy packages, valued at or around £2,000 each at charge-out rates, to non-profit clients. These packages will be spread across Action Planning’s three core areas of Strategy and Governance, Fundraising and Marketing, People and Practice.

2. Eligibility

2.1 Prior to submitting an application, organisations will be asked to confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria. The purpose of these criteria is to simplify the management and delivery of the Giveaway, and to ensure that organisations are in a position to benefit from the pro bono services on offer. We recognise that this will leave some people disappointed; sadly we can’t offer pro bono support to everyone; these criteria will enable us to provide the most effective support to as many organisations as possible.

2.2 Meeting all the listed eligibility criteria does not guarantee that organisations will be selected to receive a pro bono project, as we expect the number of applicants to exceed the number of projects available. Accordingly, additional criteria will be applied by both Action Planning and the relevant Consultant in making the final award decisions.

2.3 Action Planning’s decision on the eligibility of all applications is final and no further correspondence can be entered into.

2.4 In order to be eligible to apply, applicant organisations must:

Be a not-for-profit organisation (such as a charity, CIC/social enterprise, or non-profit Trust) registered and based in the UK.
Have an annual income of at least £200,000 in the last financial year, and/or have at least two full-time equivalent paid staff members in post.
Be able to provide a written statement confirming that they have the full and genuine support of their CEO and Chair for the work to be carried out.
Be able to host the delivery of this work within 6 months of the notification of the award of the project, or by the end of 2020, whichever is the later.
Meet the cost of any prior agreed out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Consultant in delivering the project.
Agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of the £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway as set out in this policy.

3. Application Process

3.1 A list of Consultants and the pro bono projects they are offering to undertake will be set out in detail in a 12-page catalogue of offers inserted in Charity Finance, Governance & Leadership and Fundraising magazines early in 2020, as well as on the Action Planning website. Organisations should review these proposals and identify their preferred project(s) and/or Consultant(s).

3.2 To apply for a project, applicants will be required to successfully respond to eligibility questions online in order to access the application form.

3.3 Applicants will be required to complete the application form in full online before submitting to Action Planning. A copy of the application form is available as Appendix of this document or online.

3.4 Organisations may apply for up to three projects in order of preference.

3.5 Eligible application forms will be assessed against the criteria listed at section 4.

3.6 Unsuccessful applicants will be informed by email.

3.7 Successful applicants will be contacted by the Consultant who will be undertaking the project. Prior to final approval, the CEO (or equivalent) and the Chair will be required to email the Consultant to confirm their support for the project to be undertaken. If this is not received, Action Planning reserves the right to withdraw the offer and award it to another organisation.

3.8 The Consultant undertaking the project will liaise directly with the successful applicant organisation and start the process to implement the project.

4. Criteria

4.1 Applications from eligible organisations will be assessed by Action Planning against the following criteria:

The need of the organisation for this work to be undertaken
The impact that the work will have on the organisation and its beneficiaries
Practical considerations, such as the physical locations of the applicant organisation and the Consultant (where relevant)
The spread of projects being awarded across the three core areas of Action Planning’s work (Strategy and Governance, Fundraising and Marketing, People and Practice).

4.2 Applicants may be asked to provide additional information, about their organisation or their reasons for selecting a particular project, to facilitate the assessment of their application.

4.3 Where Action Planning is satisfied that an applicant would benefit from a project for which it has applied, the applicant will be provisionally matched to that project. The preferences stated by applicants will be taken into account, but there is no guarantee that a successful applicant will be matched with its first or second preference.

4.4 Following Action Planning's assessment, the Consultant for each project will be told which applicant(s) have been matched to their project. Where an Consultant receives more than one application for their proposed project, the final decision will be made by the Consultant on the basis of where they believe they can add the greatest value.

Terms and conditions

i. The £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway is a promotion run by Action Planning Consultancy Ltd, a limited company registered in England & Wales (registered company number 05524544) whose registered office is at 99 Ashurst Road, Tadworth, England, KT20 5EY and which is referred to in this document as “Action Planning”. Action Planning bears sole responsibility for the coordination, management and promotion of the Giveaway.

ii. The Giveaway will be run in accordance with these terms and conditions and also in accordance with the eligibility criteria, process and assessment criteria set out in this Policy. Full compliance with these terms, criteria and processes is a condition of participation in the Giveaway and Action Planning reserves full rights to exclude without prior notice any person or organisation not acting in full compliance.

iii. The £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway will open for applications on 17th January 2020 and close for applications on 16th March 2020. Any applications received outside this period will not be considered (save in respect of any applications submitted during a second round of applications). Action Planning will not accept responsibility for any applications that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit or otherwise not received (or not received on time) by Action Planning regardless of cause.

iv. Final decisions on the award of specific projects will be made by Action Planning within 6 weeks of the closing date.

v. The £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway is not a lottery or a chance-based opportunity. Decisions on the award of pro bono projects will be made by Action Planning on the basis of the criteria and processes set out in this Policy. Awards are not negotiable or transferable.

vi. If there are unclaimed projects available after the original applications have been considered, a second round of applications may, at Action Planning’s sole discretion, be launched.

vii. Successful applicants will be required to meet all out-of-pocket expenses as agreed with the Consultant. Wherever possible, Consultants based close to a successful applicant will be preferred, but this cannot be guaranteed. Expenses will include, but not be limited to, second class rail travel, mileage chargeable at £0.45 per mile, and overnight accommodation where multiple days are required on site. Consultants will bill successful applicants directly for these costs.

viii. At any time after the award of a project (including once the project work has commenced) Action Planning reserves the right to terminate at its sole discretion a project where the original project proposal can no longer be carried out as originally proposed, whether due to Consultant availability, changes within the applicant organisation or for any other reason.

ix. Action Planning reserves the right to substitute an Consultant for any project at any time.

x. Where the organisation is no longer able to undertake the project as agreed, it may request changes to the project, including those that may require a different Consultant. In such cases, the Consultant will refer the issue to Action Planning to investigate whether changes to the project scope can be agreed and/or whether an alternative Consultant may be available. Action Planning’s shall have sole discretion to agree any such changes and its decision shall be final.

xi. The £100,000 Consultancy Giveaway is a promotion in which around 55 awards will be made, each award being the offer for an Consultant to complete a specific project on a pro bono basis. Action Planning offers no guarantee and makes no warranty that the total value of projects delivered as part of the Giveaway will amount to £100,000 (one hundred thousand pounds) although that is the intention. Action Planning is under no obligation to make any awards and this promotion may be cancelled or withdrawn at any time and for any reason, at Action Planning’s sole discretion, without notice.

xii. The awards are strictly and exclusively restricted to the projects and to the Associate Consultants which Action Planning has offered through the promotion materials. An award has no cash value and cannot be offset against any sums which may be owed to Action Planning or treated as credit towards any other Action Planning services.

xiii. The pro bono projects which are offered under the Giveaway are offered in good faith as discrete projects which each have an estimated value of between £1,500-£2,500, calculated on the basis of Action Planning’s standard charge-out rates. However, in some cases, it may not be possible to complete a project within the budget which has been allowed. If it becomes evident that proper completion of a project would require substantially more work than was originally estimated, the Consultant will raise this with the applicant as soon as possible and discuss how best to proceed. In such cases, it might not be possible to complete the project on a fully pro bono basis. Action Planning shall not be held liable for the non-completion of any projects where the scope of work required is substantially more than envisaged when the project was proposed.

xiv. If the client requires further services beyond what is specified in the project, Action Planning will agree a price for those services at its normal rates.

xv. The decision of Action Planning in considering applications and making awards is final, and no further correspondence or discussion will be entered into.

xvi. By applying, all applicants accept all risks and liabilities attached to the project being funded. Where a project is to be undertaken at the applicant’s premises, the applicant will be responsible for the safety and security of the Consultant and must have adequate public liability insurance in place (evidence of such insurance to be made available to Action Planning on request).

xvii. Project offers must be accepted in writing by successful applicants within 2 weeks of receipt of notification of the grant of the award. In the event of any failure by the applicant to accept an award offer within this period, Action Planning may in its sole discretion cancel the award and allocate the project to another organisation. Action Planning does not accept any responsibility if a successful applicant is unable to take up the award in accordance with these terms and conditions.

xviii. Successful applicants agree to contribute to the preparation of a case study and/or video reference which may be used on the Action Planning website and in other promotional materials produced by Action Planning.

xix. Successful applicants must keep their Consultant informed promptly about any material changes to their circumstances, such as to key officers or contacts.

xx. Action Planning’s standard client terms and conditions will apply to all projects undertaken as part of this Giveaway. All successful applicants will be issued with a copy of these client terms and conditions prior to commencement of the project and will be required to agree to the same before the project commences. In the event that an applicant does not accept these client terms and conditions, the award will automatically be cancelled and may be reallocated by Action Planning.

xxi. At the end of the project, Action Planning will issue an invoice detailing the value of the consultancy work delivered, with the amount due at zero (save where additional paid-for work or other costs have been agreed, in which case these will be clearly segregated from the pro bono work which has been provided).

xxii. Information and personal data provided by applicants may be shared by Action Planning with Consultants for the purposes of running and coordinating the Giveaway and/or selecting and implementing the pro bono projects. For more information on how Action Planning handles personal data, please see the Privacy Policy available on Action Planning’s website.

xxiii. These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.