From the Nominator

The Manchester Mindset is our framework for a high-performance fundraising team. Created by and for fundraisers, it embodies our fundraising culture and behaviors. We integrate the Manchester Mindset throughout our work—from attracting, onboarding, and developing talent to creating a positive culture that enables everyone to perform at their best. With ambitious goals to deliver and a fundraising team which had seen significant change, we needed to bring our people together to develop a shared understanding of what high-performance in fundraising means. We wanted to align this with our existing division-wide values (bold, collaborative, integrity, ambitious). We kicked off with a workshop based on what these values mean in practice for fundraisers. From this, a working group developed the first iteration of our Manchester Mindset framework. Since then, we have developed many ways to embed the Manchester Mindset. A regular "Mindset of the Month" session gives colleagues the chance to discuss the mindset in practice and celebrate those who are living it. Mindset questions are included in all fundraising recruitment, a Mindset microsite is used in our job packs, and Mindset-based guidance forms the basis of our performance reviews. New starters are inducted to the Mindset with a pin badge and bespoke Mindset planner. The output has been a shared understanding of what high-performance means; ownership of our culture by fundraisers at all levels; and a robust and resilient team. In a competitive recruitment market, several new starters have cited the Mindset as part of what attracted them to Manchester.

From the Judges

This nomination was well-thought out and implemented in a way to garner widespread buy-in and support. Additionally, we appreciated the holistic approach and the ability to reframe group culture.