Tweet, Blog or ‘Like’ your Fundraising?

November 18, 2010 1 Comment

fundraising ideas, fundraising consultancy

Image by Flickr user gaku

Do you use technology in your fundraising?  Or do you tend to stick with the tried and tested methods you’ve used for years?  I’m not suggesting that there’s a right answer to either of those questions – and there’s definitely not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. 

Some charities will find that sticking to direct mail, for example, is the best approach for them and continues to deliver the best results.  However, others may find that by using new technology to reach audiences, they are able to find new donors and enhance the work they do.

Fundraising Coach, Marc A. Pitman is based in the US and recently highlighted the use of QR codes in fundraising.  This fascinating (and relatively simple) technology can be used to direct donors to specific web pages, provide direct links to event booking sites, link potential donors to audio and video clips – and a whole range of other uses that could enhance your donor communications – Marc even demonstrates how to do this on his site.

Of course, the  audiences you are trying to reach do need to be familiar with the technology (otherwise, it’s just a squiggle in the corner of a poster!) but I’ve no doubt that, as this technology grows, it will be picked up and used more and more.  Four weeks ago, I’d never even heard of it and now I’ve read numerous articles about how it is being used in both the US and the UK.  Oxfam have recently started using QR codes to link to audio clips of the previous owners of items in their shops telling the story of their donated items.

Another new innovation enhancing the power of the web is crowdfunding – or crowdsourcing, which is effectively, using people to get things done.  Charites, arts and social enterprises could harness the power of the virtual crowd to fund their programmes, provide their set up costs or fund specific projects, as Suzy Rigg’s recent post on ACEInspire’s blog demonstrates.

But what about your organisation?  Do you blog, tweet or ask people to ‘Like’ you on Facebook?  Or are you going down the route of QR codes and crowdfunding to reach new audiences and encourage new routes to giving?    

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Is Your Board On Board?

November 15, 2010 Leave a comment

So you’ve decided to fundraise but the Board still aren’t convinced that it’s worth it?  How do you get them behind you? 

Fundraising is a long game.  There aren’t any quick wins but often it’s seen as the way to earn a fast buck.  It isn’t and you need to spell this out to your board.  Fundraising is about relationship building and that doesn’t happen overnight.  Often a board member – or other staff in your organisation – will see you working for months for very little return.  What they don’t see is that with every event, every meeting, every phone call, you’re building relationships and networks, getting your organisation’s name out there and helping to make people understand your organisation when there may have been no awareness before. 

It’s difficult to quantify this and, as a result, board members often feel that it’s not worth the effort.  But you have to speculate to accumulate for most things and fundraising is no different. 

You can’t expect it to be cost free either.  Now I’m not suggesting that you break the bank to try to raise your target but you will need to make some investment in fundraising, even if it’s only the cost of the time of the person doing the fundraising whether that’s an employee, a freelance fundraiser or a fundraising consultancy. 

If you are having trouble convincing your board, set out clear objectives (preferably SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) which they can see you making tangible progress against.  You should factor in: 

  • How much you need and what it will fund
  • How you will raise the money e.g from trusts, companies, individuals – and how you are going to do this e.g. direct mail,
  • The timeframe you hope to do this in,
  • How many people you expect to meet,
  • How many approaches you intend to make,
  • How many proposals you will submit and so on – and you can’t expect all of them to pay off.  You may need to make approaches to twice as many prospects as those who finally end up becoming donors – and this is a conservative estimate.  It could be many more. 

 However, once you’ve started to grow your fundraising, you will have a base of donors who will not only convince others that you are a worthy cause simply by their association, but who will introduce you to their peers, lend their weight to appeals and, ultimately, continue to support your organisation over the years, provided you continue to deliver the goods and look after your donors.

Are you having difficulty convincing others in your organisation that fundraising is a worthwhile investment?  Or have you managed to overcome their concerns?

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Different sector experience can help fundraisers see the bigger picture

November 10, 2010 Leave a comment

I often find that there is an assumption that if you’ve worked in one sector, the skills are not transferable to another – and this isn’t necessarily the case.  The principles of major gift, individual or trust fundraising are the same in an environmental charity as they are in an arts organisation.  The organisational structure may be different, the projects will vary and the donors may be different (although not necessarily) but the methods employed to encourage donations tend to be the same. 

You still need to be clear about what you want funding for, how much you need and what it will be used for.  You will need to make a robust case for support that captures the imagination of donors, demonstrates why you are the best organisation to deliver your particular project and helps your project stand out from the rest of the applications. 

Often, it helps if someone does come in from another sector, casting a fresh eye on your approach to fundraising (or marketing or governance) bringing with them new ideas that are equally applicable to your organisation and sector as they have been to another but perhaps have never been tried in your sector before. 

I worked with a marketing consultant on a fundraising and marketing strategy for an arts client.  The marketing consultant had never worked with a not-for-profit or in the arts before so the client initially started out with concerns that he would not be able to understand their marketing needs. However, the result was a marketing strategy that got them thinking differently, encouraged their creativity and saw them employing new ideas to engage with audiences. 

At the end of the day, employing a fundraiser or bringing in a consultant is the decision of the organisation but don’t narrow your field of choices simply because they haven’t gained their experience in your particular field.  Chances are if they’ve been successful in one sector, they’re likely to be successful in yours.

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The Kitchen Table Entrepreneur

November 8, 2010 Leave a comment

I’ve just realised that I am officially (and literally) a kitchen table entrepreneur – mainly because, after working for a few months in the home office, I began to slowly migrate to the kitchen one book at a time.  First of all, I’d use the kitchen table when I needed more space, using it to spread out books when I was writing or review reports, proposals and strategy documents I’d prepared by laying them out across the table, red pen at the ready. 

Before I knew it, my laptop, books, phone and stationery had all set up permanent residence at one end of the table.  My takeover was complete when I bought a shelving unit for the kitchen which has storage for all my work things. 

However, fed up with shuffling things away at the end of every working day, I’ve finally bitten the bullet and ordered a fold-away desk from IKEA that will fit into the kitchen-diner so my laptop can stay there for good. 

I’m still not sure that I will completely manage to wrestle myself away from the large, solid, kitchen table though.  We’ve become rather attached over the past two years.  It’s large enough to spread out all of my work things and has a view of the garden – which is perfect when I need space to think. 

Perhaps the new desk can wait a bit longer…

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Fundraising as a Career

November 5, 2010 Leave a comment

Out of all the careers you could choose, why would you choose fundraising?  The hours can be long; donors can be demanding; targets can be tough to reach; and potential donors can often say no.

On the other hand, you will have the opportunity to work with people from across your organisation to develop and deliver projects; you can use your creativity to solve problems, craft proposals and ‘make the ask’; you will gain a vast amount of skills – from event management to proposal writing, negotiating to data management – and everything in between.  No two days are ever the same and you have the chance to meet some truly fascinating people – from those who work in different areas of your particular organisation, to your volunteers and donors who come from a range of backgrounds and experiences.

I originally set out to work in arts administration (after finally admitting to myself that I was never going to be an actress!).  My first ever experience of fundraising was being asked to write an application to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (or Charitable Trust as it was then) to help the touring theatre company I worked for equip their new accommodation.  It was 1994 and when they sent the cheque for £12,000 it was my first taste of fundraising success! 

I then had various arts administration jobs, where I also dealt with trust applications and sponsorship alongside everything else.  It wasn’t until 1996, when I landed a job in a post-1992 university Development Office, that fundraising became the main element of my work. 

It was a very different landscape to now.  While most of the older, more established universities had been fundraising for some time, the post ‘92’s were playing catch up.  And internally, we were very much seen as a novelty by many of our academic colleagues.  One of the offices I worked in was funded by top slicing all of the departmental budgets to be able to afford to set up our department.  Needless to say, we  had to work hard to get our colleagues on board and it wouldn’t be a lie to say that was a difficult task – although we did achieve it in the end (due in no small part to raising our campaign target two years ahead of schedule). 

Fast forward 14 years and it’s a very different situation with universities young and old having Development Offices focused on proactively engaging with a range of high net worth individuals, trusts and the corporate sector. 

On a personal level, I’ve moved from fundraising being one of a number of tasks, to it being the main focus of my career, as I now work as a fundraising consultant.  But I’m glad that I made the move into fundraising and that I followed my particular career path.  Working a variety of organisations, large and small, has meant that I understand where many clients, particularly those without fundraising staff, are coming from and how best they can resource their fundraising to sustain their future income generation.

Do you think you would like to become a fundraiser?  What’s stopping you?  Or have you been a fundraiser and decided to move into a different field?  If so, how has your experience helped you to do that?

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Think Big, Be Ambitious with your fundraising

November 3, 2010 Leave a comment

The best fundraising projects are often those that are viewed as the most challenging.  Perhaps they have an ambitious target or maybe they’re complicated in terms of delivery or diversity?  Whatever the reasons, I’ve found that it is usually the most ambitious projects that are the best – and most successful – to fundraise for. 

Often, people are scared to be too ambitious when developing their projects, worrying that they won’t be able to raise the income target, so they scale it down to the point where it has a small reach, no future sustainability and is unlikely to make much impact.  Rather than making it easier to fundraise for, by reducing the scope and scale of a project you can hamstring your fundraising efforts. 

The project that started off as a request for a new museum grade bookcase to house manuscripts had limited donor appeal but, by working with the archivist, we developed the project into an exhibition.  It was five times more expensive but had a far broader reach in terms of visitors, especially as it included a spin off education pack and a dedicated website, as well as an interactive exhibition.  This more ambitious and more costly project was far easier to fundraise for as donors could clearly see the benefits of bringing the exhibition to a broader audience, as opposed to simply storing the books and manuscripts more effectively.

Similarly, there was the exhibition sponsorship deal that included: a complementary fashion exhibition, a demonstration of ancient tapestry techniques and grand opening featuring Jodie Marsh, designer Scott Henshall and a few hundred thousand pounds worth of diamonds.  All of these aspects were added by the sponsor and, while they meant extra work to deliver the sponsorship, the added value led to a higher cash contribution by the sponsor, excellent press coverage and box office breaking attendance figures. 

I’m not suggesting that you run wild with your fundraising and grow your projects so large that you are unable to manage or sustain them but try taking an entrepreneurial approach – think more creatively and look at the many different aspects of your project and what they could bring in terms of new audiences, potential funding and new partnerships.  Doing this can help increase your appeal to donors and ultimately, raise the income you need to be successful.

If you need more advice on fundraising, please get in touch for an informal discussion.  Download my Top 10 Fundraising Tips to help kick start your fundraising.

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Freelance versus Employee

November 1, 2010 1 Comment

Museum of Scotland by Mama Pyjama under Creative Commons Licence

For 14 years I worked as an ‘in-house’ fundraiser and enjoyed working in a range of jobs and sectors – including a stint at RNIB Scotland; raising sponsorship for the National Museums of Scotland; and heading up the fundraising team at Edinburgh Napier University.  So why leave a secure job – with a pension – to the relatively unpredictable world of a freelancer?

Well, first of all, I’d gained a huge amount of experience during the preceding 14 years and wanted to have an opportunity to build upon those.  There were really only two options.  The first, was look for a Director’s position while the second, was work for myself and build a client base.  It was the second that had more appeal, not least because I’d always wanted to work for myself and I knew that if I didn’t make the move when I did, I’d probably lose my nerve or get too used to the regular pay cheque to ever do it.  I’ve always enjoyed the variety that fundraising brings to a job – different projects, donors and deadlines – and I knew that I’d enjoy working for multiple clients on a range of projects all at the same time.

Handing in my notice without having a job to go to was a strangely liberating (if not slightly terrifying) experience.  I’ve never resigned without having had a job to go to and usually when I’d resigned in the past I was going off to what was effectively a promotion.  What on earth was I facing?

Luckily, I hadn’t worked in a vacuum for the past 14 years and had built up a good network of former colleagues, board members from previous organisations and of course, donors that I’ve worked with in the past.  I made sure that everyone knew that I was now working for myself and was lucky enough to have secured my first contract within two months of resigning from my old job.  And I’ve never looked back.

What I enjoy most about working for myself is the opportunity to work with organisations whose work I have an affinity with – and whose work varies enormously from one client to the next.  I’ve worked with educational charities, heritage organisations, galleries and children’s arts organisations – and everything in between.  I’ve developed fundraising strategies; delivered training sessions to staff and board members on fundraising; run focus groups and interviews with stakeholders; developed feasibility studies and, of course, carried out fundraising for clients – from developing projects for the fundraising ‘market’ to raising the money they need to deliver their key goals.

However, not only have I had the chance to use my skills to help my clients but I’ve also had the opportunity to learn a huge amount about different organisations and their needs.

Yes, the hours are often long when I have deadlines to meet and I have missed the chance to bounce ideas off colleagues – as well as the banter.  But trading that off against office politics, commuting and missing out on family events has made it all worthwhile.  It’s quite liberating knowing that you have to rely on your own resources to land a piece of work and see it through – and I’ve been lucky enough to work with other freelance colleagues on various projects, which has helped increase my skills while also providing a good sounding board too.

Would you like to go freelance?  What’s stopping you?

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How Can You Fundraise with Limited Resources?

October 27, 2010 Leave a comment

Well, my first piece of advice would be to download my free Top 10 Tips on Fundraising!

The limited resources in the title of this post refer to staff and time as opposed to money, as fundraising on a small scale shouldn’t cost you a huge amount of money.  It will, however, cost something, even if it’s only factoring in the time of the person delivering your fundraising needs, postage and stationery.  However, if you are intending to raise a large portion of your annual income, you really need to consider making a proper investment in fundraising by either recruiting a fundraiser or paying a freelancer to fundraise for you.  Either way, if no-one has any experience of fundraising in your organisation and you want to make this a regular aspect of your income, you should consider getting professional advice to help with your planning and organisation.

However, many small organisations need to raise money to deliver a few key projects and need to use the resources available to them to achieve this.  Perhaps you have some resources to invest in a freelance fundraiser?  Or maybe recruit a part-time member of staff?  But what if neither option applies?  In that case, you need to consider who in your organisation has the skills and time to fundraise for you.  And fundraising for your organisation will include researching potential donors; identifying key projects that you need and, as important, that will appeal to potential donors; developing a case for support for your organisation – why should a donor give funding to you, what will you use it for, how much do you need and when do you need it by; writing fundraising bids and meeting with potential donors – and of course, writing thank you letters and follow up reports.  You may have a member of staff who can take on this role – or a few who can split the workload between them.  Or perhaps you have a volunteer or board member with experience (or the willingness and necessary skills) to develop this for you? 

Where do you go from there?

My top 3 tips would be:

  1. Decide who is responsible for fundraising in your organisation – and make sure they have the time available to achieve your fundraising aims
  2. Get Organised – look at your systems and determine how they will support your fundraising (and develop some new ones for fundraising, such as looking after your donors)
  3. Make sure your messages are clear and consistent – your fundraising should sit well with your overall vision and objectives or donors won’t understand who you are and what you are aiming to achieve.

Do you have any other tips – or questions – for organisations who really are starting from scratch with no previous experience in this area?

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Will Philanthropists Save the Arts?

October 25, 2010 Leave a comment

This was the question posed by Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian on 21st October regarding the Arts Council’s funding cut of 30%, as a result of the government spending review.  Museums budgets are also to be cut by 15% and, at the time of writing, there will be an anticipated but as yet unknown amount cut from arts budgets in Scotland and Wales.  

This is a question that needs to be answered.  In my post on The Future of Arts Funding, I mentioned the study carried out by Arts & Business which considered it unlikely that we could expect philanthropy to meet the income gap made by government cuts.  Not least because, as Vivien Duffield comments in the Guardian article, many donors feel that their contribution should be the ‘icing on the cake’ and not the cake itself.

Culture is an important expression of the human experience – but it’s also a key contributor to the UK economy.   According to Support the Arts, 6.2% of the UK’s local income comes from the creative industries, the arts provide over 2 million jobs and are mentioned by 8 out of 10 tourists as a reason for their visit.  Not only do the arts contribute massively to the UK economy, they do so whilst doubling the money invested in them – funding the arts costs everyone in Britain 17p per week.  The arts earn the government around 35p per person per week.  So even if you’re not an arts lover yourself, you can’t argue that investing in them does make economic sense – as artist David Shrigley illustrates (literally) in his animation.  

And, while all of the arts are under threat, what about small, regional, grassroots or community arts organisations?  The future seems particularly bleak for them as the Arts Council are surely more likely to try to save high profile arts organisations who are perhaps more vocal, more proficient at organising support and already have a strong base of supporters – and will therefore, be in a position to create a noise about any potential cuts to their budgets.

Higgins’s article featured quotes from a number of wealthy individuals, the majority of whom are based in and around London and who tend to give to organisations around the same area, often in the more traditional arts, such as ballet, opera and mainstream theatre.  Community organisations, children’s arts organisations or those based in towns and cities outside the south east tend not to receive donations from the Portraits, d’Offay’s or Lord Stevensons of this world.  They are unable to offer excellent seats for their performances in top theatres; or inscriptions on buildings and theatre seats.  They don’t feature in reviews by the London based broadsheets and their Board members aren’t on FTSE 100 companies. 

So how will smaller organisations raise money through philanthropy and sponsorship in an ever increasingly competitive market?  Many of these organisations are much loved and frequented by local audiences; they can be the breeding grounds for experimental work or the place where grassroots activities involving the wider community are developed.  Many talented artists and performers first made their mark in regional or community based organisations.  Perhaps most importantly, these organisations are often the first place where many people experience the arts – either as children or adults – and are therefore, the catalyst for many people becoming future audiences for the arts.

There’s no doubt that there will be worrying times ahead – and not just for the arts, for the third sector as a whole, as reduced government funding and a smaller welfare state is likely to put huge pressure on already limited resources, while competition for funds is likely to increase in the future.

The arts are well placed.  They are already lean, tend to have existing loyal audiences and are creative in their approach.  But the challenges they face cannot be underestimated and will no doubt take their toll on the future creativity and therefore, economic output of this country.

Perhaps you don’t agree – or perhaps you think that the arts can be sacrificed?  What are the major challenges your organisation faces in light of the government cuts?

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Fundraising – why bother?

October 20, 2010 4 Comments

by James Cridland james.cridland.net under Creative Commons Licence

The other day, a friend told me that her organisation wasn’t going to bother fundraising.  They are a small organisation, which has had some success with trusts in the past but they don’t see the point in investing more time and resources into building their fundraising programme as they receive enough income from other sources. 

Often organisations are put off fundraising because they don’t have a fundraiser, they can get by with the other funding they have, they have a board that doesn’t want to invest in fundraising, or they simply don’t know where to start and feel it will be too much effort.

Of course, if you are in the fortunate position of having enough funding to cover your core activity through public funds and earned income, you may consider that fundraising is an additional activity that you don’t have the time or resources to invest in.  But what if your funding situation changes?  What if you need more income this year for a special project that you want to deliver?  If you have no relationships with other potential supporters – be they trusts, individuals or sponsors – it will make the task of finding additional funding infinitely more difficult.

Fundraising does require investment – time, resources and money – and it requires planning to establish how your organisation should manage and target fundraising to best suit your particular needs.  But organisations spend so much time trying to get their message out to new people all the time – be they audiences, volunteers or service users – why would they not want to use that message differently to reach people and organisations that could inevitably invest in them?

The very act of communicating with and to potential supporters will also help you to use more and different channels to get your message out.  Can this necessarily be a bad thing?  It may not only introduce you to potential donors but could result in more volunteers, more customers, service users or audiences, depending on your type of organisation – all helping you to meet your aims and objectives and potentially grow your earned income, as well as your philanthropic and sponsorship income.

Fundraising, particularly when you have no dedicated resources in terms of staff or time, may seem like an impossible task but with careful planning – planning and systems are key to ensuring fundraising sustainability – it can be achieved and ultimately, worth more to your organisation that it costs.  Of course, there will be some initial effort required – there always is with any new activity – but surely, it is worth it, particularly in current times when no funding is assured?  Look at your resources and consider using them effectively to deliver some key fundraising goals. 

  • Put systems in place to allow you to have a rolling programme of fundraising – a database, donor communications programme, applications cycle, research activity – all carefully planned
  • Start off small – no one expects you to deliver £1m in your first year with no history of fundraising. 
  • Network – expand and broaden the groups of people aware of your organisation, the projects you deliver and your vision for the future.  Encourage your board to help you network. 

Ultimately, introducing philanthropic income and sponsorship will enable you to diversify your income and, more importantly, increase the sustainability of your organisation in the future. 

Perhaps you don’t agree?  Or maybe you have other suggestions as to why an organisation should consider fundraising?

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