What We Do

The Pilotlight model was designed to overcome both the barriers to business leaders volunteering and to ensure that charities would find the help given effective.  

The process always begins by working with the charity on a business plan from which other assignments then flow.  Pilotlight asks for up to three hours a month of senior business people and ensures their time giving is based around their diaries.  Pilotlight manages teams of senior business people to coach charities through the process of building measurably more sustainable and effective organisations.

Unique Features

Pilotlight manages the interaction between the charities and the professionals throughout the relationship.  Other volunteering relationships match rather than manage skills.  This brokerage frees both sides to concentrate on sharing their skills effectively.  The model is designed solely for senior business professionals to give their skills and is therefore tailor made for strategic skills giving.  We focus on encouraging multiple skills giving to a charity over several years and structure this around a strategic business plan.


Our Principles

We believe that:

  • By bringing together the passion and expertise of the voluntary sector with the best of business thinking we can help to create more effective and sustainable organisations
  • The most successful collaborations between the private and voluntary sectors are grounded in mutual respect and recognition of the skills and expertise represented by each sector
  • Small charities and social enterprises are best placed to find innovative and effective solutions to the changing needs of the disadvantaged in society, and their knowledge and commitment should be nurtured and supported
  • Systematic evaluation is central to achieving excellence and enables small charities to compete in an increasingly challenging environment
  • One of the primary objectives of any small community or voluntary organisation should be to make themselves sustainable, so they can continue to help their beneficiaries as long as their services are needed

 

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