Advancing disciplines and serving communities through strategic support, evaluation, and evidence-based insight.
We work collaboratively with learned societies, national academies, professional associations, and sector membership bodies to ensure delivery of your mission amid sectoral change.
Support for strategic reviews, governance enhancement, and organisational change programmes.
What you get: Governance review, strategic planning facilitation, organisational efficiency assessment, and change management support for mergers, restructures, or strategic pivots.
Our approach: We understand the unique governance challenges of membership organisations, helping you balance member interests with strategic leadership whilst maintaining charitable or non-profit status.
Strategic support for societies and associations developing sustainable business models, diversifying revenue streams, and adapting to changing member needs and market conditions.
What you get: Business model canvas development, revenue diversification strategies, membership value proposition analysis, strategic planning facilitation, and sustainability roadmaps that balance mission delivery with financial resilience.
Our approach: We use proven tools like the Business Model Canvas (adapted for not-for-profit organisations) to help you visualise your value proposition, revenue streams, key activities, and cost structures. We understand that societies and associations must balance scholarly or professional excellence with organisational sustainability, and we design solutions that respect both imperatives.
Strategic support for understanding, engaging, and serving your member communities through surveys, consultations, and service development.
What you get: Member survey design and deployment, qualitative consultation facilitation (interviews, focus groups, workshops), mixed-methods data analysis, member needs assessment, service portfolio review, programme design, and synthesis reports with actionable recommendations.
Our approach: We combine robust research methods with practical understanding of membership dynamics. Our work helps you understand member needs, demonstrate listening and responsiveness, develop services that deliver value, and build evidence for strategic decisions. We work extensively with sector membership bodies across the research ecosystem, helping them engage with and support their communities effectively.
Independent evaluation of strategic initiatives such as grant programmes, fellowship schemes, learning and development activities and events
What you get: Robust evaluation frameworks, beneficiary feedback analysis, impact measurement, and strategic recommendations that demonstrate value to members, funders, and trustees.
Our approach: We understand the distinctive nature of learned society and association programmes, designing impact and process evaluations that capture both tangible outcomes (publications, collaborations, policy influence) and community benefits (knowledge exchange, career development, professional development).
Strategic support for societies managing journals, books, and digital platforms in an evolving open access landscape.
What you get: Publishing portfolio review, journal sustainability analysis, open access transition planning, publishing partnership evaluation, and business model development that protects both scholarly values and organisational sustainability.
Our approach: We understand the dual role of societies as both knowledge disseminators and community builders, balancing scholarly excellence with financial sustainability. Our vendor-neutral perspective helps you make informed decisions about publishing partnerships and business models.
We are a Dimensions Data Partner. By combining this data with our scholarly communication expertise, we help clients make confident, evidence-based decisions. For detailed information on our publishing expertise, see our Publishers & Scholarly Communication sector page.
Support for developing and demonstrating the impact of your policy work, engaging with government, funders, and sector bodies on behalf of your discipline or professional community.
What you get: Policy impact assessment, stakeholder engagement strategies, evidence synthesis for policy submissions, and frameworks for tracking and communicating your influence on research policy and practice.
Our approach: We help you articulate and evidence your policy contributions, demonstrating value to members and funders whilst strengthening your voice in critical policy debates.
Our clients include national academies, learned societies, professional associations, and sector membership bodies across the research ecosystem:
Research Consulting delivered a wide-ranging research data management review, engaging multiple university functions and our academic community. The consulting team worked closely with us to prioritise the objectives for this work, and combined a structured approach to project management with a flexible approach to delivery. I was impressed with their responsiveness to our needs and ability to stick to our timeline, and their work has laid a firm foundation for the strategic and operational development of research data management at the university. Patrick Grant, University of Oxford, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research
We are always happy to talk through options and approaches to help you design the project you need. Whether you’re reviewing your business model, consulting your membership, evaluating initiatives, or developing your publishing strategy, we’re here to help.
