Strategic Clarity. Grounded in Human Insight.
The funding landscape has changed. SignalWork conducts independent stakeholder research that helps mission-driven organisations strengthen funder relationships, sharpen positioning, and unlock funding.
Surfacing what dashboards miss - the perceptions, concerns, and opportunities that shape funding decisions.
We've conducted 300+ interviews with decision-makers across philanthropy, business, and government, including major global funders.
How We Partner
Stakeholder Intelligence
Independent research into how your most important stakeholders perceive your organisation - and what they're not telling you directly.
Funders, investors, and partners rarely share concerns openly. Power dynamics and institutional politeness create blind spots. We conduct confidential interviews that surface perception gaps, unspoken risks, and opportunities, and deliver board-ready findings.
Income Strategy
From opportunistic fundraising to a model you can plan around.
Your income has grown, but it's fragmented - different teams chasing different funders with no shared pipeline or strategy. Leadership wants to scale but doesn't know where the real opportunities are or what infrastructure is missing. We diagnose your current income mix, map the landscape of funders and partners, and design a strategy and system that holds together.
Positioning & Narrative
Your strategy is clear internally. Externally, it's not landing.
You've refined your theory of change, but funders still ask "what exactly do you do?" Your proposals are strong on detail but weak on resonance. Your comms team is producing content, but it's not opening doors. We test your positioning with the people you need to reach - funders, partners, board prospects and refine your narrative until it earns attention.
Why We Are Different
Built for a shifted paradigm
The nonprofit world has fundamentally changed. Funders, partners, and stakeholders are navigating uncertainty, and so are you. We help leaders see clearly when the ground is moving, not just when the data is tidy.
Starting with the question, not the answer
We don't arrive with pre-packaged archetypes or borrowed frameworks. Every engagement begins with real interrogation of the question, using multiple data sources to surface what actually matters, not what's convenient to measure.
The perspective of leaders who've been in the chair
SignalWork is led by people who have made decisions as nonprofit leaders, not just advised on them. We understand how to engage in the world more broadly as an organisation, not just optimise within the silo of income or market.
About signalWork
As a nonprofit leader, you're trying to keep strategy, stakeholder relationships, and funding sustainability aligned, while the ground keeps shifting.
The challenge isn't lack of data. It's that the insights you need most - what funders actually think, where perception gaps are costing you - rarely land on your desk.
Certain capabilities remain distinctly human. Trust is one, funders share concerns they won't commit to writing. Context is another, understanding why people behave the way they do, right now, in this specific situation. And finally, value judgements: what trade-off is acceptable, what risk is worth taking, what story will land in the boardroom.
SignalWork helps you listen to the people who matter most. Through independent insight, we surface the human realities behind funding decisions and translate them into strategic direction you can act on with confidence.
Contact Us
To discuss how SignalWork can support your organisation, get in touch.