Policy and service delivery are both vital parts of many charities role, and stronger when they work together.

Charities that provide direct services are not always aware of the rich data and intelligence they hold and how that could benefit work to influence long term change for their beneficiaries. They may not realise the value of policy influence work to improve the lives of those they support.

You might be developing a strategy for your organisation or planning a big project and wondering why you need someone external to help you. After all, you have lots of expertise in the room.

Effective collaboration can be a powerful thing. To be really effective though, you need to get the groundwork right. So often, collaboration begins with identifying areas of agreement. However, areas of disagreement are every bit as important.