What PRACTICAL PARTICIPATION LIMITED does

Practical Participation Limited is a UK-registered independent consultancy (company number 05381958, founded 2005) that delivers bespoke advisory, research, evaluation, and capacity-building services to social-change organisations. Its work is structured around four practice areas — participation, community development, organisational change, and social technology — and is delivered through three roles: project design and development, evaluation and research, and ongoing support. Clients span UK charities, government departments, international NGOs, and philanthropic foundations.

The firm's core products are a portfolio of participation frameworks and open data tools, including the Hear by Right standards (co-authored with the National Youth Agency), Act by Right (a five-stage activism resource), the Engage Toolkit, the Leading for the Future leadership resource, the Leadership and Management Workbook, the 360 Giving Data Standard for grant-making transparency, and the Open Data Barometer research instrument. Most resources are distributed free of charge, several under Creative Commons licences, and serve primarily as demand-generation and thought-leadership assets rather than revenue-generating products. The underlying technology is methodological rather than software-based, with technical differentiators centred on domain specialisation in participation, civic engagement, and open data standards.

The business model is sales-led and community-led professional services: every project is bespoke, priced per engagement, and contracted directly through the three co-directors (Bill Badham, Jennie Fleming, Tim Davies) with delivery supplemented by a network of associate consultants such as Alex Farrow. Revenue streams include consultancy fees, short-term research commissions, multi-year evaluation contracts, and capacity-building training. Grants from philanthropic funders (notably Nominet Trust and Indigo Trust) have funded specific research sprints and standards development. Geographic reach is primarily UK-based, with selected international engagements across 12+ countries via the World Wide Web Foundation's ODDC project and other partnerships. The firm has no external institutional shareholders, no disclosed funding rounds, and no subsidiary or parent-company structure.

Name

PRACTICAL PARTICIPATION LIMITED

Legal name

Practical Participation Ltd

Website

https://practicalparticipation.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Practical Participation Limited is a UK-based independent consultancy providing bespoke advisory, research, evaluation, and capacity-building services in participation, community development, organisational change, and social technology to charities, NGOs, government bodies, and philanthropic foundations, delivered by three co-directors and a network of associate consultants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

UK

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Consultancy and Professional Services: Bespoke consulting services including strategy development, coaching, facilitation, evaluation, and research for social change organisations. Projects range from one-off workshops to multi-year evaluations and ongoing organisational support.
2. Research Commissions: Short-term research commissions and multi-year evaluation projects for government departments, NGOs, and international organisations.
3. Capacity Building and Training: Training programmes and capacity building services for organisations including leadership development, participatory approaches, and organisational improvement.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Practical Participation provides bespoke consultancy, research, and evaluation services focused on participation, community development, organisational change, and social technology. Its work covers project design and development (strategy, planning, facilitation), evaluation and research (short-term commissions and multi-year evaluations using participatory approaches), and ongoing capacity-building support for charities, NGOs, government departments, and international organisations. The firm supplements its advisory services with a library of free frameworks and resources (Act by Right, Hear by Right, Leading for the Future, Leadership and Management Workbook, 360 Giving Data Standard, Open Data Barometer).

Product overview

Practical Participation is a consultancy providing tailored services across participation, community development, organizational change, and social technology. Their core offerings include participation resources (Act by Right, Hear by Right, Engage Toolkit), leadership development materials (Leading for the Future, Leadership and Management Workbook), and social technology research products (360 Giving Data Standard, Open Data Barometer). The company operates as a service-based consultancy rather than a software platform, delivering project design, evaluation and research, and ongoing support to social change organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Project Design & Development Consultancy Bespoke strategy, planning, facilitation, and co-design services for social change organisations, ranging from one-off workshops through to full initiative design and launch.
• Evaluation & Research Services Short-term research commissions and multi-year participatory evaluations for government departments, NGOs, and international organisations.
• Ongoing Support & Capacity Building Long-term mentoring, capacity building, and external expertise provided to social change partners when needed.
• Act by Right Free online resource supporting children and young people to develop knowledge and skills for activism and campaigns, structured as a five-stage journey.
• Hear by Right Participation Standards Standards framework for organisational participation with children and young people, used by the National Youth Agency and other organisations.
• 360 Giving Data Standard Open data standard enabling UK trusts and foundations to publish standardised information on their grant-making activities.
• Open Data Barometer Global research tool measuring the state of open data implementation across countries, developed as part of the ODDC project.
• Leading for the Future Youth leadership resource supporting individuals and local groups to explore values, knowledge, and skills for effective leadership, licensed under Creative Commons.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supported 4 of 150 Big Local areas with £1 million each to invest locally over ten years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Mahdlo Youth ZoneminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2015Jennie Fleming worked with Mahdlo Youth Zone conducting consultations with young people to ensure greater voice and influence over support and provision available to them.
• Big Local / Local TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Bill Badham supports four of 150 Big Local areas as a Big Local Rep. The programme is managed by Local Trust through a £220 million National Lottery endowment. Each area has £1 million to invest locally over ten years. Bill supports partnerships to develop and deliver plans based on local needs.
• World Wide Web FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Tim Davies worked as staff consultant at the World Wide Web Foundation and was research lead for the CAD $2m ODDC project. Managed the Open Data Barometer research process in 2013 and 2014, working with 17 partner organisations across 12 countries.
• GroundworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Groundwork led the Young People Friendly Neighbourhoods programme across 20 neighbourhoods in England. Bill co-ordinated the support team through a partner organisation, enabling local partnerships to build sustainable community-led provision.
• The Woodcraft FolkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Co-created 'Leading for the Future' youth leadership resource. Practical Participation worked with The Woodcraft Folk to develop a resource supporting local groups to explore and develop leadership skills. The resource is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 and activities are available in Google Docs for adaptation and reuse.
• The Children's SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Long-standing partnership including work on the Include project for young carers. Contributed through capacity building in local authorities and third sector, developing resources such as the Engage Toolkit, and evaluating projects. Supported Young Carers in Focus network.
• National Youth AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Created Hear by Right participation standards; managed participation strand; Act by Right originated from this partnership. National programmes including Children's in Communities and participation work.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NPC (New Philanthropy Capital): Charity-focused consultancy providing research, evaluation, and advisory services to foundations and nonprofits. Overlap on the philanthropic data standards work (360 Giving) and similar audience of grant-makers and social change organisations.
• Locality: UK membership organisation supporting community organisations with advice, training, and policy advocacy. Strong overlap on community development, neighbourhood regeneration, and resident empowerment work — both serve grassroots community groups and local partnerships.
• New Economics Foundation (nef): UK think tank and consultancy combining economic research with social change programmes, including community development and participatory evaluation. Comparable service mix and customer base, though larger and broader in scope.
• IVAR (Institute for Voluntary Action Research): UK-based research and consultancy focused on charities, voluntary sector organisations, and participatory practice. Closest direct comparable — same client base (NGOs, foundations), same service mix (research, evaluation, capacity building), and similar size and operating model.
• Cordis Bright: Specialist research and consultancy for the voluntary, public, and social sectors with expertise in evaluation and impact assessment. Comparable bespoke research and evaluation services to similar third-sector clients.
• The Tavistock Institute: Applied social science research and consulting organisation working on organisational change, evaluation, and policy across health, social care, and community sectors. Strong match on participatory research methodology and social change consultancy.
• Involve: UK charity specialising in public participation and democratic engagement, providing research, advocacy and practical support. Direct overlap on participatory methods, open government, and civic engagement consulting for public and third-sector clients.
• The Young Foundation: Social innovation consultancy and think tank working on community-led change, social investment, and public service reform. Comparable in mission and target clients (charities, government, funders) with similar research-and-advisory delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations): Large UK membership body for the voluntary sector providing policy, research, training, and infrastructure support to charities. Serves an overlapping client base of NGOs and social change organisations, but at much greater scale and breadth than Practical Participation.

Emerging players

• SenseMaker® / Cognitive Edge: Specialist consultancy providing participatory narrative-based research and sense-making tools used in development, social change, and complex programme evaluation. Comparable focus on participatory methods and serving NGOs and international development clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/billbadham
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/practical-participation-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PRACTICAL PARTICIPATION LIMITED