fundraising ireland: building a fundraising strategy - first steps

BUILDING A FUNDRAISING STRATEGY Ronan Ryan Head of Fundraising& Communications Irish Red Cross

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INTRODUCTIONS Me You

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Go around say organisation, position, what hope to get out of day Housekeeping stuff – toilets , mobile phones etc Outline of the day

WHERE TO START Do your homework and a little bit of thinking!

•Market analysis •Competitor analysis •Organisational analysis

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

You need to closet yourself away for a little bit and do research and some thinking

MARKET ANALYSIS Macro

•Central Bank Quarterly Bulletins •ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary

Micro •Sectoral research •FI Fundraising Survey •ICEM •2into3 Philanthropy research •Informal research – talk to your peers

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

You have to bear in mind your final audience for this one: the board – we’ll pull this all together at the end – but really you want to set the scene and MANAGE EXPECTATIONS

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS •Income

•Plus income breakdown – comparing like with like

•Brand awareness

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Talk to your peers – people very happy to share figures Ignore attitudinal surveys – total waste of time

ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS Structure • numbers • specialism's

Income lines • Compare to 2-3 peers • International comparisons

good

SWOT • Write from the perspective of

fundraising

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Head of Fundraising and

Communications

Fundraising Assistant

(Supporter Care)

Fundraising Assistant (Direct

Marketing)


(Committed Giving)

Director of Fundraising

Direct Marketing Manager

Direct Marketing Executive


Community And

Challenge Events

Manager

Community Events

Executive


Corporate and Major

Gifts manager

Trusts and Foundations Executive


Supporter Care

Manager

Data analyst






Presenter

Presentation Notes

This is where you have to talk to a lot of your peers – get their figures for each channel and benchmark yourself against them Remember your audience – the board Show don’t tell Use graphs – they will have limited interest ability to take it all in

OVER TO YOU… SWOT Analysis

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Presentation Notes

This is important not as a random exercise but because it will inform your choice of marketing channel later on – NB You have to be searingly honest and grounded in reality – not jackpot or Disney land thinking

YOUR PROPOSITION (Or why should I give you my money?)

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7 QUESTIONS 1. What’s the problem? 2. Who is effected and how? 3. What is IRC doing about it

NOW? 4. What can I do about it? 5. What happens when I do act? 6. What happens if I don’t act? 7. Proof of success

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

One sentence answers! With thanks to Pauline Your case for support is generally a longer document – includes all that we have talked about plus background, plus budget

OVER TO YOU… Why should I give you money?

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Presentation Notes

Take a few minutes to develop your proposition – what are you asking for? Pass = answering the questions just as they are Honours = answering the questions as a story Invite up – ask people at end to divvy up a €1 and why

GOING FISHING Recruiting donors and choosing appropriate channels

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BUILDING A FUNDRAISING PORTFOLIO • Community

• Who? General public, often local • Where? Bucket shaking, text to

donate, flag days etc. • Key issues? Volume driven =>

volunteer resource dependent, very exposed to economy, CRC type shocks

• Direct marketing • Who? cash donors, mostly older

female ABC1s • Where? Cold mail, inserts • Key issues? Needs proper

investment budget with 3-5 year timeframe and expectations

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

You want to be doing everything – appealing to all types of donors on all levels No such things as ‘a’ donor

BUILDING A FUNDRAISING PORTFOLIO • Events (challenge or social)

• Who? younger, less tied to cause in long term, social butterflies

• Where? 3rd party fundraising => social networks

• Key issues? Inspiring and equipping them. About half will be rubbish! Staff resource heavy

• Committed givers • Who? Ideally 35-55 ABC1s, but... • Where? Door, street, mail, digital • Key issues? Big investment,

politically troublesome

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

You want to be doing everything – appealing to all types of donors on all levels No such things as ‘a’ donor

BUILDING A FUNDRAISING PORTFOLIO • Corporate

• Who? Staff committees, HR directors, Marketing Directors

• Where? Good research and personal approach

• Key issues? Do you solve a ‘problem’ they have? e.g. staff engagement, brand image

• Major donors • Who? Inherited wealth; self-made • Where? Personal approach through

charity’s networks • Key issues? An investment decision

for the donor – is the organisation ready?

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Digress into corporates for a time Old money can be inherited or in the family – may be a collective decision – especially if women involved New money can be younger – less of this in Ireland these days

BUILDING A FUNDRAISING PORTFOLIO • Trusts

• Who? Committees, professional grant making bodies

• Where? Good research and personal approach

• Key issues? Do you fit the criteria?

• Legacies • Who? Currently unknown to most

charities => we need to change that • Where? Integrated legacy campaigns • Key issues? Long term view – it takes

years to benefit.

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RESOURCE AUDIT What have you got? • People: staff numbers? skill set? • Channels: Which channels are

currently performing? Which not? • Volunteers: How many? How engaged? • Leadership: Supportive?

Understanding? Willing to do their part? • Money: are there funds for investment? • Programmes: are they accessible? Can

you bring donors? • Systems: do you have a decent

database? Do you have someone to use it?

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OVER TO YOU… What is available to you?

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Take a couple of minutes to do a quick resource audit – what is available to you? Feedback to big group

BRINGING IT TOGETHER...THE MAGIC BIT Time to make some recommendations to your Board: • Your proposition • Your resources • The organisations strengths

IRISH RED CROSS • Very strong brand • No fundraising

volunteers • Board not willing to

get involved • No domestic

programmes to showcase

• Modest investment fund

Conclusion: • Invest in mass

market fundraising activities that maximise the value of the brand e.g. Committed giving, direct marketing, retail, legacies

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OVER TO YOU… Which areas of fundraising do you recommend your board invest in and why?

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Write down 3 tentative recommendations to your Board and why Share

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Write it all down: • One paragraph summarising each

major section, plus recommendations, as your executive summary

• Ask a number of key people for feedback in advance

• Present to board with their blessing • Go fundraise!

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THANK YOU

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THE BUDGET What will it cost and how much will it make? • Keep it really simple • Have the detail in the background • Test the detail against other peoples

expertise: ask them • Borrow other fundraisers budgeting and

investment model spreadsheets

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

No one will take you seriously unless you know the numbers inside out

WHAT NEXT? Supporter journeys for • Cash donors • Committed givers • Volunteer fundraisers

Stewardship plans in place for • Major donors • Corporate supporters • Legacy prospects

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fundraising ireland: building a fundraising strategy - first steps

Marketing

perspective of fundraising

presenterpresentation

presenterpresentation

peers people

choice of marketing

income breakdown

dont act

plus background