About ChangeStar

 

Why we exist

We want to seek a more sustainable, just and enlightened world. Our values are outlined in more detail in this download document - Our Values <Word Document - 51KB>.

We believe organisations seeking a better world (such as charities and not-for profits) need to become more effective both at pursuing this vision for a better world and helping their own staff to flourish as people generally. To do this, we believe they need to integrate the following areas into their work:

bullet A broad worldview - an overarching understanding of various disciplines, including history, politics, society, psychology and philosophy in order to understand people and the world that we live in;
  
bullet Vision for progressive change – an understanding of the broader vision for progressive change, and where their cause fits into it, plus the challenges and opportunities this vision presents;
  
bullet Personal wisdom - a profound personal appreciation of the human experience and empathy for the experiences of others;
bullet Practical skills - an ability to put the skills, learning and wisdom from personal and professional experience into practice.

We use these insights in the services we provide to organisations in order to help them use innovative approaches to successfully seek change.

What We Do

We are an agency and consultancy that helps organisations to seek a better world - but with a major difference. We are not a fundraising, campaigning or communications agency - but a change agency. Our focus is on finding the most effective ways for your organisation to achieve its goals and gain positive change.

Hence, you'll find us refreshingly free of marketing or management bullshit but highly knowledgeable about what works. We use evidence and broader thinking to inform our work - from a focus on data and results in our fundraising to a understanding of disciplines from politics to psychology that underpins all our work.

You'll also find that we bring a whole lot more than just expertise in areas like fundraising and organisational development - we are passionate and knowledgeable about seeking social change as we are involved in writing about it and seeking it ourselves, through our own organisations such as Life² and Our world our say and our books such as 'Modern Life - as good as it gets?'.

Our work is split as follows:

1.

A set of client-facing services, including a 'change agency', that use our own range of skills, experience and insight to help others who are seeking change. Services include:

  
  - Fundraising, campaigning and communications
- Organisational consultancy and strategy development
- Interim management and support services
- Consultancy, research, thinking and writing on social, political and environmental issues - for example, how to improve well-being in your organisation
- Innovation and ideas development		  
2. A think tank that offers new perspectives, clarity, thinking and ideas to help organisations to seek a more sustainable, just and enlightened world.  
3. An incubator for new social initiatives that will help us move towards a better future.

 

Who We Are

Some information on the people associated with ChangeStar.

Richard Docwra - Founder
Richard's background covers several of the key areas that constitute ChangeStar, and it is this mixture of background experience that led him to develop the organisation.

He has worked within issues relating to global and social change for over 10 years, working with organisations such as Oxfam, Concern and Schumacher UK. As the Chief Executive of fundraising agency TW CAT Ltd, he led the company to achieve a 20-fold growth in turnover over a 3-year period.

In recent years his work interests have turned to theoretical issues, leaving TW CAT in order to undertake a number of projects, including the development of a not-for-profit scheme entitled 'just think…' (www.justthink.org.uk), the provision of consultancy to the not-for-profit sector, the completion of an MA in Philosophy and the continuation of his study and writing on philosophical and other issues. Published work includes ''Active Global Citizenship" in Renewal (2004) and the book 'Modern Life - As Good As It Gets?' (Green Books, Oct 2008). See www.richarddocwra.com for more details.

Tim Walker - Associate
Tim has 20 years experience of campaigning and fundraising. He has worked at grass roots level right up to senior level in a range of pressure groups, charities and commercial organisations.

His early campaigning and fundraising was for CND and the Anti Apartheid Movement. He then moved onto the position of Head of Fundraising at John Grooms Association for Disabled People. After this, Tim established TW CAT - a direct marketing agency for voluntary organisations. In ten years of work TW CAT was never beaten in donor fundraising tests and broke records for every client. Tim's approach is based upon a marriage of targeting and creative. He is also a strong advocate of making high profile advertising work for campaigning organisations. Tim was one of the founders of Our World Our Say - www.owos.info - an online advocacy organisation seeking to enhance democracy by giving people a voice.