At Flying Cars we’re on a mission to democratise innovation and teach charity fundraisers everything we know about launching new products. Products that go on to raise big bucks and engage thousands of people to make the world a better place.

It’s something we believe passionately in. And we’re having fun doing it. You should join us.

On Wednesday, May 15th, we wrapped up the second cohort of the Innovation Academy with 20 graduates who keenly studied through the four Masterclasses. It’s safe to say the feedback has been brilliant. 

The next cohort is in September this year.

Join the Waitlist to be first in line to book ⬇️

Spaces are strictly limited and demand is very high.

On the course, we teach the value of the Minimum Viable Product and the need to constantly iterate and improve. Essentially - how to pivot.

So, without further ado, here are the ten pivots we made between cohort one and cohort two. These vastly improved the learning experience.

1. Four Masterclasses - not Three
   Feedback from the first cohort was that the content was brilliant but people wanted longer to explore and practice the tools and techniques we taught. We also felt there was new content we could add in around AI, Storytelling and creating brilliant business cases - so we upped it to a 4-day offer.
   

2. In-person - not all virtual

   In cohort 1, all sessions were virtual. This did not allow for a deepening of connections between participants. All graduates enjoyed getting to know peers from other charities and discussing common issues they all faced. We wanted to put a greater emphasis on connection, networking and face-to-face time. The solution was a final in-person Masterclass where everyone would meet at our office in East London.

3. Free places for under-served groups

Increasing the diversity of innovation practitioners in the charity sector is incredibly important to us as a business. We think and talk about it daily. We asked people from underserved groups to apply for a free spot via a simple Google Form. We were planning on offering two free spots this time. Again - we received over 50 applications. It was overwhelming but also incredibly encouraging that people with such incredible talent and passion came forward. Ultimately, we couldn’t whittle it down to two - so gave away four free spots. We will be doing more of this in the future.

4. A brief from a real organisation

We always like to use live briefs in our training sessions. Information is not retained when you teach theory without applying it to real problems. In the first cohort, we used a brief from a made-up organisation. We felt that if we asked people on the cohort to submit their own briefs, then those who were not chosen would be demotivated. So we created an environmental organisation and a made-up brief for them. On review, we felt that this didn’t work brilliantly - there was nothing to get stuck into - nothing on the line, and it felt like we could improve this area. 

So, for this cohort, we asked organisations to submit briefs using a simple Google Form a couple of weeks before starting. We received over 50 submissions - which was quite overwhelming. Some fabulous organisations applied, but in the end, we decided to take on a brief from Born Free

It was lovely that Amy and Carina could join us as judges for the in-person session to meet the teams and hear the ideas that had been created.

5. Split participants into three teams - Red, Blue, Green

In the first cohort, there were no formal teams. We split into groups from time to time but people participated as individuals. Because feedback emphasised the value of spending time with peers, we created teams to work on the same brief throughout. It meant strong bonds were formed in each of the teams.

6. Homemade brownies

In Cohort 1 there were no Brownies. In Cohort 2 there were Brownies. Courtesy of Tanvi and her incredible baking skills. Instant upgrade.

7. Judges 

As the participants were working to a live pitch at the end of the 4 days we wanted to invite experts along to hear and judge! We were lucky that some fab folks joined us and they really entered into the spirit of the day. They gave kind and thoughtful feedback to the teams and added to the sense of occasion.

8. Trophies

Tied to the competition element we felt it was appropriate that the winning team should get winners trophies. I wanted to get quick and easy one’s from Amazon. Anne felt we could do a lot better. So we ended up with these crackers. They arrived in the nick of time. As usual Anne was right.

9. Certificates

We wanted to acknowledge everyone's effort, so provided certificates for completing the four Masterclasses. The certificates are a lovely memento and went down very well.

10. AI content

How could we not include some content on AI? It would have been an oversight. We talked about and showed useful tools for speeding up qualitative insight analysis. Each participant had a play with a text-to-video tool to quickly spin up videos for the final pitch decks.

11. Live pitching

As we developed the content and material for the course, we realised we had missed out on some key areas of what we do in cohort one around business cases and pitching. We were keen to cover this, so included half a day on it in the syllabus. Teams concluded by creating their own pitch decks and live-pitched the 5 judges. This created some stress, but the teams rose to the challenge brilliantly, embraced the concept and showed great creativity.

So if you want to:

1. Learn a huge amount about Fundraising Innovation

2. Make new connections with other charities

3. Have a great time

Then join us in September. We can’t wait to meet you!