Health Check
Challenge: Is your fundraising viable for 2011?
Consensus in the Third Sector is that 2011 will prove difficult, even painful for charities. You are probably all too aware of the immense amount of work needed to get your fundraising strategy right and the consequences of getting it wrong.
To succeed in the current competitive environment you want to get it right and ensure that your charity will achieve its goals.
Fundraising requires a high expenditure of limited resources - time, money and energy. You will be identifying all your most useful friends, calling in all the goodwill that already exists for your cause and looking to generate more. This will require an inspiring ‘purpose’ and effective organisation. It will take everything you can give it and it must succeed.
Key questions to ask
- Is our current fundraising potential maximised?
- How can we ensure that our aims are realistic?
- Is our cause truly convincing and inspiring?
- Have we identified all the potential sources of funds?
- How best can we approach potential funders?
- Are our resources sufficient?
- Are we prepared?
- Do we need ongoing consultant support?
Solution: Tarnside Health Check
Tarnside offers a 360º Health Check that will take your organisation through a structured process to review the current capability of your organisation, analyse the risks you face and propose recommendations for the strategy you need to adopt to bridge the gap.
The review exercise starts a process to ensure that your organisation and team are aligned and performing effectively and can adopt new strategies to deliver successful fundraising.
Benefits of a Tarnside Health Check
An effective Health Check is an essential precursor to successful fundraising - its structured process will:
- Highlight any weaknesses and propose solutions
- Provide a wider perspective
- Guide your detailed planning
A Tarnside Health Check will give your fundraising the greatest chance of success and will give you the structure and knowledge to proceed confidently.
Tarnside Health Check
The Tarnside Health Check is a process of interviews and analysis by our consultant that would typically take between two and four weeks to complete.
The four main areas of focus are:
1. Review
Our consultants will work directly with you to provide a comprehensive review of your existing fundraising processes and strategy. This will provide a practical insight into the return on investment of activities as well as identify potential for future growth.
2. Research
This is fundamental to fundraising success. Our consultants will examine your objectives, how they add value, and how this could best be portrayed to existing and potential supporters.
3. Audit
Our consultants have experience of the widest range of possible sources of funding, and will assess the potential relationship between these sources and your case for support.
4. Risk Analysis
There are numerous different ways to approach funders, many of which are often ignored. Our consultants will consider the most appropriate appeal
Results
The review will culminate in a comprehensive Health Check Report which will present:
- An overview of your fundraising and its strengths and weaknesses, reviewing its strategic aims and the clarity of its message
- Clear practical recommendations to immeadiately take your fundraising forward
- A review of your current networks to identify links that already exist to potential funders
- Suggestions for additional sources of funding
- Outline proposals for a fundraising strategy
- Measurable next steps as a basis for ensuring that your charity is fit for fundraising
Consultant Advice
The report will also offer advice in areas such as:
- Other competing appeals and an assessment of their potential impact;
- Your organisation’s resource base and its readiness for fundraising
- The likelihood of attracting the funds required and an estimate of timescales
- A process for further developing fundraising activity
- The budget, staffing and resources required to develop your strategy
A pdf with an introduction to The Tarnside Health Check can be printed here
