Supporting and empowering carers
Together for good – the client challenge
There are more than 700,000 carers across Victoria, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the broader Victorian community. More than 20% of Victorians over the age of 55 play a caring role, with over 168,000 carers aged over 65 caring for their spouse or other family members and over 62,000 young carers in Victoria under the age of 25.
Carers Victoria (CV) is a social purpose peak body with a charitable focus, supporting and empowering unpaid carers in Victoria. The organisation has a deep understanding of current and emerging issues and opportunities in the care sector, and works closely with government, other peak bodies, service providers, and private organisations to address them.
CV engaged Cube Group to develop a Business Development (BD) Framework for the organisation that strengthened revenue generation and diversification activities in order to best support and empower carers.
Bringing the right thinking and people to the table
Cube engaged extensively with CV leaders and undertook sector research to develop a dynamic business development framework. We created a strong set of BD principles for the organisation, with a deep focus on improving the lives of carers and the people they care for.
The framework explored:
Contesting and winning grants and other government funding;
Unlocking high-value philanthropic support;
Commercialisation of products and services;
Accessing community-based fundraising, donations and bequests; and
Generating corporate sponsorship revenue.
We demonstrated the role of business development in delivering some ‘big ideas’ for the organisation, and recommended roles, reporting lines and governance arrangements to embed the BD function, create a culture of social entrepreneurship and drive coordinated and agile BD practices. We then developed an implementation roadmap to build Carers Victoria’s business development capability, capacity and impact.
The positive change we delivered
By developing a robust approach to business development, Cube helped Carers Victoria to better support carers by strengthening the role, reputation, financial resilience and positive impact of the organisation.
Insights for inquisitive minds
For social purpose organisations with a charitable focus, ‘business development’ can best be defined as ‘the creation and diversification of revenue that generates organisational and social value’
Business development is an ‘enabler’ and not an end unto itself; it needs to be considered through the lens of the social impact that it creates and mobilises
By thoughtfully integrating BD within an organisation, ‘big ideas’ can be pursued in ways that are consistent with the organisation’s purpose, role and culture.
“Unpaid carers are the unsung heroes of our communities. We’re proud to support an organisation that is dedicated to improving the lives of carers and the people they care for.”
Ben Schramm
Managing Partner, Cube Group
