If you have a legal problem, it’s likely you would appoint a lawyer. If you have a water leak, you would call a plumber. During my years as a fundraising consultant, it’s always amazed me how many charities look to raise significant sums of money to support their beneficiaries without calling upon the services of a fundraising consultant.

Understandably, all charities want to minimise their administration costs to maximise the amount of income available to support their beneficiaries. However, in my view, charities need to radically change their mind set about how they approach fundraising and recognise that if they want the best possible chance of success, then they need to think honestly, carefully and strategically about the expertise and resources they will need. Appointing a fundraising consultant may appear to be a significant initial cost, but the return on investment can benefit a charity in both the short and long term.

A fundraising campaign will only succeed if a charity has

• a true understanding of its current environment;
• commitment by the charity’s leadership team to see the project through;
• a clear vision about what the charity wants to achieve;
• the ability to make informed decisions about tactics that will be employed; and
• an understanding of the resources and experience required.

I have had the privilege of working with many highly competent in-house fundraising teams. However, before embarking on a new fundraising project it is important to assess if your existing team has the best set of skills, experience, resources and time to deliver on specific objectives. For example, a fundraising team that has a lot of experience and skill in delivering event fundraising initiatives will be far less effective if the charity needs to develop a capital fundraising campaign to achieve its objectives. (If you are about to embark on a capital campaign, a good foundation is to commission a resources study - click here to read my article ‘Time spent on a resources study is time well spent’.

There have been a number of occasions where we are called in to help fundraising campaigns that have encountered problems and either lost momentum or stalled completely. The common reasons for the breakdown of campaigns include: a lack of direction and management, poor recruitment and/or resourcing, opposition to fundraising plans and the use of inappropriate/unproductive methodologies. Unfortunately, this often results in time being wasted, staff and stakeholders being disappointed, and targets being missed.

For example, St Mary’s Church in Kings Worthy, Hampshire, had ambitious plans for new facilities to help expand its congregation. However, its fundraising campaign stalled because of strong local opposition to the plans. Our first task was to ensure that the project was well-defined and that all church supporters, and as many local residents as possible were in agreement with these aims. Once this was achieved, we provided support which helped the church exceed its campaign target by over 65% - click here to read more about this case study.

Another example is the Rose Road Association, which provides education, therapy and respite for young people with severe disabilities and their families. It started a fundraising campaign to raise funds for a new centre in Southampton. However, the campaign slowed down to the point where momentum was lost and the target was beginning to look unachievable. We undertook a study and suggested a way ahead for the campaign, which resulted in a magnificent sum of £5 million being raised. This enabled the building of the new state-of-the-art Bradbury Centre. (click here to read more about this case study).

A fundraising consultant will not provide a 100% guarantee that your charity will go on to achieve its fundraising goals. (If a fundraising consultant makes this promise to you, then please, please beware!). However, I believe that with a strong leadership team within the charity and a clear vision and commitment by all to deliver the campaign, a fundraising consultant can provide the specialist skills and resources needed to: help deliver a successful fundraising campaign; help reduce or mitigate risks which could potentially scupper plans; and ultimately help to achieve the charity’s goals.

If you are still undecided about whether to take the do-it-yourself or fundraising consultant route for your fundraising campaign, then it may be worth asking yourself the following six questions:

1. What do we want to achieve?
2. Do we have a plan to make this a reality?
3. Do we know what skills we need to achieve our plan?
4. Do we have the skills necessary to ensure success?
5. Do we have the time and resources available to achieve this ourselves?
6. Can we achieve this ourselves within a realistic timeframe?

If you’re unable to answer any of these questions, then it’s worth talking to a fundraising consultant. You can start small, utilising a fundraising consultant’s expertise for a single project or task, and then add consultancy services as needed to accomplish your charity’s goals. Generally speaking, fundraising consultants charge by the hour or by the day, and fees are tailored according the type and size of fundraising project. I would urge you to avoid fundraising consultants who work on a commission fee basis. They may seem attractive, but they can be a disincentive to donors, lead to conflict and practices that are detrimental to the charity, the donor and the fundraising consultant – click here to see my article ‘The problems with commission-based fundraising’. Commission fees also breach the Association of Fundraising Consultants’ Code of Practice.  

Like us, a number of fundraising consultants offer a free, no obligation, initial meeting. At Stefan Lipa Fundraising Consultancy, we believe that this is the best way to start a relationship because it enables a charity to learn more about us and brainstorm its ideas. We can provide some initial insights about how the charity may want to approach the project and how we can help.

To arrange a free, no obligation meeting, please get in touch with us on 01264 860003. You can also follow us on Twitter (@StefanLipa) and connect on LinkedIn.

03.10.2017

For more information, call us on 01264 860003 or send an email.