Supporting Those Who Served

We were delighted to support Veterans Outreach Support in Portsmouth as they recently went live with their new Cimplify CRM, built on the Salesforce platform.

The introduction came through our relationship with the Lloyds Bank Foundation, who support hundreds of community charities across the UK to become more effective and sustainable. Cimplify is one of only a small handful of CRM solutions that LBF are sufficiently confident in to fund directly on behalf of the charities they work with — something we’re incredibly proud of, and which speaks to both the robustness of our solution and its suitability for busy, mission-led organisations.

Starting from a Position of Trust and Understanding

We already had a good level of insight into the veterans sector, having worked with several veterans’ organisations previously. That experience meant we were able to get up to speed quickly, understand the context in which Veterans Outreach Support operate, and avoid some of the early discovery friction that can slow projects down.

This was particularly important as the project ran to a relatively short timeline. Fortunately, Veterans Outreach Support themselves had a very clear sense of what they wanted from the system and how it needed to work in practice. There was also something about the military mindset that meant the project management clicked into place almost immediately — roles were clear, decisions were made efficiently, and momentum was maintained throughout.

From start to finish, it was a highly focused and efficient implementation.

Key Requirements and Challenges

As with most real-world CRM projects, this wasn’t a simple “out-of-the-box” setup. Some of the key requirements we worked through together included:

• A bespoke user security model, ensuring that system users could only access the data and records appropriate to their role and responsibilities within the organisation. This was critical given the sensitivity of much of the information being recorded.

• Online registration and referral processes, delivered using Salesforce Experience Cloud functionality, allowing data to be captured securely and efficiently without adding administrative burden.

• A comprehensive data migration, bringing together information from earlier recording and reporting systems into a single, coherent platform — doing away with paper records and multiple spreadsheets in the process.

Throughout, the focus was on building something practical, usable, and sustainable — a system that staff would actually want to use day-to-day, not just something that looked good on paper.

Looking Beyond Go-Live

What really stood out for us was the charity’s clear commitment to improving outcomes for their service users, and their openness to using better data to support that mission. The ability to quickly extract meaningful management information is already proving to be a major time saver, and the team can see the difference the system will make as it becomes embedded across the organisation.

The glowing feedback we received from VOS means a great deal to us:

“The support we received from Goodlabs has been first rate, giving us confidence and helping us refine our plans… We would not hesitate to recommend Goodlabs and Cimplify to any charity looking to improve the way they manage their beneficiaries and activities.”

Behind the People Who Make a Difference

We’re thrilled to be working with charities like Veterans Outreach Support — organisations that are deeply committed to the people they serve and serious about improving lives. Being trusted to support that work, quietly and competently behind the scenes, is what motivates us.

We love being the people behind the people who make a difference!

Turning Complexity into Clarity

When an organisation has already gathered mountains of feedback, ideas, and evaluation reports, the hardest part of creating a new strategy is often knowing what not to include.

That’s where we began in our recent work with Connected Voice.

Connected Voice is what’s known in the third sector as a Local Infrastructure Organisation (LIO). They play a critical role in Newcastle and Gateshead, supporting the voluntary sector to thrive, and strategically engaging with public and commercial partners to make that happen.

When we joined the process, they had already done a lot of listening — to board members, staff, and members, and through project evaluations. The challenge was making sense of it all, spotting the common threads, and separating the strategic from the tactical.

We began by mapping the big themes and testing them with the team. Then we facilitated live workshops with staff and members, plus online focus groups with other stakeholders — particularly other charities who are members of Connected Voice. The energy and commitment people brought to these sessions was impressive, with participants leaning into the process and taking it seriously.

From there, we worked closely with the Chief Executive and nominated board members to refine the draft plan, iterating until it felt clear, focused, and ready to launch.

The new strategic plan will be unveiled this autumn. It’s designed to steer Connected Voice through the choppy waters facing the sector, while giving them the clarity and confidence to seize key opportunities ahead.

For us at Goodlabs, this was strategy development at its best: turning complexity into clarity, keeping the focus on what really matters, and building ownership across the organisation.

If your charity is ready for a strategic plan that cuts through the noise and sets a clear course for the future, we’d love to help.

A Powerful CRM For A Mighty Charity

The Kennedy Street mission

Small but Mighty: Implementing Salesforce for Kennedy Street Recovery

We’ve loved working with the team at Kennedy Street Recovery down in Brighton — a community-led charity doing incredible things to support people in recovery from addiction.

While they might be small in terms of staff headcount, but they really are mighty when it comes to impact. Kennedy Street is all about lived experience, peer support, volunteering, and building real community — and you can feel that energy in everything they do. From their peer-led recovery workshops to their daily Recovery Café, they’re creating spaces where people feel safe, supported, and seen. It's all about practical help, emotional connection, and hope — and it’s working. Lives are being rebuilt every day.

When they first came to us, Kennedy Street were using an old custom-built database that was no longer fit for purpose. To keep things ticking over, they were relying heavily on spreadsheets — which was far from ideal as a means of tracking complex journeys of change.

That’s where Cimplify came in — our Salesforce-based impact management system designed especially for charities. We worked closely with Mark and the team to customise the core application around their operating model — to deliver a solution that reflects the way they work and supports the brilliant things they’re already doing.

As Mark puts it:

"Working with Matt and Abi at Goodlabs to build, configure and implement our new Cimplify CRM has been a great experience. The attention to detail and consideration of the needs and nuances of our charity has been second to none. They coached us through the whole process from set up to training, and the support has meant that we are now really confident moving forward with using the system. I also know that if we get stuck they will be there to help, which is very reassuring. Cimplify itself is really intuitive and our team started using it on day one. I would definitely recommend Goodlabs and Cimplify."

Thank you, Mark! That means a lot.

It’s been a real pleasure to work alongside such a passionate and values-driven team. We’re looking forward to continue to support Kennedy Street in the years ahead.

CRM for Veteran's Charity

Charities come in all shapes and sizes, serving all sorts of different groups in society. We were pleased to be asked to support a Veterans charity for the first time.

Veteran’s HQ Liverpool provides much-needed support to hundreds of ex-servicemen and women right across the Merseyside region. The leadership team of the charity and its committed volunteers were beginning to struggle to keep track of all the many diverse requests for support and a busy schedule of participation in a range of groups and activities.

Using our Cimpl CRM application which utilises the security and versatility of the Salesforce platform we were able to deliver a user-friendly and cost-effective solution. In order to ensure that new users to the system had the best possible start we travelled to Liverpool to deliver in-person training.

In particular the in-built report and dashboard features that Cimpl offers have transformed the way that the charity reports back to its various funders, really taking the sting out of producing detailed reports on activity and impact.

Don’t be shy to get in touch if you’d like a demo of how our Cimpl CRM could make a difference to the way your charity manages its data.

The Impact of Arts

Goodlabs MD, Matt Wilson, at Gosforth Civic Theatre

Gosforth Civic Theatre is a fantastic arts venue on the north side of Newcastle. It has recently undergone a huge refurb project and has a great atmosphere. The vibe of the place is about far more than the new internal layout - it’s all about the people. GCT is home to Liberdade, an innovative arts charity that supports people with learning disabilities. We were delighted to be introduced as part of our ongoing work with the Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Our work with GCT was twofold…

First, we facilitated a full review of their existing theory of change. Our objective was to ensure that it really accurately and accessibly described the impact being made in the lives of programme participants. In practice this meant mapping out the different participant groups, both PWLD and not. Matt facilitated a staff workshop to develop a draft set of outcomes and the team followed this up with some specific engagement with their LD groups to sense check it. The final draft revolved around five “I CAN” statements: I can be happy, I can be healthy, I can be me, I can be creative, I can belong.

The other half of the work related to preparation for the shift to using our Cimplify CRM application, to be used to monitor participation and measure impact. This involved looking at the wide range of activities that are taking place, how they are currently being recorded, what data is being held at the moment about participants, and how all this might interface with the distinctly different data operation around the marketing of shows, the sale of tickets and receiving feedback from audiences.

It’s always great to work with charities that are so embedded in their local communities and getting on with their work with a sense of vision and of joy. This really came across in this project :-)

North East Youth Alliance

Visualising the interconnected elements of the initiative

Goodlabs were appointed as external evaluators and learning partners to the North East Youth Alliance back in early 2022. We are just embarking on the third of our reports into the the progress being made by the initiative against its ambitious aims and objectives.

Whilst we operate across many different branches of the voluntary sector work with children and young people is a key area of strength and expertise within our overall portfolio of work. This reflects the experience of our MD, Matt Wilson, who spent the first two decades of his career involved in leading charities focused in this area. So it’s always exciting to be contributing to the development of new capacity and learning in this sector.

The North East Youth Alliance formed in 2021 with a 5-year £1 million funding award from the National Lottery Community Fund. Its overarching aims are visualised in the graphic above which shows how a change in culture is achieved by work undertaken in developing delivery and strengthening support. The project is being jointly led by two core partners, Youth Focus NE and NE Youth. Over 100 other organisations from around the region are involved as ‘allies’.

Our work over the next six months will involve pursuing several interconnected lines of enquiry gathering evidence of the impact being made in each of the three core themes shown in the model above. One of the advantages of journeying with a client over a period of years is the ability to develop a real depth of insight into what’s going on. A relationship of support and challenge can be developed with the key leaders and there is genuine opportunity to be a critical friend in the best possible sense of the phrase.

As we embark on this next chapter of the evaluation we’re looking forward to what the next few months will bring. Despite continued financial challenges for the youth sector across the UK there’s a very real sense that through the North East Youth Alliance new pathways are being created that show the way to a brighter and more sustainable future.

Listening to service users

Durham County Carers Support is a fantastic charity that we’ve had the pleasure of working with on a number of projects over the past few years.

Supporting charities to create new strategic plans is one of the “bread and butter” things we do at Goodlabs. Every new strategic plan is unique and interesting in its own way. What made this project particularly enjoyable was the commitment of Durham Carers to involve its service users in the strategic planning process. There was a real determination to design a method of engagement that would be both meaningful for the Carers participating as well as insightful for the charity.

Goodlabs designed and facilitated the process which involved live events in the four corners of County Durham. A lot of miles were covered that week but it was absolutely worth it! Whilst the same process was followed in each location it was fascinating to see emergence of some key local differences along with common themes. All the content generated was written up in headline format and fed into an Away Day for Trustees and key staff. Equipped with fresh insights from the frontline a range of strategic priorities for the future could be devised.

CEO Jenni Wood commented:

We’re really thankful for the support to review and develop our new 5 year Strategic Plan. It involved facilitating workshops with groups of Carers over a tight timescale. This was followed by meetings with staff, volunteers and trustees to scope out priorities and outcomes. Our new plan which clearly sets out our vision and aims for the future was produced efficiently and arrived on time. I can’t recommend Matt and Goodlabs highly enough.

Launching the "Rugby+" framework

Launching Rugby+ at Kingston Park, Newcastle

It was fantastic to be at Kingston Park this week, home of the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Union and Newcastle Thunder Rugby League teams.

We were there for the official launch of the new Rugby+ framework, which we've been supporting the Newcastle Rugby Foundation to develop over the course of the year. There was incredible buzz in the venue from around a hundred specially invited guests as we listened to stories of how the foundation is making an impact in people’s lives.

Enhancing Impact is at the heart of everything we do at Goodlabs and we’ve been thrilled to be able to walk a journey with NRF as they have sought to more clearly articulate the difference they make. A big part of impact management being really clear about the change you want to achieve in people’s lives, then working back from this to ensure that you have all the necessary links in the chain to make it happen.

We produced a new theory of change for the foundation, linked to a detailed Outcomes Framework containing a range of bespoke indicators to enable the tracking of participant progress over time. Time was taken to make sure this framework could be embedded in the CRM system that the foundation uses (Upshot) as well as training key members of staff in how to use a number of new/updated digital evidence collection tools.

By organising the new framework into four headline themes, linking in to the Rugby+ branding, we ensured that the new ideas become ‘sticky’ within the team, and can be easily communicated to stakeholders. (see graphic below) It was great to have the chance to collaborate with marketing agency Cravens to develop and finesse the language used in the model.

Good luck to all the team as you step up your activities in the months ahead :-)

The four impact themes in the new Rugby+ framework

Engaging Stakeholders on Purpose

Photo credit: Wokandapix at Pixabay.com

It’s been great to have the opportunity to work with Action Foundation again, this time supporting their new CEO to take a fresh look at the charity’s Purpose.

Transitions can be challenging times for organisations but Newcastle-based refugee and asylum support charity Action Foundation have been handling the handover of their senior leader extremely well. Looking to the long term their new CEO felt it important to take a fresh look at the way the vision and mission of the charity are understood and articulated. Via our mutual friends at Lloyds Bank Foundation we got together to consider what this process might mean.

It became apparent that having separate vision and mission statements wasn’t necessarily helping strategic clarity. At Goodlabs we’re seeing more and more of our clients opting for a single, powerful statement of Purpose. Once it was agreed that this was the destination the task was - how to get there?

Goodlabs were tasked with designing a Stakeholder Lab format that would engage staff, volunteers and service users in exercises designed to generate and refine the key ideas that form the essence of the charity. The Labs would be repeated up to a dozen times over a one month period with groups in Newcastle and Sunderland, as well as online. Probably the biggest challenge was with language, as for many participants English wasn’t their mother tongue. Hats off to the team we worked with who ensured that everyone present was able to fully engage and offer meaningful contributions.

Following successful delivery of the schedule of Labs we supplied an insights report summarising the key ideas that emerged and setting up the SLT for the remaining in-house task of wordsmithing their final statement.

“Wonderfully helpful” was the feedback received from the client.

We’re happy with that :-)

Making an impact with IMO in Blackburn

“Inspire, Motivate, Overcome” - they are the driving principles of the Inter Madrassah Organisation in Blackburn.

The charity, originally founded by a small but very committed group of local volunteers has grown rapidly now and now reaches thousands of local people every year with a range of support and activities. IMO has particular expertise in working with young people and families mainly of BAME heritage, facing multiple disadvantages.

Goodlabs was introduced to the charity as part of our work supporting the Lloyds Bank Foundation ‘Enhance’ programme. Having scaled up their operation substantially in response to local need that emerged during the coronavirus pandemic IMO are keen to explore how to more systematically embed impact management into their organisation at both the strategic and operational level. A new outcomes framework is being developed, to be embedded into their CRM system and aligned with frontline evidence-gathering tools.

The photo above shows members of the core team at a recent ‘Impact Lab’ facilitated by Goodlabs at the Eanam Wharf Business Centre in Blackburn.

Making the light even brighter in Sunderland

We’re delighted to have commenced a new impact project with the Foundation of Light, the official charitable foundation of Sunderland Football Club.

The Foundation has its home in the world-class ‘Beacon of Light’ community sports facility that stands prominently alongside the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. A wide range of programmes are offered at the Beacon opening up access to football alongside a vast array of other activities designed to support healthy development in all aspects of life. However, impressive as it is, there’s far more to the Foundation that just the work that happens at the Beacon site. Teams of foundation staff are also out and about around the area seven days a week, delivering programmes in schools and in the community.

Goodlabs is supporting the Foundation with a strategic piece of work to make an even bigger impact in the years ahead. We’re working with staff from senior leaders through to frontline delivery in order to align and embed the impact ambitions of the Foundation’s new strategic plan. Backed by an array of funders and stakeholders including key partners such as the Premier League Charitable Fund there is huge opportunity. The challenge is to empower every single member of the team to evidence the difference they’re making clearly and consistently. It’s about making impact everyone’s business. It’s a vital task that we’re so pleased to be able to support with.

Impact Award Winners

It was incredibly satisfying to see that two years of behind the scenes work with YMCA North Tyneside was recognised with the scooping of a prestigious award! At a swanky dinner in London the charity bagged the 2019 Charity Governance Award in the Improving Impact category.

Since 2017 Goodlabs had been working with the charity leading on the development of a sophisticated strengths-based impact framework enabling staff to target and tailor interventions for service users. The framework enabled young people, especially those in YMCA accommodation, to be supported over time using a simple assessment tool, embedded in a CRM, offering real-time insights and enabling learning and improvement.

The ‘Strengths Framework’ is rooted in an asset-based philosophy that refuses to allow people to be ‘defined by their deficits’. It is about ‘what is strong, not what is wrong’. Working this way gives young people the best possible opportunity to overcome the difficult start they’ve had in life in order to transition to a brighter future.

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