As a member of the senior leadership at Porchlight, Adam’s strategy development and stakeholder consultation and engagement were used to refresh direction, improve clarity on priorities, and strengthen how the organisation measured, evaluated, and communicated impact.

Porchlight is a homelessness and mental health charity providing services for vulnerable adults, young people, and families. It supports people with mental health, housing, poverty, and education needs. The strategy development needed to support real operational choices and provide a clear narrative for trustees, staff, partners, and supporters.

What the charity needed

• A refreshed strategic direction and the development of clearer objectives linked to the strategy, that could guide decision-making day to day.
• Stronger alignment between leadership, governance, and operational reality, so priorities were deliverable.
• More outcome-oriented impact framing: measures and language that reflected change, not just activity.
• A consultation approach that built legitimacy and buy-in across multiple stakeholder groups.

Outputs

• A structured strategic review process involving internal and external stakeholder consultation.
• Development of refreshed vision, mission, values, and objectives, designed to be understood and used across the organisation.
• Reframing of impact measurement so it was more outcome-focused and decision-useful, improving the link between delivery, reporting, and strategy.
• Leadership and governance engagement to build board-level confidence and enable implementation, including clear decision points and trade-offs.

What changed

• Greater clarity on priorities and narrative, improving consistency across leadership and teams.
• Improved leadership and board confidence in direction and performance framing.
• Stronger foundations for brand, communications, and income activity to align to strategic priorities.
• A clearer basis for engaging external stakeholders and partners, because the organisation could articulate both purpose and choices.

Why strategy development is important

In charities that deliver complex services, strategy has to work at two levels: it has to give a compelling direction, and it has to help leaders make trade-offs in the face of constrained resources. This project strengthened both, reducing ambiguity and improving the charity’s ability to act.