Are there enough hours in your day?

August 9, 2011 Leave a comment

The summer holidays and lack of time available to do absolutely everything that needs to be done has seen my blog suffer – along with my other social media.  (Not really practising what I preach but unavoidable at this time of year unfortunately!)  But, with the end in sight (the Scottish schools go back next week) I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and so with that in mind, thought a little post about managing your time effectively as a fundraiser might be useful.  Or rather, managing your time for fundraising whether fundraising is all or just a part of your job.  Please read my post over on the Arts Professional blog – and let me know if you think I’ve missed anything or if it raises any questions about managing your fundraising that you’d like help with.

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Developing a Fundraising Strategy

May 19, 2011 Leave a comment

I wrote this post for Arts Professional and thought it would be a good one to share with those of you that might not work in the arts.  After all, if you’re fundraising, you should consider developing a fundraising strategy, regardless of which sector you’re in.

Developing your Fundraising Strategy
The recent cuts have meant that many organisations have either recognised they need to fundraise or to increase their reliance on fundraising in light and with this comes the need to develop a strategic approach to fundraising – rather than just a panic, scatter gun, ‘fill the gap left by public funding’ approach.  However, if you’re already fundraising you may question the need for a strategy in the first place.

Obviously, I am an advocate for developing a fundraising strategy that complements your organisation’s vision and creates income sources that will allow you to achieve those objectives in your business plan, as a properly developed strategy will:

  • increase the chances of success for your fundraising;
  • enable you to assess the options available to you for funding;
  • allow you to plan your fundraising – which projects will appeal to which donors and when do you need to start to think about fundraising for them;
  • clarify your fundraising goals and objectives – when a few months down the line you’re asked why you’re pursuing a particular course of action, you’ll have the background to make your case.

Every fundraising strategy has different aims.  Some organisations want to continue to deliver the same services they always have but now need a strategy because the economy has changed or other funding sources have ceased to exist.  Other organisations want to develop and expand their work and need to assess where additional funds may come from; how they fit with your current plans and, of course, how this expansion will impact on your organisational fundraising resources.
In the current climate, more organisations want to diversify income streams so they’re not overly reliant on one or two sources of income in the future, while others want to increase their long term income to get on a more secure footing and plan better in the future.

I recently wrote about the top 5 areas to take into account but there are more aspects to consider:

  • Background – has previous fundraising been successful?  How much income comes from
    fundraising?
  • Vision/Mission – where is your organisation headed and how can fundraising help you to achieve this?  Your vision might also help you to identify potential funding sources interested in investing in this type of work.
  • SWOT Analysis – love them or loathe them, it’s a good idea to write down your Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats, specifically as they relate to fundraising, as this can help you to identify gaps and help you see where the strengths in your organisation may lie.
  • Resources – what resources do you have?  Are these likely to change?  Many organisations discover they don’t have additional resources and that doesn’t fit with their need to increase fundraising income.  You don’t need to spend huge amounts on brochures or expensive databases, but good fundraising takes time – that of staff, board and volunteers.  Often though it’s just a question of adapting resources to suit your needs.
  • Potential Funding Sources – once you’ve identified your aims and objectives, along with income targets, it’s possible to begin the process of identifying potential sources of income.
  • Monitoring – all good strategies should be a living document and you should have opportunities for monitoring and reviewing your strategy, ideally quarterly with the Board, if possible.  This gives you the chance to review what you might need to change or what needs more resources dedicated to it.

Developing a fundraising strategy takes time but without one, you’re setting your fundraising up to fail as you won’t have a clear idea of the fundraising landscape – both internally and externally.  A strategy greatly improves your  chances of success; enables you to plan long-term and gives you the tools to adapt to opportunities and challenges as they arise.

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How to Develop a Fundraising Strategy

April 14, 2011 4 Comments

Your board and management team has recognised that your organisation needs to fundraise.  Or perhaps you’ve already enjoyed some success with your fundraising from various sources but want to begin to take a strategic approach to your fundraising.  Where should you start?  It’s a question I’m often asked and there are a number of areas to consider – my top 5 are:

Business Plan – do you have one?  If not, there’s not much point in developing a fundraising strategy, as the whole purpose of your strategy is to look at your business objectives over the next planning period (be it 3, 4 or 5 years) and establishing how your fundraising can support these.  So, if you don’t have a business plan, get one.  If you do, what are the objectives of your organisation – and what areas have you identified in the business plan that fundraising could support?

Resources – these cover everything from staff to databases, marketing & communications to senior management and, of course, volunteers.  Look at the resources available and how they can support your fundraising.  Do you need to invest more in your fundraising resources to enable you to reach target or do you have resources that you’re not utilising effectively?

Donors – what has your fundraising looked like over the past 3 years?  A fundraising audit should happen before you put pen to paper with your fundraising strategy i.e. assessing who has given; what they’ve funded; and how much has been given.  What campaigns were successful and which failed?  Do you have particular success in raising income from trusts or perhaps companies flock to sponsor your organisation?  Or maybe no-one has ever given anything?  You need to look at all of these areas and start to question why your fundraising looks the way that it does in order to establish the potential your organisation has to fundraise successfully in the future.

Board – never underestimate the importance of your board.  If they are keen advocates for your organisation, their support with your fundraising is vital but equally, if they are negative about fundraising or refuse to support your work, you’re going to have a hard time raising any income.  Getting your Board on board and encouraging them to take a proactive approach in fundraising, is key to introducing new networks to your organisation.

Objectives – what do you need to fundraise for?  And where is the potential for raising funds for these areas?  Are some of your organisational objectives likely to appeal particularly to the Lottery or trusts – perhaps because they have a social dimension or are taking a new, innovative approach to addressing a social need?  Similarly, an objective that is likely to raise the profile of your organisation significantly and attract interest from the press and general public may appeal to the corporate market.  Look objectively at what you need to fundraise for – i.e. where your organisation is going for the next 3 – 5 years – and establish where the potential is to raise those funds.

Those are just my top 5 areas to consider when shaping a fundraising strategy and, of course, I’ve just touched briefly on each of them.  Is there anything missing?  What would you take out?

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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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