The Purpose Led, Audience Informed Approach to Your Cultural Organisation

A couple of weeks ago we announced the biggest revolution in Achates in more than ten years, with the launch of Achates Community our forthcoming affordable platform offering support, learning, the Purposeful Leader leadership programme, and networking and community with peers across the sector. We also launched the Achates Community Bursary programme with 50 one-year Bursary places to be awarded in the first year.

But in addition to offering great value for money in accessing tailor-made, sector leading support and learning, a unique leadership programme and space for the sector to discuss the issues of the day – we thought it was worth exploring what makes Achates Community so unique.

Over the last ten years, Achates has developed a unique approach to the operation of cultural organisations, which we refer to as our ‘purpose-led and audience-informed approach’. By this we mean that when you are working for a cultural organisation which is a charity and particularly when accessing public funding, you are fundamentally in service to the nation and that requires clarity and ownership across staff, board and audiences as to what it is you are trying to achieve, with and for whom.

Every cultural organisation is, of course, wonderfully idiosyncratic and distinctive and whilst organisations are open to all, it is by defining two of the three elements of our organisational triple bottom line – the work of the organisation, the audiences we are making a medium-term commitment to working with and for and the impact we are working with them to bring about – that we can understand and put in place the particular model and systems needed to achieve the third element, money. Achates Community supports the development of all three elements of the triple bottom line and in creating a balanced and sustainable model and approach.

In order to support our clients in realising their triple bottom line in a highly cost-effective way through our new digital subscription platform, Achates Community, we have developed a whole system approach to ensure you have access to all of the elements you need to operate your cultural organisation from a purpose-led and audience-informed approach.

Achates Community will go live with 50 step by step support and learning masterclasses covering everything from: consulting and identifying priority audiences, writing a statement of purpose and developing your theory of change, through to processes for project design, developing an impact framework and monitoring and evaluation methodologies, to applying a purpose-led approach to every aspect of contributed income and new earned income development. Every session builds on the last to build a complete approach to ensuring resilience with integrity.

You can follow the masterclasses as a weekly programme with accompanying live webinars, or simply dip into them and access the accompanying tools and resources at any time as suits you, accessing up to 5 sessions each month.

Each session equates to a half day Achates workshop, so you only have to dip into one session to realise value for money from your subscription and with new content added regularly from launch, Achates Community is the complete resource and support you need to develop a purposeful cultural organisation.

You can find out more about Achates Community here and sign up to the wait list here.

Find out more about the Bursary Programme and how to apply here.