Introducing Ampacc

The best service costings and financial modelling tool for your voluntary organisation.

At Clear Thinking Consultancy, we have long known – and this has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic – how some of the smallest, most at-risk voluntary and community organisations are so effective at reaching the most vulnerable sections of our society.

In 2017, we were commissioned to carry out a unit costing amongst voluntary and community organisations in one of London’s richest boroughs. Through this work, an analysis of participants’ actual costs compared to what they were being funded showed just how dire the situation was.

With the smallest VCOs being disproportionately underfunded (some receiving as little as a quarter of their actual costs) it was no wonder the leaders of these VCOs were burnt out, unable to grow their income and were often working for little or sometimes no pay. Scarily, most leaders had no idea how underfunded their services were. In the absence of any understanding of their unit costs and hence charge out rates, this meant that even when they were securing income, they were over-promising, and as a result lost money in the delivery of that project or service.

We felt something needed to be done to support these VCO leaders, which is why we are proud to have developed Ampacc, the user-friendly financial tool helping voluntary and community organisations recover the full costs for the services they deliver.

How it works

1. Tell us a bit about your organisation.
   Getting some initial information about the type of workers you have and their terms and conditions, such as annual leave and pension contribution, enables us to design bespoke templates so you’re only completing info relevant to your organisation.
2. Complete your templates.
   Having to hand information about staffing, expenditure and income and savings is all you need for an accurate calculation of your running costs, overheads and charge out structures.
3. Have a play.
   We use Microsoft Excel as it allows you to work through different scenarios, looking at the financial implications of various management decisions and fundraising performance. We have piloted it to ensure that it is user friendly and accessible.
4. Start getting funded for your full costs.
   Be confident that you are submitting accurate budgets that properly cover your costs. No more emailing at 10pm or cold sweats just before payroll.

Don’t just take our word for it, here’s what some of our clients have to say about Ampacc:

“As a non-profit organisation, we only want to ask for what we need, but I didn’t realise how far short we were selling ourselves. Now we understand what our services really cost, we believe in our own worth more, because we know that what we are asking for is fair – I know it’s accurate. The work that our organisation has done with Ampacc has saved us – it means we will be around to continue the amazing work we do for our communities.”
Dave Walker MBE Director, Calm Mediation (formerly Southwark Mediation Centre)

“Just brilliant in supporting us to calculate our unit costing, and through this helped us with so much more at a crucial point in our organisation’s life.”
Lucy Warren Projects Manager, Resonate Arts

“At YBF we have found AMPACC both informative and transformative. It has demonstrated the full cost of our business model and the opportunities for growth. YBF recommends and endorses this tool for your toolbox.”
Chris Murray CEO, Young Brent Foundation

When you sign up for Ampacc, you’ll receive an initial questionnaire to find out more about your organisation, the nature of its relationships with the people that work there and the terms and conditions that govern those relationships. If you would like to know more about how Ampacc can make a sustainable and long-term difference to your organisation, get in touch for a free 45-minute consultation today.

Find out more at my-ampacc.com