At Colectivo META (COMETA), we offer consulting for civil society organizations with a range services specifically designed to meet their unique needs. We encourage you to reach out with any questions or to discuss how we can best support your organization.
Who is COMETA?
We are an international consulting firm. We were founded in Mexico City in 2014 to support domestic and international civil society organizations, foundations, and public and private institutions that contribute to or seek social change.
Our team consists of professionals and activists with more than 20 years of experience in:
- Strategic support.
- Applied research and
- Analysis and assessment
Support to strategic vision development
We design and support strategic reflection processes for organizations, financial entities, and civil society networks through this consulting for civil society organizations.
Our experience supporting these processes allows us to assert that a well-defined strategic vision enables organizations to build useful tools to make an impact and get closer to achieving their institutional mission.
We know that each organization is different and has specific needs, and each support is tailored based on:
- · Objectives; needs; and
- · Organization´s characteristics.
Our methodology is based on the Theory of Change that consists of the following stages:
- Retrospective reflection.
- Theory of Change design.
- Work plans.
- Indicators development and
- Institutional redesign.
Horizontal learning
COMETA also offers a unique service called horizontal learning, specifically designed for civil society organizations. In today’s challenging environments, it’s crucial for organizations and civil society networks to stay updated and learn from their own experiences and their community of practice. At COMETA, we believe that peer-to-peer exchange is key to gaining a deeper understanding of the ecosystem, and to acquiring and enhancing methodologies and working tools.
We facilitate and coordinate horizontal learning processes between organizations, networks, and stakeholders. The outcome is a peer-to-peer reflection on experiences, challenges, and approaches stimulating knowledge sharing.
Our work includes the following :
- Analysis of the organizations’ strengths and learning needs.
- Design of participatory agendas that foster joint reflection and horizontal learning.
- Creation of a horizontal and flexible environment that facilitates discussions with activities and methodologies that promote participation and exchange of views.
- Documentation and systematization of the primary reflections and conclusions of the exchange.
Logistical coordination of horizontal learning activities, if necessary.
High-level strategic facilitation
We also offer high-level strategic facilitation to civil society organizations as part of our consulting activities. This focuses on processes and discussions for politically complex decision-making organizations and networks undertake.
The stages for this methodology are:
- Drafting of strategic results: they should address both the organizations and networks’ political needs and be feasible and realistic from an operational perspective.
- Design of implementation pathways that facilitate a better use of available resources, both human and technical.
- Construction of systems to monitor and assess achievements.
At this stage, COMETA designs participatory methodologies and agendas focused on achieving specific goals. We also facilitate discussion and document and systematize the primary reflections and conclusions drawn from exchanges. We can coordinate the logistics of the activities if required.
Documentation and systematizing of experiences and projects
Our consulting for civil society organizations also includes documentation and systematization processes of successful experiences (or not) to maintain institutional memory or enhance learning for organizations and practice communities. The outcome of this process are memories, case studies, toolkits, or handbooks, which explain elements that led the organization to achieve its goals.
We use the following methodology:
- Review of information and relevant documents.
- Interviews with key stakeholders.
- Design of case studies.
- Systematization and database creation.
- Drafting of documents, handbooks, and toolkits for learning and dissemination of relevant experiences and projects.
Monitoring, learning, and assessment
Performance measurement is highly relevant in consulting for civil society organizations. It’s a crucial tool for understanding if organizations are efficiently reaching their objectives. At COMETA, we believe that identifying outcomes and achievements is the key to improving efficiency and effectiveness.
COMETA is experienced in designing monitoring and assessment methodologies. Each proposal is tailored to the demanding organization because each entity has specific needs and challenges.
Our monitoring and assessment process includes:
- The environment where the organization works.
- The organization´s strategic vision and theory of change.
- Capabilities and opportunities.
- Learning goals for monitoring and assessment; and
- Recommendations for improvement.
Research
Advocacy requires a clear strategic vision and a solid framework that supports the strategic objectives stated by the organization. Therefore, research is a critical element of consulting for civil society organizations.
COMETA helps organizations and institutions to:
- Identify relevant research questions aligned with their strategic visions.
- Design and implement research methodologies appropriate to the organization’s work through:
- Drafting research documents and tools; and
- Capacity building for strategic research.
Education and training
Building skills and knowledge is critical to consulting for civil society organizations. COMETA’s courses and workshops are designed and tailored to meet our clients’ specific learning needs and strategic objectives.
Some of the education and training topics are the following:
- Budget analysis.
- Transparency and access to information.
- Strategic planning and construction of indicators.
- Public policy analysis.
- Assessment and monitoring.
- Gender perspective.
- Financial resilience and
- Methodologies to promote citizens’ participation.
Technical assistance
COMETA has the capability to carry out a comprehensive consulting process for civil society organizations. We complement all the support areas with technical assistance tailored to each organization’s specific needs. This is particularly useful for organizations interested in building capacities for their teams.
Financial resilience
Financial topics are the last support that our consulting firm provides to civil society organizations. COMETA’s experience has taught us that organizations’ challenges are associated with their financial situation.
The operation is usually in the background, even though it impacts the organizations’ capabilities to retain talent, innovate in knowledge resources, and plan for the future.
At COMETA, we believe in the power of collaboration for you, as an organization, to make the impact you want to leave in society. Therefore, we’re here to help you rethink your processes, reimagine your results, and define the mark you want to leave in your organization, foundation, or institution. If you need our help, don’t hesitate to reach out
