Make Sense Of It

From "what is AI?" to "here's what works for us"

Most AI training for charities looks the same: a generic workshop, some demos of ChatGPT, a slide deck you'll never open again. Your team leaves feeling informed but not equipped. The technology feels interesting but distant from the work they actually do. We think training should be different. The best way to learn AI is to use it on your own problems, with your own data. That's how confidence gets built and that's how you find out what actually works. We've designed three training products that meet charities wherever they are on their AI journey. Each one is built around doing, not just knowing. And each one leaves you with something concrete: a clearer picture, a practical plan, or evidence of what works.

Pick your starting point

Three products, each designed for a different stage of your AI journey. You don't need to do them in order, and you don't need to do all three. Start wherever makes sense for you.

Sense Check

What is this stuff and why should we care?

For organisations at the early stage of their AI journey, the first challenge isn't technical. It's getting everyone on the same page: what AI actually is and what it can realistically do for your mission. Sense Check is a focused introduction designed for your context, not a generic overview. We use your sector and your challenges to make AI tangible and practical. The session is interactive throughout because people learn more from exploring ideas together than from being talked at. This isn't about convincing anyone that AI is the answer. It's about giving your team enough understanding to have an honest conversation about whether and where to start.

What's included

  • A pre-session survey to understand where your team is starting from and what they're curious about
  • Tailored workshop (90 minutes to half a day, depending on your needs) covering AI fundamentals, sector applications, and structured discussion of opportunities and risks
  • Interactive elements including case studies relevant to your sector, small group activities, and facilitated discussion
  • Post-session summary with key findings and prioritised next steps

What you'll walk away with

  • A team with a shared, realistic understanding of what AI can and can't do
  • A clear picture of where your people see opportunities and concerns
  • A summary document you can share with colleagues and your board
  • Practical next steps, not a reading list

Who it's for

Leadership teams, cross-functional groups, or whole departments who need a solid foundation before making decisions about AI. We've run Sense Check sessions for groups of 6 and groups of 150, and we adapt the format to fit.

From £2,800 + VAT

Sense Map

Where are we and what should we do?

You know AI matters. You might even have some ideas about where it could help. But there's a gap between "AI could be useful" and "here's what we should actually do." Sense Map closes that gap. We work with your teams to understand how work actually happens: where time gets lost, what's repetitive, where information gets stuck. Then we map those realities against what AI can do today, and help you prioritise the opportunities that will make the biggest difference. This isn't a strategy document that sits on a shelf. It's a practical roadmap built with the people who'll need to make it work, so it has buy-in from day one.

What's included

  • Stakeholder conversations with key people across relevant teams to understand priorities and ways of working
  • Discovery workshops (typically 2-3 sessions) where teams map their processes, identify opportunities, and prioritise what matters most
  • An AI landscape briefing covering what's working in your sector and adjacent sectors, so you're making decisions with the full picture
  • Analysis and synthesis where we pull together everything we've heard and assess feasibility across teams
  • Written roadmap with prioritised opportunities, recommended approaches, and what each would take

What you'll walk away with

  • A clear, prioritised map of where AI can create real value in your organisation
  • Practical AI guidelines your team can use to make day-to-day decisions
  • A sequenced plan: what to start now, what needs more groundwork, and what to watch
  • Recommendations that work within your constraints, not ones that assume resources you don't have

Who it's for

Organisations that have had the introductory conversations and are ready to get specific. Sense Map works best when you can involve people from across different teams or functions, because the best opportunities often sit at the intersections.

From £6,400 + VAT

Sense Make

Does this actually work for us?

Knowing where AI could help is one thing. Proving it actually does is another. Sense Make is a hands-on programme where your teams test AI on their real work, with our support, and generate evidence about what's worth scaling. We've found that people learn more from using AI on their own tasks than from any amount of training. So rather than front-loading knowledge, we embed learning throughout: each phase builds your team's skills and confidence in the context of their actual work. This is where theory becomes practice. By the end, you won't just have a report. You'll have a team that's used AI, knows what works, and has the confidence to keep going.

What's included

  • Discovery phase with stakeholder interviews and a town hall or all-staff session to set the scene and surface priorities
  • Pilot design and launch where we work with your teams to select and set up focused pilots, each tackling a real pain point
  • Ongoing support throughout the pilot period: check-ins, troubleshooting, and helping teams adapt as they learn
  • Measurement framework designed around what matters for your mission, not just what the technology produces
  • Evaluation and roadmap covering what worked, what didn't, time saved and where it went, and what to invest in next
  • AI acceptable use guidance developed alongside the work, grounded in your specific context

What you'll walk away with

  • Evidence-based clarity on where AI adds value across your teams
  • Tested pilots with real performance data, not theoretical projections
  • A team with hands-on experience using AI in their actual work
  • Practical guidance on data privacy, safe use, and maintaining your voice
  • A prioritised roadmap for what to do next

Who it's for

Organisations that have mapped their opportunities and are ready to test. Sense Make is particularly valuable for charities that need to build an evidence-based case for AI investment, whether that's for their board, their funders, or their own confidence.

From £11,900 + VAT

What's in each

All prices + VAT.

The full journey

AI adoption isn't a single step. Most organisations move through a series of stages, and knowing where you are helps you decide what to do next. Our training products cover the first three stages: building understanding, finding direction, and testing what works. Beyond that, the work shifts from training to building: custom AI tools, deeper integrations, and organisational change. That's our build work, and it picks up where training leaves off.

Early stage

Sense Check

Curious about AI but no shared understanding yet. Some informal use, but no clear picture of what's possible or what the risks are.

Developing

Sense Map

Had some conversations, maybe a workshop or two. People are interested but you don't know where AI fits or what to prioritise.

Integrating

Sense Make

You've identified opportunities and possibly started using tools. Now you need to prove whether AI genuinely works in your context.

Transforming

Build and strategy

AI is embedded in multiple areas of your work and generating real value. You're scaling what works and building internal capability.

Leading

Build and strategy

AI is a core part of how your organisation operates. You're innovating responsibly and contributing to sector-wide learning.

You don't need to climb every step. Some organisations will get what they need from a Sense Check and never look back. Others will move through all three training products and into custom build work. The right path depends on your mission, your resources, and how much value AI can realistically create for you.

How we work

Training through doing

We don't believe in training that happens in a vacuum. Generic demos with made-up data don't teach people how AI fits into their work. Every session, workshop, and pilot we run uses your actual work and your actual problems. That's how people build real confidence and how you get real answers about what works.

We start with people, not technology

The best AI opportunities start with understanding how teams actually work and what they need, then matching the right tools to the right problems. We spend time listening before we start recommending. And we design workshops that meet people where they are, not where we think they should be.

Honest about what AI can and can't do

AI isn't magic and we won't pretend it is. Some things it's good at. Some things it's terrible at. Some things it can do but probably shouldn't in your context. We'll tell you the difference. We'd rather you adopt one tool that actually helps than five that gather dust.

Built for the charity sector

Charities operate in complex, sensitive contexts where getting things wrong has real consequences. We understand the regulatory landscape, the data challenges, and the cultural dynamics of introducing new technology into mission-driven teams. We've published the AI Playbook for Charities and 89 AI Recipes specifically for the sector.

The people who write the proposal do the work

We're a small team. Suzanne and Edd are involved in every engagement. You won't get a senior partner for the pitch and a junior consultant for the delivery.

Who we've worked with

WaterAid

Hands-on AI training with the Performance and Insight team, using real WaterAid data to demonstrate practical applications. We split the session by technical comfort level so everyone could learn at the right pace. The team was surprised by how much value could be extracted from existing data that hadn't been apparent through manual review.

Virgin Money Foundation

Values-aligned AI education that created psychological safety for exploration. Rather than pushing for rapid adoption, we helped the team build understanding and agency, so they could make confident decisions about where AI fits their mission.

National Fire Chiefs Council

AI capability building across UK fire services, working with three cohorts of 60 professionals. We connected AI to operational realities rather than abstract possibilities, so people could see how it applied to their actual work.

Ready to talk?

The right starting point depends on where you are and what you need. Sometimes that's obvious; sometimes it's not. Either way, the best next step is a conversation. Book a call and we'll help you figure out which product fits, or whether you need something different entirely. No pitch, no pressure, just an honest conversation about what would actually be useful.

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Technological change continues to accelerate but only a quarter of charities say they feel prepared to respond to the opportunities and challenges. Let's close the opportunity gap together.

hello@make-sense-of-it.com
Edd Baldry - FounderEB
Suzanne Begley - FounderSB
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