Impact Ops

Impact Ops was founded in April 2023 by Joshua Axford (CEO), Andrew Leeke, and a third co-founder, all of whom previously worked in operations roles at Effective Ventures. The organization emerged from a recognition that operational bottlenecks are among the key constraints limiting the growth and effectiveness of high-impact nonprofits, and that a specialist consultancy could serve this need sustainably without relying on grants. Based in London, UK, Impact Ops has grown from three co-founders to a team of 11 specialists within two years. The team collectively brings 50+ years of nonprofit operations experience plus 50+ years in related professional roles including COO positions, recruitment, and accountancy. They are remote-first, with staff distributed across the UK, Germany, Canada, and other locations. Impact Ops delivers six primary service lines: Finance (budgeting, bookkeeping, real-time financial dashboards), Recruitment (sourcing and hiring support for operations leadership and specialist roles), Entity Setup (nonprofit registration, 501(c)(3) determinations, UK company formation), Due Diligence (risk assessment of donors, grantees, and collaborators), Ops Audit (in-depth organizational assessments identifying efficiency gains), and Systems (implementation of grant management, application, and operations systems). The organization is cause-neutral in client selection, focusing on organizations with strong founding teams, secured funding, and a credible theory of change. Their client base includes organizations focused on mitigating global catastrophic risks (AI safety, biosecurity), promoting effective giving, improving rationality and epistemics, and global health and development. Notable clients include Giving What We Can, Centre for Long-Term Resilience, METR, BlueDot Impact, Foresight Institute, Longview Philanthropy, Forecasting Research Institute, and Arcadia Impact, among 50+ total clients. In their first two years Impact Ops generated over $1M in revenue through client fees and was actively repaying their initial startup loan. The founders have signed the Founders Pledge, committing to donate at least 50% of proceeds to effective charities. Impact Ops also contributes to the SparkWell nonprofit accelerator, currently sponsoring six high-impact projects, and has published free operational resources including a Nonprofit Operations Playbook funded by the Astera Institute. They are exploring AI tool integration for operational efficiency and potential B Corp certification.