I am pleased to present fundraising expert Jane Selman as this week's Guest Blogger...
Fundraising is much more than identifying donors, building
and stewarding donor relationships and asking for the money.
All fundraisers
know that it’s a good idea to fully grasp the scope, scale, nuances, language,
stories and energy of the work that you are fundraising for. And one significant way to do this is to talk
with, and have good working relationships with, colleagues who deliver the
projects/services.
All well and good so
far….the money is in, the work is funded, the project staff are delighted and
the fundraiser can move onto the next “ask”.
However, the fundraiser and project staff continue to need each
other. At the end of the year, the
fundraiser needs to produce the monitoring and evaluation report required by
the funder.
This is where the fundraiser has to extend their skills to become
an internal project manager. The
fundraiser needs to be part of, or at least help to drive, the internal process
and procedures that ensure the charity remains on track to meet the terms and
conditions of a donation / grant.
Why?
Because, the fundraiser needs to make sure she/he can do the job of excellent
donor stewardship, writing an accurate report and being the external ambassador
for their cause.
And this is where the hiccups happen….because people are busy,
have naturally different priorities and performance targets to that of the
fundraiser.
What do I mean by the
fundraiser as internal project manager?
- Finance: is the spend going to budget and according to what was said to the donor? Are your finance colleagues aware of how and when you need to report spend to the funder?
- Keeping an eye on the monitoring ball: are all monitoring systems working? Is relevant data being collected and recorded on time by project staff? Are you able to report against outcomes as well as outputs? Are case studies and anecdotes being collected as well as quantitative data? Who is taking the photos of activities?
- Are there any changes in planned project activities, beneficiaries, staffing, volunteers?
Ever
heard of the RASCI project management system? The RASCI matrix is a useful tool for defining the participation of various roles in completing tasks, responsibilities and authority of any project. It
is a particularly useful model for projects where several people who have
different areas of expertise, need to be involved. I know of several fundraisers who have used
this to their advantage.
So,
however your organisation does this, whatever the process and procedures that
are already in place to internally manage projects, I urge the fundraiser to
also see their role as being a part of project management.
And don’t forget to build
in more time, persistence and patience than you initially think is required, in
order to receive the information you need to produce that funding report on
time.
https://twitter.com/emmabeeston01
No comments:
Post a Comment