fundraising strategy - useful tools that really work

Welcome!

Objective: to provide participants

with ideas and inspiration to develop

their fundraising and to share skills

and experiences with each other.

Objective: to provide participants with

ideas and inspiration to develop their

fundraising and to share skills and

experiences with each other.

Strategy – useful tools that really work

Simon Burne

July 2011

Objective

• To share a set of easy to use tools to help you to make fundraising strategies that work

Four key drivers

Thinking inside the box

80% Rule: Roughly right – not precisely wrong

What is Strategy?

A structure

A list of things to do

Tactics

A big document that decorates your shelf and gathers dust

It is not

Petronius Arbiter 210 BC

We trained hard… but it seemed that every time we

were beginning to form up into teams, we would be

reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend

to meet any new situation by reorganising and a

wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion

of progress, while producing confusion,

inefficiency and demoralisation

“I always leave my strategy on the train in the hope that a competitor

will pick it up and believe that’s what we’re really going to do”

Denis Stevenson

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the

results.”

Winston Churchill

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics

without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Sun Tzu 500 BC

“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”

Michael Leboeuf

donor

fundraising

• Knowing where we are now

• Knowing where we want to get to

• Knowing how we’re going to get there

• It’s about

• Internal stuff

• External stuff

• Matching the two

• Planning for success - prioritising

• Monitoring the results

• Being flexible

In times of crisis…

The horizon gets closer

So strategies get shorter

Too much to deal with!

Risk Management

Paralysis by analysis

Strategic options Internal analysis No change

How do we escape?

Or… 8 things to do with a box

1. SWOT

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

Internal Bridges & Barriers

Internal Bridges

• Processes that work

• Key allies

• Core skills and competencies

• Networks and contacts

• Beneficiaries

Internal Bridges

• Recognise them

• Celebrate them

• Strengthen them

• Use them

• Learn from them

Internal Barriers

• Lack of expertise

• Finance

• Service Staff

• Lack of information

• Poorly-defined need

• Lack of strategy

• Processes that don’t work

• No resources

Internal Barriers

• Form alliances to overcome them

• Work around them

• Find a way through them

• Accept your limitations

2. PEST

Political Economic

Social Technical

External Market Factors

Focus on top 3-4 key external factors which could have a genuine major impact (+/-) on fundraising success.

Invest resources in these areas = do a

few things well.

External Market Factors

Develop scenarios for each key factor: • In-depth knowledge of factor

• Predict range of possible outcomes

• For each outcome: – What would be impact on your fundraising for

each?

– What action would you need to take to maximise benefits/minimise problems?

– What resources will you need?

– How will you monitor the situation?

– How will you be prepared to respond quickly?

Benchmarking

Develop links with similar NGOs, share information, monitor position

Income:cost ratios of each activity

Comparative size of each activity

Comparative growth of each activity

Mystery shopping

3a. Boston Matrix (Products)

Product Development Cycle

Need

Audience

Product

Evaluate Innovate!

Product Lifecycle

Time

Pro

fitab

ility

R&D investment maintenance cull

Product Lifecycle

Time

Pro

fitab

ility

R&D investment maintenance cull

Product Lifecycle

Time

Pro

fitab

ility

R&D investment maintenance cull

Building your fundraising

£

Time

CASH COWS DEAD DOGS

Renewals

Special Appeals

Legacies and

Planned Gifts

Internet

Upgrade

Mail Acquisition

Annual Giving (High Value)

Major Donors

PROBLEM CHILDREN

Foundations

Merchandising

DRTV Acquisition

Monthly Giving

Direct Dialogue

Boston Matrix

CASH COWS DEAD DOGS

Renewals

Special Appeals

Legacies and

Planned Gifts

Internet

Upgrade

Mail Acquisition

Annual Giving (HV)

Major Donors

Boston Matrix

PROBLEM CHILDREN

Foundations

Merchandising

DRTV Acquisition

Monthly Giving

Direct Dialogue

RISING STARS

Value (ROI) vs. Volume (potential)

value

volume

PROBLEM CHILDREN

Internet

Upgrade

Mail Acquisition

Annual Giving (HV)

Major Donors

1

2

3

value

2

Ease of implementation vs. impact

ease

impact

Must haves

Quick wins

Sinks

Low-hanging fruit

PROBLEM CHILDREN Internet

Upgrade

Mail Acquisition

Annual Giving (HV)

Major Donors

3b. Boston Matrix (Problems)

Mysterons Devils

Sacred

cows

Sad

sacks

Level of

impact

+

-

Level of

understanding

+ -

3b. Boston Matrix (Problems)

Devils – Focus on the four biggest

– Develop clear strategies for neutralising

Mysterons – Watch closely

– Be ready to take action

Sacred cows – Need change at the very top

– Learn to work round them

Sad sacks – Safely ignore

3c. Boston Matrix (Competitors)

Rising Stars Problem Children

Cash Cows Dead Dogs

Potential threats

Learn from mistakes

Ideas to improve

Best practice

Ideas to copy

Real threats

Competitors

What I will do

with the

information

What I want to know The questions I need

to ask

How can I find this

out?

Develop new

products

New ideas or products

from my competitors

that I could use/adapt.

Which new products

are being developed

or tested? How well

are they performing?

Speak to them,

share information.

Mystery shopping.

Research.

Be first with

my appeal for

xxxxx

Which competitors also

raise money for xxxx.

Timing.

What are their plans

for launching an

appeal for xxxx?

Speak to them,

share information.

Improve

performance

of my current

products

Ways in which

competitors are offering

my products more

successfully.

How well are their

current products

performing compared

to mine? What are

they doing differently

to me?

Mystery shopping.

Financial reports.

Conference

presentations.

Research.

m

ark

et/

au

die

nce

curr

ent

new

current new

offer/product

existing

product

new products to

existing supporters

4. The Ansoff Matrix

taking them to

new audiences ? new products for

new supporters?

m

ark

et/

au

die

nce

curr

ent

new

current new

offer/product

Direct

Dialogue

New areas

Older age profile

New creative

Upgrade

Campaign action

Special Appeal

Text appeal

?

E.G. Monthly Giving

Prioritising your investment choices

• How do you compare apples and oranges? EG –

a new shop versus a new DM campaign?

• ROI doesn’t work – too short-term

• IRR is better but doesn’t tell the whole story

• Four key factors are:

• Profitability

• Level of risk/uncertainty

• Market size/potential

• Market understanding

5. Investment Sailing Boat

Level of risk

Net return

Market

potential

Market

understanding

5. Investment Sailing Boat

Level of risk

Net return

Market

potential

Market

understanding

Goals & Objectives

• Important to set targets.

• Objectives can divide as well as motivate.

• Objectives need to be set that are cross-organisational.

• KPIs should be few, and not all financial.

• Remember the Rule of Four

Goals & Objectives

6. Balanced Scorecard

Financial Processes

Supporters/

Stakeholders

Learning

and growth

Vision &

Strategy

• one objective per quadrant –max 4

• keep the objectives SMART

Objective-Setting

SMART • Strategic

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic

• Time-limited

Objective-Setting

SMART • Scary

• Mouthwatering

• Ambitious

• Rare

• Team-building

7. Strategic Risk Analysis

Finances

Processes Culture/skills

Stakeholders Impact

Pro

bab

ility

8. Vulnerability Index

Insignificant

Very important

Relatively

safe Very

vulnerable

Last thoughts…

Ref.: Anais Nin

“We don’t see things

as they are.

We see them as we are”

“If we don’t make utter fools of

ourselves from time to time,

we grow smug - that is,

we do not grow at all.”

Ref.: Tom Peters

Innovation

‘We are taught to solve problems not to recognise opportunities.’

“Every act of creation

is first of all an act of destruction”

Ref.: P. Picaso

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes. And we’ve been very lucky at times. Some of our products are things you might say we’ve just stumbled on. But you can’t stumble if you’re not in motion.” R.Carlton

Words used by a boss to a new employee on their first day at work

A culture of successful risk

‘If you don’t screw

up at least once in

your first year with

us, you aren’t trying

hard enough.’

‘There is no formula for success. But there is a

formula for failure, and that is trying to please

everybody.’

Nicholas Ray, Film Director

The Formula for Failure

Henry Ford

The truest word…

Whether you believe

you can or whether you

believe you can’t,

you’re right

The two most important words in

fundraising