International Advisory PanelApplication pack

Ian MacQuillin, directorAmanda Shepard, International Advisory Panel co-ordinator

Ian.macquillin@plymouth.ac.uk 020 8659 115807977 422273

Rogare Advisory Panel – application pack 1

Contents1 About Rogare 3

1.1 Theory of change 4

2 International Advisory Panel 5

2.1 How you can/we would like you to contribute 5 to the Advisory Panel

2.2 Slack project management platform 7

2.3 Length of term

2.4 How to join 9

2.5 Eligibility criteria 9

2.6 Person specification 10

3 Application and selection procedure 11

3.1 Assessment process 12

Appendix – Critical Fundraising 13

About our Associate Members 14

Rogare Advisory Panel – application pack 2

1 About Rogare Thank you for your interest in joining the International Advisory Panel (we refer to it as the Advisory Panel, or AP, for short) for Rogare, the fundraising think tank at Plymouth University’s Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy.

Rogare – which is Latin for ‘to ask’ – has been established to provide new solutions to some of fundraising’s most pressing problems and challenges. Rogare will be the engine that turns academic ideas into actionable information for fundraisers by pulling together the academic and practitioner branches of the fundraising profession. We will also pull in ideas and theory from outside the fundraising and philanthropy literature, from disciplines such as psychology, public relations, evolutionary biology and marketing.

Our remit is to explore under-researched or ‘under-thought’ topics.

Under-researched

Topics where there is simply not enough reliable data to inform current practice. Our aim is to find out what research does exist and suggest how this could be used by practitioners.

‘Under-thought’

Topics where the arguments, discussions and debates lack cohesion, substance and/or internal logic. These are likely to be characterised by the same rhetorical arguments being trotted out time and again (from within the sector as well as without) but little progress actually being made.

To tackle these subjects, we use the lens of ‘critical fundraising’, which is a concerted attempt to critically and constructively evaluate issues and provide practical solutions to them (see s2 for more information on critical fundraising).

Our aim is to achieve a paradigm shift, by the mid 2020s, in the way that fundraisers use theory and evidence to analyse, tackle and overcome the challenges faced by their profession.

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1.1 Rogare Theory of Change

To bring about this paradigm shift, Rogare has devised the following theory of change:

To bring about this paradigm shift, Rogare uses the following theory of change:

By enabling fundraisers to Ask the right questions about

Theory and

Evidence

through Critical thinking,

in a mode of enquiry we call ‘Critical fundraising’,

we can establish a Critical fundraising movement

that will engender a Culture of questioning, in which we will explore

Under-researched issues (evidence), and

Under-thought issues (theory)

leading to Better theory and Better evidence

that will close Knowledge gaps,

and, by Influencing the influencers

Embed new knowledge and thinking in professional practice

resulting in a Paradigm shift in how fundraisers use Theory and Evidence to tackle Professional challenges.

We aim to implement this theory of change with the support of members of the Advisory Panel, who are a key group of ‘influencers’.

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2 The International Advisory PanelTo guide us in achieving our objectives, we have assembled an advisory panel of the fundraisers who have shown that they can contribute new thinking to old problems.

The dual purpose of the Advisory Panel is to:

1. Identify the knowledge gaps in professional practice that Rogare could fill.

2. Translate and embed new knowledge into professional practice and – perhaps most importantly of all – embed new ways to think about and use this new knowledge by spreading Rogare’s ideas through your networks.

The panel ensures that:

The outputs of the think tank are grounded in the needs of professional practice

The work of Rogare is immediately connected to the practice of fundraising through the AP members’ networks.

We are always looking to expand the panel by recruiting to it fundraisers who not only share our critical fundraising mindset but genuinely want to bring new ideas into the fundraising profession and are prepared to put in the effort to make that change happen.

The role of the panel is advisory only; it has no governance or executive function.

The role is voluntary and honorary.

2.1 How you can help us as a member of the Advisory PanelBy joining Rogare’s Advisory Panel, you’re letting us know you’re prepared to get stuck in with the work that we do. There are many ways you can contribute to our critical fundraising movement. These include:

Write a blog for Critical Fundraising

Publicise your membership of our International Advisory Panel

Promote our work and outputs via social media

Take part in the Scoping Study

Be active on Slack (our social media project management platform)

Run and moderate our various presences on social media

Become a ‘topic champion’ on Slack by generating content and discussion

Join one or more task groups or working parties (which will come with some specific tasks associated with these groups).

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Engage with your own professional networks to disseminate Rogare’s ideas and translate them into professional practice.

We recognise that the AP is voluntary and that AP members will have many demands on their time. You won’t have time to get involved in everything that we are doing, and we don’t expect you to.

So to give you an idea of the sorts of things you could do, we’ve developed a three-level (Bronze, Silver, Gold) engagement benchmark.

This is purely aspirational (and we certainly don’t refer to AP members as ‘silver members’) to give you an idea of what we hope you can do (we’d expect you to be contributing to at least Bronze level).

BronzeBronze:

Check in on Slack at least once a week – this is how you will find out about and keep up to speed with what is happening in the Rogare network

Write at least one blog for Critical Fundraising during your two-year term

Publicise your membership of the International Advisory Panel on your CV, social media profiles, attribution for blogs and conferences etc

Promote Rogare’s work and outputs via social media – at the very least you should be following @RogareFTT and @IanMacQuillin on Twitter (and reTweeting relevant posts) and have joined the Critical Fundraising Forum on Facebook and contribute via both of those

Take part in the bi-annual Scoping Study – where the AP advises of current knowledge gaps in the fundraising profession.

SilverSilver: Check in on Slack pretty much every day – by doing this you’ll always be at the

forefront of new critical thinking in fundraising.

Active on Slack, posting relevant information, joining debates and responding to requests for advice and information

Topic Champion – ensuring our special interest groups on Slack are full of content and discussion

Member of a working group or task group

Regular blogger on Critical Fundraising – say three or four blogs in your two-year term.

Visible and active advocate for Rogare on social media

Advocating Rogare to your professional network.

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GoldGold:

Helping to organise and drive more than one channel or task/working group

Setting up, driving and leading groups/channels to tackle the issues and challenges they think need tackling

Building the critical fundraising movement within their own networks and pushing Rogare and their peers on the AP to do the same. Asking for support from Rogare and their AP colleagues in their efforts to do this, rather than waiting for support to be offered or requested by Rogare

Highly visible advocates not just for Rogare, but also for the change we want to bring about and for the whole ethos of ‘critical fundraising’

Encouraging and informally mentoring other members of the AP

Identify as ‘Rogarians’ or ‘critical fundraisers’ – everyone who knows them also knows how committed they are to Rogare and they are proud of that association.

AP members engaging at the Gold level are the people who are bringing this paradigm shift about on their own initiative, not waiting for direction about what to do.

As we have said, this is only a guide. You won’t have to do everything on one level before progress to another. You can mix and match. But we would expect that you engaged to at least Bronze level.

NB as membership of the Advisory Panel is geographically dispersed; there is no requirement to attend panel meetings. However, we hope (and expect) that if you are able to do so, then you will.

2.1.1 Influencing the influencers

An important role for members of the Advisory Panel in delivering our theory of change is to ‘influence the influencers’ by promoting and sharing Rogare’s ideas through your networks to people who can spread them even further throughout the fundraising profession.

2.2 Slack project management platform – IMPORTANT The panel engages and communicates through the Slack project management social media platform. This is where the critical fundraising network lives and comes alive.

Slack is a user-friendly platform similar to Tweetdeck or Hootsuite and not too dissimilar to Facebook.

If you want to be an active and productive member of the International Advisory, you will need to check in to Slack at least weekly and preferably daily.

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If you do not – or cannot – engage regularly through Slack, then it is extremely unlikely that either you or we will get the most out of your membership of the panel.

2.3 How long will you serve on the Advisory PanelMembership of the panel is for two years from the 1st of the first complete calendar month after you are accepted on to the panel – i.e. if you join the panel on 17 February, your two-year term officially starts on 1 March.

Continued membership of the panel will be judged in part by how much the member has contributed to the think thank by maintaining at least bronze level of engagement. If you haven’t been engaging at bronze level in your first year, we’ll ask you if you really want to say part of the Rogare movement.

We can offer an optional third year for anyone who has made a significant contribution during their two year term (consistent silver level engagement) and that member wants to serve the third term.

The reason we have limited terms on the panel is to ensure we are regularly refreshed with new people, ideas and thinking, and that we do not become stuck in the same kind of conventional paradigm we want to replace.

However, we also recognise that it would be self-defeating to lose committed AP members after their third year just because the rules say they have to go.

2.3.1 Fellows

We have the option of elevating to Fellows of Rogare any third year members of the panel who have made an outstanding contribution to Rogare during their terms and who wish to continue doing so. Rogare Fellows are elected by other Fellows and will be life members of the Advisory Panel, subject to re-election every five years.

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2.4 How to apply to join the Advisory Panel (full details in s3)We will select members of the panel by asking you to write a 500-word essay, using critical fundraising principles, on:

‘How I would tackle what I perceive as the biggest challenge facing fundraising.’

We suggest therefore that you read the section on Critical Fundraising (see Appendix) and browse some of the entries on our Critical Fundraising blog.

There is also a person specification (s2.7) that is primarily so you can check that being on the Advisory Panel is something that you really want to do.

2.5 Are you eligible to join the International Advisory Panel?1. The Advisory Panel is composed solely of fundraisers and is open to:

i. Fundraisers at charities, voluntary and non-profit organisationsii. Self-employed fundraising consultants or small consultancies comprised only

of two partners iii. Employees of Associate Membersiv. People who have had substantial fundraising careers but have now moved

into other roles (e.g. ceo)v. PhD students at the Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy.

2. The following are ineligible for membership (the list is not exhaustive):

i. Employees of sector umbrella or regulatory bodiesii. Employees of suppliers to the fundraising sector, such as consultants,

creative agencies etc (unless they are Associate Members of Rogare)iii. Funders or employees of funding bodiesiv. Academicsv. Politiciansvi. Mediavii. Lay members of the public.

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2.6 Person specificationExperience

a. The applicant must be a fundraiser working for a charity or nonprofit organisation or be a self-employed sole consultant (or duo team) in order to comply with the Advisory Panel’s eligibility criteria – ESSENTIAL

b. Two years spent in charity fundraising – DESIRABLE (NB – time spent in fundraising is less important than skills and abilities, particularly critical thinking)

c. Active blogger and/or active on social media – DESIRABLE

Attributes

d. Passionate about the profession of fundraising – ESSENTIAL

e. Ambition to become a thought leader in the charity sector – DESIRABLE (NB – Rogare is keen to develop a new generation of fundraising thought leaders whose voices are possibly not currently heard)

f. You really want to be a member of the panel because you believe your ideas will make a real contribution to the development of the theory and practice of fundraising – ESSENTIAL

Skills and abilities

g. Ability to think critically about issues and use evidence and theory to develop innovative or novel solutions to existing problems – ESSENTIAL

h. Excellent communicator – ESSENTIAL

i. Good strategic planning skills – ESSENTIAL

Knowledge

j. Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting the fundraising environment, e.g. public perception, regulation, ethics, best practice etc – ESSENTIAL

k. Interest in one or more of the following: philosophy, ethics, psychology, evolutionary biology, marketing theory, social history, economics, public relations theory, behavioural science, professional ethics – DESIRABLE

l. First degree – DESIRABLE

Rogare Advisory Panel – application pack 10

3 Application and selection processRogare is looking for people who can bring fresh ideas and critical thinking to develop, based on evidence and theory, new solutions to existing problems. We are therefore posing two written tasks to people who would like to join our movement.

1) Using the lens of critical fundraising, we would like you to write a 500-word essay to:

Describe how you would tackle what you perceive as the biggest challenge facing fundraising.

This will test points g) and j) in the person specification above.

We suggest looking at some of the entries on the Critical Fundraising blog to get an idea of the topics we have looked at previously.

2) Show us how you can help us by giving your answer to the following question (200 words):

What is the single most important contribution that you could make in supporting Rogare to deliver our theory of change to deliver our objective of, by the mid 2020s, a paradigm shift in the way the fundraisers use theory and evidence to critically analyse, tackle and overcome the challenges facing their profession, and ensuring fundraisers ask the right questions in order to get us there?

We shan’t be testing the other points in the person specification, which are meant as a guide to you to help you decide whether you want to be part of the Rogare movement.

You should write your answers – double line spaced in minimum 11-point type (this amounts to about two sides of A4) – in the document embedded below:

Advisory Panel applicationform 2017.do

Do not exceed the word limit

Email your essay to ian.macquillin@plymouth.ac.uk, marking the subject box ‘AP application’

We are very sorry but we can only accept applications written in English, although you can tell us if you are not conversationally fluent in English, and we shall take this into consideration.

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3.1 Assessment processApplications to the Advisory Panel are considered on a monthly basis by Rogare’s selection subcommittee (see below) against a set of assessment criteria. The selection committee comprises:

Laura Boulton – conference and strategy director, The Resource Alliance (UK/Global)

Nathan Hand – director of advancement, The Oaks Academy (USA)

Howard Lake – managing director, UK Fundraising website (UK)

Ian MacQuillin – director, Rogare (UK)

Clive Pedley – managing director, Giving Architects (New Zealand)

Marc Pitman – the Fundraising Coach (USA)

Adrian Salmon – vice president, Grenzbach Glier and Associates (UK/USA)

Curt Swindoll – executive vice president, strategy, Pursuant (USA)

Your essay will be anonymised and identifiable only by a number so that the panel members will not know who has written each essay.

If you are unsuccessful in your application to join the Advisory Panel, we shall do our best to provide a short critique of your essay and provide advice for future applications.

All applications from each calendar month are passed to the selection panel on the first day of the following month. So if you submit your application on 7 July, the selection committee will receive your application on the 1 August. We will always endeavour to process applications received late in the month according to this deadline, though pressure of work might mean that we need to defer this to the following month. So for example, if you submit on 29 July, it is possible your application will not be seen by the selection committee until 1 September.

The selection committee will then endeavour to process your application so that we can give you a decision by the end of that month.

So if the selection committee receives your application on 1 August, we will aim to either start your official term on the panel on 1 September, or advise, by 1 September if we would like you to revise your application.

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Appendix – What is Critical Fundraising?The fundraising sector is home to some extremely committed and passionate people. But passion and commitment aren’t always enough. To solve the problems and meet the challenges the fundraising sector faces, you also need critical and analytical thinking, consistent and coherent debate and argument, and a scientific approach to evaluating research.

We haven’t always approached some of the biggest challenges with this quality of enquiry. Problems like the criticism of fundraising’s professional ethics; the continued poor public perception of fundraising; debates and questions around self-regulation; or the introduction of new concepts such as ‘stewardship’ and ‘innovation’ into fundraising. The result has often been inertia or stagnation of the debate leading to little progress being made in successfully tackling the challenges.

Critical Fundraising is a concerted attempt to critically and constructively evaluate these issues and provide practical solutions to them. It is very loosely based on the idea of critical marketing, which is based on the concept of critical management studies, which is informed by critical theory. Critical theory is the school of thought that assesses and critiques society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and humanities.

Critical marketing is espoused by marketers and marketing academics who challenge the orthodox views that are often seen as central to the core discipline of marketing.

So, while at Rogare we don’t claim a direct genealogical link with critical theory – as this is not our academic tradition – our overarching goal is to challenge, where appropriate and beneficial to the sustainability of fundraising, some of the assumptions at the heart of fundraising. We will do this by applying knowledge from areas outside fundraising/philanthropy research and practice. These include professional ethics, behavioural science, evolutionary psychology and moral philosophy.

The Critical Fundraising ethos will therefore underpin all our research projects and other outputs, such as blogs and seminars, as we investigate areas of fundraising that are under-researched or ‘under-thought’.

Our objective is to use the lens of Critical Fundraising to achieve nothing less than a paradigm shift in the way the fundraising sector interprets its fundamental concepts and meets its key challenges.

Find out more about critical fundraising in our blog ‘Critical Fundraising – a new mode of thought for our profession’.

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6 Associate Members Rogare is supported in its work by a number of Associate Members – partners to the fundraising sector that share our critical fundraising ethos. Our Associate Members are:

Ask Direct – Irish creative agency (Global group)

Bluefrog – creative agency (UK)

DTV Group – Direct response agency (Global)

Ethicall – telephone fundraising agency (UK)

HOME Fundraising – doorstep fundraising agency (UK)

Pursuant – strategic and creative fundraising agency (USA – lead associate member for North America).

Rapidata – regular giving specialist (UK).

We also have a research association with the Resource Alliance.

Visit our website for more information on Associate Membership of Rogare.

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