How does The Xfactor Collective work?

We are a dual marketplace business model, and our focus is 100% on capacity and capability building:

• We developed and run a sector first business networking program provide a business network membership, called PASSPORT. This is for experienced professionals who provide services and solutions as consultants, professional services, coaches. We currently have 46 pre-vetted business members, and the program supports them to sustain, grow or innovate in a collaborative community. You can read more about PASSPORT here.
• By creating a one-stop shop, we are able to then help triage the needs of organisations, and connect them with the right support and advice from a trusted community. We do this in two ways: organisation leaders can search and find the right specialist through our custom-built PLATFORM, or they can connect with CONCIERGE, a triage helpdesk service. You can read more about CONCIERGE here.
• We also invest back in our mission through research, programming, free support and advice programs. You can see more of this in Resources section – including RESET 2020 project and a sector-first video library  THE X-CHANGE.

Who started The Xfactor Collective?

The Founder of The Xfactor Collective is Julia Keady, who was the inaugural CEO of Australian Women Donors Network, before spending seven years running her own consultancy, where in both capacities she witnessed first hand the shared challenges and frustrations for organisation leaders as well as consultants and small business who provides services to the Social Impact sector. You can read more about Julia's story and journey here.

Where do you operate?

Our headquarters are in Melbourne, Australia.

Our Specialist Members work with clients all around the world. Our Specialist Members are based in many different locations and many of them travel frequently. Many of our Specialist Members also use ZOOM or Skype to work with remote clients.

If you have any other questions, please search and connect with our SPECIALISTS here or speak with us at CONCIERGE

What type of services do your Specialists offer?

Our Specialists offer a broad range of services:

• Traditional consulting
• Coaching / mentorng 
• Training
• Workshops
• Webinars
• Facilitation

Please search and connect with our SPECIALISTS here or speak with us at CONCIERGE

What areas of specialisation do you currently offer?

We cover 300+ areas of specialisation across these main categories:

• Boards, Governance
• Strategic Planning
• Finance, Auditing, Legal
• Project Management
• People & Culture, Wellbeing
• Recruitment and HR
• Philanthropy and Grantmaking
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Fundraising and Partnerships
• Grant, Tender and Submission Applications
• Marketing, Brand & Communications
• Technology, IT, CRM, Data, Analytics
• Measurement & Evaluation
• Outcomes & Impact Reporting

If you are looking for a specific area, please search and connect with our SPECIALISTS here or speak with us at CONCIERGE

How do I find a Specialist?

We have two different options to find a suitable Specialist for your needs. You can search using filters on our custom-built Platform here on SEARCH. If you don’t have time to search, but you know what you need, you can click on Lodge a Project or Specialist Enquiry’ here at Concierge Services.

Do you have facilitators, MCs or public speakers?

Most of our Specialist Members are also skilled facilitators, MCs and public speakers. We will also be growing in this area, and invite more facilitators, MC's and speakers to join the Collective community.

Please search and connect with our SPECIALISTS here or speak with us at CONCIERGE

Do any of your Specialist Members offer Low Bono or Pro Bono services?

Many of our members provide Low or Pro Bono services, but mostly to causes they care about. Similar to how you might share your time and treasure. Please be aware that our Specialist Business Members are asked frequently to provide a cheaper rate, or work for free, which is not feasible for a small business owner. 

If you do not have any budget at all, you may wish to look at the many resources we provide at no charge, including a sector-first video library for social changemakers, THE X-CHANGE. There are 130 short videos on there across many topics. You can see the list of topics here.

If you do have a budget, please search and connect with our SPECIALISTS here or speak with us at CONCIERGE

What is the criteria to be a Specialist Business Member in The Xfactor Collective?

• Specialist Business Members must have a minimum 7 years' experience in their area of specialisation. Most of our Members have 10-20 years' experience,
• Specialist Business Members must feel aligned with our community values, purpose and understand that a Collective wins when everyone wins, 
• Specialist Business Members must not be any larger than owner-managed firm status. We do not accept businesses that are not owner managed, to ensure that our community of business owners are able to support and understand each other, 
• Specialist Business Members must come recommended by 7 client and/or professional referees. These referees are provided to us. We conduct a thorough reference check as part of the application process. This takes time and is covered in our Onboarding Fee.

Our clients, partners and fellow Specialist Business Members appreciate that we have a rigorous criteria and vetting process in place.

How do I express interest in joining the Collective?

Great, thanks for asking!

We are always on the lookout for talented specialists and will be growing out across the Asia-Pacific region in the next few years.

Please read about our PASSPORT membership program here. You are welcome to complete an Expression of Interest.

I cannot log in to the Platform

I tried to login to the Platform and received a message 'Warning, Username and password do not match or you do not have an account yet.'

This occurs if:

1. You have not created an account on our platform for any legitimate reason.
   
   All accounts are approved by our team or created when applying to be part of one of our programs or registering for a member only event.
   
   
2. You have lost or changed your password without recording the new one somewhere safe
   
   To reset your password, please go the 'Sign in' page and use the 'Forgot your password?' link there
   
   
3. You are attempting to use the wrong username.
   
   To recover your username, please go the 'Sign in' page and use the 'Forgot your username?' link there
   
   
4. You have unsuccessfully attempted to login more than 10 times in an hour.
   
   For security reasons, we will have frozen your account and will need to reinstate it for you. Please lodge a help request using the ‘Platform Support’ button on the Support Bar in Account Management here.