WWF was uniquely positioned to meet global environmental challenges based on its strong brand, evolving network identity, and demonstrated capability for large-scale impact. A significant change in leadership at the secretariat, the network’s coordinating office, prompted the organization to evaluate its potential, articulate its value-adding roles in service to the WWF network, define a new vision, and translate that vision into a new operating model. FSG was hired to guide the process.
Interviews with key staff members revealed a sense of untapped potential amid the urgency of global conservation challenges and a need for a clear value proposition emphasizing the secretariat’s leadership in building unity, driving higher performance standards, and nurturing ambition for large-scale conservation initiatives within the network. The new vision: Driving transparency, performance, and initiatives across the network.
To translate this new vision into an operating model, FSG helped to define key activities and deliverables for each division, assess the human and financial resources needed, and define the structure that would best deliver the value-proposition. This included the following.
- Linking the secretariat’s value proposition to specific goals.
- Building on network expectations to describe what success would look like.
- Assessing the secretariat’s activities to determine which delivered true value to the network.
- Identifying areas for change within the secretariat’s activities.
As the operational structure of the secretariat evolved, so too did the funding model. FSG supported this change by analyzing past funding agreements and expectations of the network and defining several funding scenarios. After donor segments were defined and assessed, new principles were developed to guide WWF International’s fundraising and budget allocations.
Over the course of the engagement, FSG guided WWF International through a major change process, from defining a new value proposition to determining a new organizational and operational structure to building a detailed transition timeline. FSG helped align WWF International’s activities with its new vision, enabling it to add value to its network and create significant impact in conservation.
About WWF International
The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF International works in 100 countries and is supported by close to 5 million members globally. WWF combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.
