Our story
2019:
Set up by CAST
A collective of people and organisations, set up by the Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology (CAST), helping charities with digital, data and design in order to respond to the changing needs and behaviours in their communities
Funded by a group of private and public foundations with support from government
Launched by CAST following codesign sessions with multiple sector stakeholders
Initial focus areas:
Practice, Sector Tech and Networks
Discovery research projects to identify sector needs and gaps
Three main focus areas:
- improving digital practice
- identifying tech tools and practices to support the sector, and
- building collaborative networks
Creating and supporting prototype services
Researched and prototyped new services, e.g. Design Hops, a free workshop on digital service design
Supported the development of partner-led initiatives responding to sector needs, e.g. Digital Candle, a free digital expert advice service
March 2020:
Pivoted in the pandemic
Switched to providing urgent hands-on support, e.g. fortnightly DigiShift Zoom calls, remote working guides and Dovetail, a directory of ‘tech for good’ agencies
Matched nonprofits pivoting to online service delivery with digital help
Partnered with funders to signpost and connect their grantees to relevant support
August 2020:
Delegated grant funding
Awarded grants + digital partner contracts through the £5m COVID-19 Digital Response Fund (via Lottery)
223 grants to a variety of nonprofits, supported by over 60 partners and a dedicated team of Connectors to support nonprofit-agency relationships
January 2021:
Transition begins
Research showed need to be more network-led and less synonymous with CAST
Recognised need for more diverse and equitable representation across Catalyst
Decision to conduct strategic review whilst
continuing to deliver core services
Captured in We’re Changing blog, April 2021
Raised funding for continuation, momentum and transition of Catalyst
2021-2022:
New team builds
Recruited and onboarded new Producer team (Ellie, Jo, Siana) to lead Catalyst into its next phase
Experiments in decentralised governance with 20 initiative lead delivery partners, e.g. sociocratic circles, co-budgeting, consent decision-making
Recruited Steering Group to hold and support the review process
Commissioned research to inform review
2023:
Strategic review and consultation
9 month strategic review programme completed
Engagement with CAST Board re: transition
Outlandish and Held Collective support with circle governance and diversity, equity and inclusion
Partners co-govern and continue to deliver
huge impact, reach and learnings
Recruited Megan onto Producer team
Refreshed model, vision & mission are shared with the network for feedback
2024:
New entity and strategy
Continuation, pivoting, re-homing
and composting of partner-led initiatives
Continuing to explore what the new vision means to the network
Setting up Catalyst as a CIC, including establishing a new governance model
Recruiting a support team for the CIC and network
Finding partners to fund/resource the work
Learn more about the new organisation and strategy in CAST and Catalyst: the journey, the transition - and beyond.
More about Catalyst
Who we are
Find out more about who we work with and how we collaborate.
Meet the team
Meet our team and read about who is involved.
Contact us
We would love to hear from you. Get in touch and speak to one of our team.
