Mentoring

The Alliance Mentoring Scheme matches member organisations with expert mentors who will work with them in a tailored, constructive and supportive way. Mentoring is a flexible process that includes feedback, planning and regular communication. Each relationship is custom-built to address the organisation’s specific needs, and work together towards developing a plan to address them, at a pace that suits the organisation.

Why Mentoring?

A mentor brings fresh eyes and a constructive approach to help an organisation become stronger and more effective. Mentoring can help organisations to:

Take a systematic look at what they are doing now
Reflect on organisational issues and question existing practices
Identify areas where they are doing well or not
Decide which changes are required
Plan and allocate resources over a realistic time period to implement these changes

Mentoring Services

We have a number of services on offer within our mentoring programme:

Tailored thematic support: Mentoring will be available through packages of support for organisations on thematic areas including: Fundraising, Project Management and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. This support will be provided by our experienced mentors who have expertise in organisational development. This is available for all members.
Accompaniment Service: Following on from support given to potential applicants to the Scottish Government International Development Small Grants Programme, we are now offering 30 hours free mentoring, training and skills share sessions are available to all successful grantees. This support will be tailored to the needs of the organisation and is available throughout the grant cycle.
Going for Growth: 30 hours free mentoring is available for organisations going through a period of growth. This will be tailored to the individual needs of the organisation with a focus on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning being one area. Support from experienced mentors will be offered to a limited number of organisations each year.

Rates and Conditions

The mentorship rate is £30 per hour. The Alliance subsidises this rate according to the size of members, as shown in the table below.

Member Income	Member Contribution	The Alliance Contribution
£0-250,000	free	£30
£250,000-500,000	£15	£15
£500,000+	£30	£0

Keys to Success

Realistic and clearly agreed objectives for the mentoring relation
Commitment on the part of the organisation at large (staff, board, volunteers)
Clear agreement on the time that the organisation is willing to devote to the mentoring relation
Being open to give and receive honest feedback – and to be challenged
Mutual respect and punctuality