Innovation agency for charities and cause-driven brands.
The old ways to fundraise and engage audiences don’t work.
We deliver new ideas that fly in a changing world.
At Flying Cars, we put your audience first. Whether finding new audience perspectives or generating new audience-led ideas, we put your audiences at the heart of our work. Specialising in prototyping and iterating ideas with speed, we can help you shape big ideas that meet both your supporters’ desires and your organisational objectives. And we train you to be able to do the same. Innovation is the only way to thrive in an uncertain world. We’ll help you find the way.
Broccoli ice-cream
“In a world where ice-cream is only chocolate, strawberry or vanilla, innovation is testing broccoli, carrot, and couscous until you get something awesome like pistachio flavour.”
ANNE RACE, FOUNDER - FLYING CARS
Innovation cycles
Our innovation cycles are purpose-built to drive income and engagement. Using our unique and flexible ‘DIAL-IT-UP’ innovation model, we provide scalable solutions tailored to your needs – from help with brief-writing to a fully prototyped idea. Read more here
Audience Insight
Successful innovation is always audience-led. We provide rich insight drawn from comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research into your audiences. But we don’t stop there. Using video research methods we let your supporters tell you their needs and motivations in their own words. Read more here
Operating models
With more than 20 years’ experience in charities of all sizes, we know precisely what it takes to embed innovation in your organisation. We’ll help you negotiate with stakeholders, overcome barriers and avoid pitfalls to deliver an innovation operating model that works for you.
Innovation Training
With training delivered by Anne or Henry, you’ll hear from innovation experts who know what it’s like to be in your team’s shoes. From writing a brief, through audience insight, idea generation, prototyping and making a case for investment, we’ll give your staff the skills they need to produce propositions that deliver. Read more here
Rapid prototyping
Already have the ideas? We know how to turn them into prototypes and systematically test them at speed. Working with agility, we’ll quickly pivot in response to your audience’s reactions and make expert recommendations on which ideas will fly. Read more here
Innovation strategy
Whatever your experience and familiarity with innovation, we’ll support you to create evidence-led strategies, rooted in compelling audience insight and suited to your organisation’s needs. Read more here
Anne Race, Founder
As a young fundraiser, Anne set off on a trip around Australia with nothing more than a binbag (to keep her decent) to her name. A year later, she’d raised $25,000 in earned wages for Book Aid International and learned all about how to innovate to generate income. Back in the UK, she quickly worked her way to the top of fundraising strategy and innovation teams at some of the UK’s leading charities, before teaming up with Henry to found Flying Cars. Connect on Linked In
Henry Rowling, Founder
Henry believes profoundly in the power of innovation to drive social change. Deeply versed in audience insight, his expertise spans all aspects of fundraising strategy, across innovation and supporter engagement. Recent accomplishments include galvanising a consortium of UK charities around an idea that led to a 110 organisation-strong global fundraising response to the coronavirus pandemic. Connect on Linked In