You are not alone

Often in funding applications and assessment interviews you will be asked questions about the other organisations you work with and especially those doing similar work to you. This is not a test to see if you know who else is out there. Nor is it a way a funder gets their research done – even though gathering local knowledge is always useful. It is a way of assessing how connected you are to others around you – Do you have good referral pathways in place? Are you sure you are not duplicating another’s services?

Sadly with the dual pressures of increased demand and diminishing resources, some charities have become inward looking. There is less ‘slack’ to attend events, training and meetings as everyone is head down and delivering. However, this is exactly the time when fresh thinking is needed and having the time to look outwards and meet with others is more crucial than ever.

A lack of external view causes several problems:

1. You miss opportunities for collaborations and partnerships;
2. You miss out on funding opportunities that can arise from more people hearing what you do;
3. You miss seeing alternative ways of doing what you do from visiting other charities or getting wider stimulation. As Daniel Neel of the Fundraising Resource Group puts it in his recent blog (see link) “Sometimes the best ideas come from outside of the non-profit world altogether”.
4. You risk duplicating effort such as conducting research that you didn’t realise had already been done.

Not referencing other organisations can also come across badly in funding applications. What would you think of a charity that says they are unique when you know they are not; makes no reference to other trial projects that have been carried out and evaluated already; does not work with a nearby charity despite sharing clients?

Despite all the internal demands, charity workers do need to keep facing outwards and connecting with others. This can be positive and reenergising at a time when work is hard. And at the very least you will feel better sharing your woes with other charity workers who understand.

http://www.thefundraisingresource.com/wp/fundraising-2/fundraising-and-deck-chairs-what-are-you-doing-with-yours/

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; selecting causes and charities; and impact monitoring. Services for charities include external perception reviews; bid reviews; training for fundraisers and non-fundraisers involved in bids. 

https://twitter.com/emmabeeston01

Trustees – Your CEO needs you!

The fresh round of attacks on charity CEO’s level of pay saddens me (link below). It is another example of people not getting modern charities. It seems it is OK to be paid to turn a profit for shareholders but not if you set out to tackle society’s ills. I get to meet lots of charity CEOs in my work and they are doing a tough job that should be appreciated. Tougher now than ever as the demand for help and support is on the rise (rises in debt, housing shortages, increased mental illness ...) and there are reduced resources to respond due to funding cuts. 

The pressure is on to continue the charity’s work, support staff, fundraise and plan ahead in these circumstances. Charity CEOs are often lonely. They need to reassure their staff teams who are stretched and worried about their jobs. And they need to present their Trustee Board with solutions and options. Where do they get to rant, moan, talk through new ideas and share their worries?

When I meet with charity CEOs, I ask them about the support they get. Some will speak highly of their Chair or other Trustees. But some tell me that managing their Trustees is another difficult task on their long list.

So what can Trustees do?

1. First recognise that the burden and responsibility for staff jobs and the charity’s continued existence rests heavily on the CEO’s shoulders. Even though Trustees are technically responsible, they have collective responsibility and can leave at any time. It is not their paid job. 
2. Support the CEO. Create a culture where the CEO can make mistakes, bounce ideas around and admit to having concerns or fears.
3. Ensure the CEO has regular supervision, external supervision, a coach or mentor. That they have sufficient capacity to get out of the charity to meet with peers, learn and take proper holidays. There are excellent peer support groups out there like Ella Forums (link below) and people like myself offer support.
4. Share the load – not interfering with the day to day running, but asking what help is needed and being proactive with assistance such as telling staff bad news or contingency planning difficult ‘what if’ scenarios.

I am sure there are other ways Trustees are and can step up. If you are a Trustee, let me know what you do. And if you are a charity CEO, tell me what you need.

http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/19800/sun_launches_fresh_attack_against_charity_sector_over_chief_executive_pay

http://www.ella-forums.org/

https://twitter.com/emmabeeston01

Judging charities by their covers

As a child in the 70s I used to visit the Westgate Library in Oxford. I have vivid memories of the time I made the transition from the children’s library (think bright coloured cushions and picture books) to the main adult library. There were no pictures any more nor different sizes and thicknesses and certainly no age categories. Instead, endless shelves of book spines arranged alphabetically by author. How on earth was I supposed to choose which book to take out?

I can’t remember exactly how I responded the first time. I do remember the time I adopted a strategy of selecting titles on the basis that they had bright aqua lettering as a way to narrow down my options. Needless to say I read a lot of dreadful books. I needed to come up with a better system of choosing.

The same problem of overwhelming choice can face donors. There are 160,045 charities in the UK (see link below). How on earth do you select the ones to support?

I was particularly struck by the similarity when looking at Aviva’s community award pages. Just for Bristol there were profiles of over 3,000 local charities all asking for votes to get the £1,000 award available. To choose, you either need to know one already or have an awful lot of time on your hands.

To stop being overwhelmed you need some criteria – more logical than my aqua approach. You can select by size, cause, location. Still some will be ‘better’ than others e.g. well run, making a big difference, tackling a difficult social issue, working in collaboration, influencing change.  It is hard to just pull these out a random so you also need external expertise.  Just as with books, charities also win prizes (e.g. GSK Impact awards) and other funders can act like a recommendation. Even better is having advice from someone who knows the sector who effectively acts as your own personal book reviewer: helping you navigate the choices by matching your preferences to the most effective charities out there. In CAF’s recent report (see link below) wealthy individual donors valued receiving professional advice. And, good news for charities, those who took advice tended to give much more.

http://data.ncvo.org.uk/a/almanac15/big-picture/#Registered_charities_andgeneral_charities

https://www.cafonline.org/about-us/publications/2015-publications/the-art-of-adaptation.aspx

 

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises philanthropists on giving strategies; selecting causes and charities; and impact monitoring.

https://twitter.com/emmabeeston01

 

Tell me something I don't know

Before you launch into your funding bid, stop and ask yourself what it is this funder needs to know to convince them to support you.

Why will this help? Well, fitting everything you want to say into strict word count limits is always a challenge. It can save you valuable space if you focus on the facts and evidence your chosen funder needs. And as someone who reads hundreds of bids, I can wholeheartedly agree that less is almost always more. A clear, concise bid which tells me exactly what I need to know and how that fits with my funding priorities is just what I want.

One consideration is whether you are applying to a specialist or a generalist funder.

If you are applying to a specialist funder then you can assume a greater level of knowledge in that area. For example, if the funder has already stated that their priority is homeless people, you don’t need to tell them the latest government statistics on homelessness and the poor outcomes for homeless people. You can assume that they get it already – that’s why they are looking to fund this area of work. Instead, tell them why your homelessness project is the one they should fund out of all the others they are considering.

Be specific, tell them about the need in your area; who else is delivering services and how you work with them; why you use your particular model; what is different about your approach; the experience and expertise you have; what results you get...

If they are a more general funder, perhaps a family charitable trust, then you may need to use your words to explain your cause and why it is important. In this situation, don’t make assumptions. Take time to explain the key background facts and figures surrounding your issue and how people are affected before you go into the specifics about you.

If you give general information to specialists, you risk wasting their time and missing the opportunity to give them the depth of detail they want. If you go into specifics with people who have more general knowledge, they may not understand what you do. In both situations:  get it right and you have a better chance of being successful.  

https://twitter.com/emmabeeston01