Balu und Du e.V. was founded in 2005 under the guiding principle "Big engagement for small members!". The aim is to support children (“Mowgli”) by providing an individual mentoring programme through young adults (“Baloo”) that meet their mentees on a weekly basis. In their meetings, Balloo can show Mowgli around and lend him an open ear. Apart from this, the program focuses on the personal development of their mentors too. Since the founding of Balu und Du, more than 9,000 partnerships have been established and accompanied. To stay in touch with its former mentors and give them the opportunity to actively participate, Balu und Du want to build an alumni network. In addition, the association would like to intensify their program development which is key for their future.
Workshop with the executive and supervisory board of Balu und Du in Osnabrück, Germany
Many thanks to Oliver Wyman for really caring about our cause and showing great dedication. Together, we started an intensive development of our program which is key for the future of our association. All of this was possible thanks to our close collaborationDr. Dominik Esch and Heiko Krauß, Chairmen of the Executive Board, Balu und Du e.V.
Scope
Over a period of six weeks, Oliver Wyman supported the board of Balu und Du e.V. with the strategy and implementation plan for the set-up of an alumni network as well as with the future program development.
- Alumni network: In the first step, the Oliver Wyman team conducted several interviews with similar organisations to collect best practices for the set-up of an alumni network. A number of motivated and engaged local program coordinators shared their experiences of local alumni activities that are already in place. The insights have been used to define the objective of the alumni network and to prioritise activities (for and from Baloos). Based on this, different options for an organizational model have been developed, whereby the Oliver Wyman team assisted in the final decision-making process. Furthermore, Oliver Wyman helped in preparing the implementation phase including first concrete steps to undertake subsequent to this project.
- Program development: To capture the current program development at Balu und Du, Oliver Wyman had several discussions with the executive and supervisory board. In a workshop with all involved parties, we discussed the envisioned direction of the future program development.
Workshop in the Cologne offices
I used to be mentor with Balu und Du myself and therefore I am very proud that Oliver Wyman achieved a great impact for such an exceptional organization. In particular, I am delighted that we supported the strategy development and implementation planning that allows Balu und Du to keep in touch with former mentors, such as myselfDr. Thilo Grunwald-Henrich, Engagement Manager, Oliver Wyman
Impact
- Alumni network: A comprehensive concept to set-up an alumni network has been developed in a collaborative way. This includes the planned activities for and from former mentors as well as the organizational model and resources needed. For this, the Oliver Wyman team created a roadmap and undertook first actions to initiate the alumni network.
- Program development: In a workshop, advantages and disadvantages were elaborated for several options on how to accelerate the program’s development. At the end of this, a final decision was made to keep the close connection to science but also to create a new connection with the quality assurance.
The Oliver Wyman team is a delighted that the board decided to create a new job vacancy to further drive these topics.
