The Client
A leading regional foundation created in order to contribute to the revival of the Arab world, and counting among its Trustees several of the most influential business and social figures in the Arab World.

Main challenges
Recognizing the state of stagnation of Arab countries while also recognizing the importance of preserving and promoting Arab culture, our client decided to create a foundation in order to contribute to the revival of the Arab world.
During the launch period of the foundation, an important external communication campaign took place in order to create market visibility and to capture the interest of Arab leaders; indeed, the foundation did receive an enthusiastic welcome by several personalities around the Arab world, who had great expectations that the foundation will be able to help address the challenges facing the Arab nation.
A couple of years after its creation, the Trustees of the foundation, who counted several of the most influential business and social figures in the Arab world, realized that the foundation was not having much impact and many of them, as well as other external partners, were developing frustration and loss of interest, leading to divergence in opinions about how to move forward.
It is in this context that the foundation asked CDS to help in revisiting the foundation’s vision, strategy, governance mechanisms, and operating modes.

Approach
CDS started its assignment by understanding the general situation that is prevailing in the Arab World at the political, economical, social, and cultural levels, analyzing along the way the role and the contribution of Arab NGOs and Arab intellectuals.

CDS also undertook an institutional assessment of the foundation and provided an objective evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses.

CDS then performed a detailed analysis of tens of comparable NGOs in the US, Europe, and the Arab World, and developed a clear understanding of success factors at the level of vision, strategy, governance, and operations.

Based on this understanding, and on the specific needs of the Arab world and of Arab NGOs, CDS developed precise recommendations and an action plan to develop the foundation and ensure that it makes a tangible impact; this covered the mission statement of the foundation, its strategy, scope, target audience, partnerships, financing, governance, external communication, operations, and organization.

Impact: selected results

• The establishment, among all Trustees, of a clear and shared vision about the foundation’s purpose and objectives, and an agreement among them about how to move forward in order to make the desired impact
• Renewed commitment by the Trustees to the foundation, and revival of their interest in it
• Creation of an internal committee to implement the action plan established by CDS, reflecting the strengthened commitment of the foundation to make the required changes happen

The client says …
I would like to congratulate you on the presentation you did to the Trustees and for your commitment to the cause of our foundation.

Trustee, Chief Executive Officer of a leading regional financing company

What CDS has done is superb and our Board really has very little disagreement with what you have done or proposed.

Trustee, Chairman of a regional group of companies engaged in trading, contracting, and manufacturing