THE PERFECT FUNDRAISING PARTNERSHIP:

Transcription

1 THE PERFECT FUNDRAISING PARTNERSHIP: EQUIPPING CHARITIES AND SENIOR VOLUNTEERS TO TRANSFORM PHILANTHROPY PROGRAMMES A report by Solid Maagemet & Cosultacy Services Ltd

2 FOREWORD: SIR TREVOR PEARS CMG We are very pleased to be supportig this importat piece of research, which speaks so powerfully to the challeges affectig charities ad ot-for-profit orgaisatios i the UK today. As a idepedet British family foudatio, log term relatioships ad parterships are at the heart of everythig we do. Gettig the relatioship right with seior voluteer fudraisers leads o to charities becomig more effective, ad this ca be truly trasformatioal for them. We ve see this i actio, but sadly we ve also see what happes whe it does t work. By learig from the shared experieces of professioals ad voluteers, we hope this report will help charities ad voluteers work better together towards achievig The Perfect Fudraisig Partership. Sir Trevor Pears CMG Chairma, Pears Foudatio I am also delighted to take this opportuity to cogratulate Jeff ad the woderful Solid Maagemet team o their twetieth aiversary ad to thak them for their tremedous dedicatio ad cotributio to so may importat causes across the volutary sector. We have always valued (ad ejoyed!) workig with them ad wish them cotiued success. 3

3 FOREWORD: JEFF SHEAR FOREWORD: EDWIN DRUMMOND Jeff Shear Maagig Director, Solid Maagemet Solid Maagemet & Cosultacy Services Ltd Established i 1997, Solid Maagemet has remaied deliberately small. We employ five cosultats, each of whom has years of experiece leadig fudraisig teams ad major appeals, ad has persoally solicited seve-figure gifts. This gives each of us a uique uderstadig of the challeges facig fudraisig professioals, particularly i the philathropy field. We focus o major gift fudraisig, both i supportig existig programmes ad i helpig to establish appeals ad ew activities, ofte workig closely with seior voluteers. It is hard to believe that twety years have goe by sice Solid Maagemet was set up. Durig that time, I have had the privilege of meetig may remarkable people ad my respect for those ivolved with all aspects of fudraisig has grow immeasurably. Millios of people every day act o their desire to brig about positive chage for people across the world, for our plaet ad for its resources. At a time whe it feels that our woderful vibrat ad diverse volutary sector is uder attack, it is hearteig to work with so may people who really make a differece. Oe of the most excitig thigs I have witessed i my career is the magic that happes whe ispiratioal philathropists ad fudraisers forge a partership that trasforms the prospects of a orgaisatio. These parterships ca result i astoishig growth, while seior voluteers from all walks of life have foud motivatio ad ispiratio through egagig with causes that matter. Solid Maagemet has worked with may charities ad seior voluteers o forgig these meaigful relatioships, so I am delighted that we are markig our 20th aiversary by producig this report. I hope it will provide a isight ito this importat area ad equip charities with the tools they eed to build stroger ad more effective parterships. I am thrilled that so may people have take part i this research ad would like to thak everyoe that has take the time to cotribute. I particular, I am grateful to my fried, Sir Trevor Pears, ad to Pears Foudatio for their woderfully geerous support as our sposor ad wat to pay tribute to how effectively Pears Foudatio works i partership with the sector. Fially, I would also like to thak my amazig Solid colleagues Amada, Jae, Carmel ad Susa who are a credit to the sector. Without them, Solid Maagemet would t exist ad I certaily would t have ejoyed this jourey so much. I every way, they ispire me ad keep me goig. Who kows, maybe for aother twety years? Edwi Drummod Chair, Voluteer Board Fudraisig Special Iterest Group Istitute of Fudraisig As the charity sector grows icreasigly competitive ad fudraisig regulatios chage, fudraisers must adapt their practices beyod traditioal approaches, to fid more iovative ways of workig with supporters. Havig worked with voluteers throughout my fudraisig career I am delighted that the Istitute of Fudraisig (IoF) Voluteer Board Fudraisig (VBF) Special Iterest Group (SIG) ad Solid Maagemet have bee able to collaborate to udertake the sector s first research project ito the use of seior voluteers i UK fudraisig. The IoF VBF SIG was set up i 2012 ad has held a series of evets ad forums to offer people i the sector the opportuity to lear from expert speakers ad meet other fudraisers workig with, or explorig the use of, seior voluteers. Sice its formatio, the SIG has bee discussig the possibility of coductig a research project to uderstad more about workig with seior voluteers. As this fudraisig approach is seeig marked growth across the sector, we wated to offer fudraisers the opportuity to share kowledge, experiece ad best practice with others, ad to provide a practical toolkit to help people achieve success i all types of seior voluteer led fudraisig. We felt strogly that a report i this area would help to support our fellow fudraisers ad offer guidace i a area that may be ew to people or orgaisatios. We are therefore very pleased to lauch the report havig had the opportuity to draw o the perspectives of both charity professioals ad the voluteers themselves, givig us uique isight from some of the sector s leadig philathropists. If you already work with seior voluteers, are lookig to grow your seior voluteer etwork, or simply fid this area of fudraisig of iterest, I hope the report, ad its fidigs, will be of iterest ad help you ad your charity. Thak you agai to all who took part, the woderful team at Solid Maagemet ad all of the Voluteer Board Fudraisig Special Iterest Group members who have worked so hard to get this report off the groud. 4 5

4 CONTENTS fudraisig ou /fʌdˌreɪzɪŋ/ The actio of seekig fiacial cotributios from exteral sources for a charity. seior fudraisig voluteer ou /siːjə fʌdˌreɪzɪŋ vɒl.əˈtɪə/ A idividual who is perceived as havig succeeded i their busiess or persoal life, seekig fiacial cotributios for a charity by makig itroductios to, ad askig for support from, their persoal etwork of family, frieds ad busiess cotacts. 09 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 INTRODUCTION 13 METHODOLOGY 15 FINDINGS CASE STUDIES ACTION POINTS FINAL WORD 43 RESOURCES 47 THANKS 7

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Never be embarrassed about askig for a gift for a charity that you believe i. Never criticise aother charity but always be positive about the charity for which you are askig the gift. Always try ad show exactly what the charity does ad the beefits that it provides ad the help that it gives. Look the door i the eye ad ask for the gift. The worse that ca happe is that they say No! Lord Levy You ca oly trasform your fudraisig through trasformig your etworks; you ca oly trasform your etworks through seior voluteers. Gemma Peters, Kig s College Lodo I eed a high degree of cofidece i the professioal team to kow that I ca trust them with my relatioships; ad to esure the moey will be used i the correct way ad that the projects are worthwhile. Lord Fik The fiacial impact of seior voluteers o the charity sector has ever bee measured. Icome geerated i partership with seior voluteers is ot routiely tracked by charities or recorded i their accouts. However, aecdotal evidece suggests that their impact is sigificat. Support from seior voluteers has bee critical to the success of the most ambitious fudraisig appeals i the UK i recet years, icludig Kig s College Lodo s World Questios/Kig s Aswers 500m appeal ad Cacer Research UK s 100m Create the Chage campaig for the Fracis Crick Istitute. Our research draws o the perspectives of both charity professioals ad seior voluteers, icludig some of the sector s leadig philathropists. This gives us a uique isight ito how to create parterships with seior voluteers that really work. The mai fidigs are as follows: Peer-to-peer fudraisig ca brig remarkable growth ad trasformatio Fudraisers report that ivolvig seior voluteers i relatioship fudraisig brigs access to ew prospects ad icreased icome. Seior voluteers ca help to build a pool of prospects for charities that have o history of relatioship fudraisig as well as eablig fudraisers to create deeper relatioships with prospective doors. This i tur icreases a charity s etworks ad ultimately its icome. Cold approaches ca work i voluteer recruitmet While the majority of seior voluteers get ivolved i fudraisig because they have a existig ivolvemet with the charity ad are most likely to be recruited by other seior voluteers, the report shows that there are other routes to successful recruitmet. May seior voluteers become ivolved without havig a prior relatioship with a charity if they are passioate about a cause. Askers must be givers Seior voluteers eed to make a persoally meaigful doatio to a charity if they are to ask others for moey. Both fudraisers ad voluteers felt that meaigful givig by seior fudraisig voluteers gave credibility. Voluteers do t always ejoy askig for moey The majority of voluteers do ot ejoy askig for moey. Istead they cherish the uique ad valuable role they ca play. They rely heavily o support from fudraisers ad seior leadership whe askig for moey. The balace ca be hard to strike Seior voluteers ad charity staff ca struggle to establish a workig equilibrium, with misuderstadigs ad culture clashes occurrig particularly over maagig each other s expectatios. The success of these relatioships ca make the differece betwee the success ad failure of the fudraisig programme, so it is importat to commuicate clearly ad establish expectatios from both sides at the outset of the relatioship. The future looks ucertai May seior voluteers are cocered about successio. They report that youger philathropists appear to be less willig to egage their etworks ad help with askig, which could have serious cosequeces for charities ability to fulfil their missios i the future. 9

6 INTRODUCTION Some of the most commo structures for egagig seior voluteers are as follows: Developmet/Appeal/Campaig Boards: A group of voluteers, usually recruited ad coveed uder the directio of a Chair, to edorse ad support the delivery of a charity s fudraisig campaig, appeal or project. Typically, the group is tasked with accessig members etworks ad usig their ifluece to secure sigificat doatios ad high level corporate parterships ad to maximise the impact of fudraisig evets ad other opportuities. Busiess Advisory/Idustry Sector Groups: A group of voluteers coveed to deploy their expertise, etworks ad ifluece to provide ad/ or secure fiacial ad other support for a charity from idividuals ad orgaisatios withi specific busiess/idustry sectors. Support ofte icludes professioal advice which charities might otherwise have to pay for. Givig Clubs: Givig clubs brig together doors to support charities or projects with moey ad expertise. They usually have a Chair, who might covee a committee, to recruit ew members. Members are expected to make a fiacial doatio at a set level ad are give access to a rage of defied beefits, such as beig ivited to evets where they ca etwork, beig listed i the charity s aual report ad havig opportuities to become more coected with the cause; they may be asked to led their support as seior voluteers to recruit further members. Givig Circles: Givig circles are peer-led etworks of doors who come together i small groups to support a specific project with moey ad expertise. Idividuals are expected to make a fiacial doatio (ofte at a set level) ad i retur are give detailed iformatio about the project ad work as a team with their peers to raise moey. Special Evet Committees: Special evet committees are groups of voluteers, usually coveed uder the directio of a Chair, to support the orgaisatio ad delivery of a specific fudraisig evet for a charity. The evet ca be delivered either o behalf of the charity or i aid of the charity, ad this depeds o whether the charity or the committee is the official orgaiser of the evet. Volutary fudraisig was historically the lifeblood of the charity sector, with most charities edowed by idividual philathropists or supported by their fouder s frieds ad family. Eve today, whe some charities ad o-profit orgaisatios are fuded by local or atioal govermet, or have developed alterative icome geeratio models to esure self-sufficiecy, a estimated 100,000 1, rely o volutary fudraisig. What is seior voluteer fudraisig? Volutary fudraisig takes may forms, from idividuals orgaisig coffee morigs to celebrities deliverig large-scale iteratioal fudraisig galas. This report is cocered with a particular form of peer-to-peer fudraisig led by seior voluteers. These voluteers are defied as successful people who are ofte doors or charity supporters, who seek fiacial cotributios for a charity by makig itroductios to, ad askig for support from, their persoal etwork of family, frieds ad busiess cotacts. Peer-to-peer fudraisig by seior voluteers ca be trasformatioal for a charity. As well as access to etworks of wealth, ifluece ad opportuity, credibility whe askig for support ad leverage to persuade ad stretch doors, voluteers ca led powerful edorsemet to a orgaisatio. They are also able to draw o their experiece i other areas of busiess or goverace to challege charities to perform better, more strategically ad more effectively. Over recet decades the importace of seior voluteer fudraisig has bee recogised more widely. Peer-to-peer fudraisig by seior voluteers has become more formal ad ofte maaged more professioally. The curret climate of austerity, together with the ucertaity of Brexit ad risig demad for services across the charity sector, are all cotributig to the eed for fudraisers to raise more moey ad fid ew ways to maximise icome. Alogside this, sigificat chages, icludig the establishmet of the Fudraisig Regulator, the ew Fudraisig Preferece Service (FPS), as well as the icomig Geeral Data Protectio Regulatio (GDPR) have itroduced a ew regulatory framework withi which fudraisers have to operate. This report shows that workig with seior voluteers i order to establish ad ehace philathropy programmes could be the aswer for may charities that hope to maximise icome. Whe a partership with a seior voluteer works well it ca revolutioise a charity s fudraisig, but cautio is eeded, because whe it fails the damage ca be log lastig. You ca achieve thigs with the help of seior voluteers that you simply ca t with other areas of fudraisig they ca achieve miracles for you through their experiece, ifluece ad eergy. Kath Abrahams, Diabetes UK This research aims to create a better uderstadig of how to develop parterships with seior voluteers that really work, ad to provide a toolkit that shares best practice to support successful ad effective seior-voluteer-supported fudraisig across the volutary sector that is compliat with ew regulatios ad meets the very highest stadards of best practice. We hope the report will geerate discussio, debate ad further research. The late Dr Hery Drucker, the first Developmet Director at Oxford Uiversity ad fouder of Oxford Philathropic, pioeered this approach. He itroduced ew techiques based o the US system of fudraisig through alumi etworks. This approach helped shape the first major fudraisig appeals led by seior voluteers; Great Ormod Street Hospital s 54m Wishig Well Appeal of the late 1980s ad the NSPCC s 250m Full Stop Appeal of the late 1990s. 1 NCVO (2016) UK Civil Society Almaac 2016, Lodo: NCVO. Moha, J. ad Breeze, B. (2015) The Logic of Charity: Great expectatios i hard times, Basigstoke: Palgrave Macmilla. 11

7 METHODOLOGY It is importat for me to look people i the eye ad be able to say do as I do big givers eed big askers. Lloyd Dorfma CBE I m rather pessimistic: the whole fudraisig model has chaged i the time I ve bee ivolved i fudraisig. It s much tougher askig for moey, people reege o their commitmets i a way they ever used to ad very few people are prepared to ask for moey ow - you see the same ames agai ad agai ad o-oe is comig up behid you. The ew ad youg rich do t wat to give, they wat to set up their ow foudatios ad charities they wat to do their ow thig, it s a totally ew model a paradigm shift. Dame Vivie Duffield I order to fid out how fudraisers work with seior voluteers, ad how seior voluteers experiece workig with charities, our research used a mixture of quatitative ad qualitative methods. The quatitative data was gathered through carefully desiged olie questioaires ad the qualitative data was gathered via a series of face-to-face ad telephoe iterviews. Two olie surveys were coducted betwee February ad March The first survey was aimed at fudraisers with sigificat experiece of workig with seior voluteers ad comprised 25 questios; the secod was aimed at seior voluteers with sigificat experiece of fudraisig ad comprised 26 questios. The questios were largely multiple choice, with the opportuity to provide further iformatio where respodets could expad o their aswers ad provide examples ad illustratios. The survey was dissemiated with help from the Istitute of Fudraisig s Special Iterest Group o Voluteer Board Fudraisig. We received 163 valid resposes from fudraisers ad 34 from seior voluteers. Most of the fudraisers who participated (82%) worked for large charities, those with a aual icome i excess of 1m, as show i the table. While these larger charities accout for oly 3% of charities i the UK, they receive over 80% of icome 2 ad are the most prolific fudraisig orgaisatios. Iterviews were coducted betwee April ad Jue 2017 with 12 fudraisers ad 12 seior voluteers to capture more detail through examples ad case studies. The list of iterview participats is o page 46. We iterviewed oly seior voluteers who had ot completed the olie survey, icreasig the rage of experieces ad opiios reflected i the report. Size of charity based o aual volutary icome Major (over 5m) 61% Large ( 1m- 5m) 21% Medium ( 500,000-1m) 10% Small (uder 500,000) 8% 2 NCVO (2016) Civil Society Almaac 13

8 FINDINGS Believig i the charity that you are askig for is essetial as is havig a uderstadig of the potetial door ad beig totally hoest ad sicere. Doig your homework ad followig up with the door ad establishig both a rapport ad a relatioship is ot oly the key to success but also makes it so much more rewardig. Lord Levy Most people fid askig for moey quite hard ad a commo problem o developmet boards is that members wat to talk about aythig but askig they come up with suggestios, ideas ad eve query the strategy to avoid the task at had. This is whe developmet boards ca go wrog. They eed a lot of focus ad directio from the Chair to keep them o track ad the Chair has to be clear about the strategy ad what members have siged up to. Sir Vero Ellis Whe I meet prospects ad doors I like someoe with me who has a detailed ad thorough kowledge of the orgaisatio ad the project we are fudraisig for, ot to make the ask but to esure we have all the relevat iformatio ad ca aswer ay questios. I do t wat to be embarrassed we are successful whe we work together as a professioal team. Dame Gail Roso 1. What beefits do seior voluteers brig? Respodets said that seior voluteers brig the followig beefits: access to ew prospects advice o makig successful asks credibility through edorsemet icreased icome a icrease i the seior voluteer s persoal commitmet to the charity challegig charities to perform better. Fudraisers most commoly raked the top three beefits of ivolvig seior voluteers as access to ew prospects, credibility through their edorsemet ad icreased icome The beefits of ivolvig seior voluteers i fudraisig Beefits raked as top three by fudraisers surveyed Access to ew prospects Credibility through their edorsemet Icreased icome A icrease i the seior voluteer's persoal fiacial commitmet to the charity Advice o makig successful asks Challege to the orgaisatio to perform better Several respodets oted that seior voluteers could help to build a pool of prospects for charities that had ever udertake major relatioship fudraisig before. I ve worked with several charities where seior voluteers have kick-started a ew major gift programme it simply would ot have bee possible without havig them to itroduce potetial doors who the wet o to give themselves ad to itroduce others. Seior voluteers actually built a ew icome stream with a fatastic ROI. Sue Collis, Pacreatic Cacer UK Seior voluteers also prioritised access to ew prospects ad icreased icome as the mai beefits of their ivolvemet but also emphasised the advice they ca give to makig successful asks ad the opportuity to icrease their ow persoal commitmet to the charity. Both fudraisers ad seior voluteers stated that voluteers kowledge of the people they approach eables them to start the coversatio from the right place, thus acceleratig the fudraisig process ad maximisig relatioships. We ca show how we alig with what the door wats. We do t start with here is what we do are t we great? We start with here is how we ca support your goals Voluteer survey respodet Seior voluteers recogised that their ow experieces of beig approached for doatios gave them a importat isight ito what works ad what does t. They oted that they have the added credibility of ot beig paid to say this whe it comes to askig for support. Key fidig: Committed seior voluteers ivolved i peerto-peer fudraisig have provided charities with ivaluable kowledge ad uique isights that eable successful relatioship developmet, askig ad stewardship of ew ad existig prospects ad major doors. This icreases the etworks ad the icome of charities they work with. 15

9 Discussio poits: Give the value of ew prospects ad icreased icome that seior voluteers brig to charities, it is surprisig that very few orgaisatios record data o their impact. The reliace o aecdotal evidece is uusual give the sector s focus o aalysis ad performace maagemet across other areas of fudraisig. Fudraisers would beefit from developig systems to track ad assess the progress of parterships with seior voluteers. This could provide evidece for the efficacy of this form of fudraisig. From May 2018, all charities holdig ad processig persoal data of idividuals will have to comply with the ew GDPR (Geeral Data Protectio Regulatio). As is the case ow, charities will eed to have established a legal basis (either havig secured the idividual s coset or a havig defied a clear legitimate iterest) to commuicate with idividuals ad to udertake research o them. This does ot stop seior voluteers reachig out to their etworks ad cotacts i a persoal capacity, but charities will eed to esure that i commuicatig with ew prospective doors ad processig their data (which icludes the act of udertakig backgroud research ito their persoal wealth ad busiess coectios) they are compliat with GDPR. 2. How are seior voluteers recruited? Fudraisers reported that they fid it easiest to source seior voluteers through people curretly ivolved with the charity (83%) ad through existig voluteers (80%). Seior voluteers commoly have other liks to the charity, i some cases as beeficiaries. Oe respodet from a uiversity oted that all their seior voluteers were alumi. Several iterviewees reported the success of recruitmet through a iitial coector a passioate voluteer, who eed ot be a asker themselves, but who is effective at egagig, recruitig ad developig seior voluteer fudraisers. However, 44% of fudraisers reported that they had successfully recruited voluteers who were previously ukow to their charity through a carefully cosidered but cold approach. This was particularly successful whe the potetial voluteer had a kow affiliatio to the cause, but o kow persoal coectio to that particular charity. Oe fudraiser oted that his charity approached people idetified but ot selected for Trustee roles ad both fudraisers ad seior voluteers highlighted how executive search firms could help with successful voluteer recruitmet. Wideig the pool of prospective seior voluteers ca oly help to icrease diversity. You eed seior voluteers to have already bought ito the missio, so it teds to be people who are existig doors... If ot existig doors, voluteers ca be egaged through someoe else associated with the charity such as a trustee. Whe we have goe the cold route, it ca be too much too soo, ad i some cases they have reeged o their commitmet because they have t fully bought ito the cause. Charlotte Matier, Alzheimer s Society Half of the seior voluteers who respoded to the survey reported that they got ivolved with a charity because they were asked by aother seior voluteer ad 35% because they were asked by a staff member. 84% of seior voluteers added that they serve as a trustee to the charity they fudraise for ad 81% help o a ad-hoc basis i their area of professioal expertise as well as i fudraisig. 50% of seior voluteers claim to have approached a charity proactively with 32% sayig they were affected by the cause ad approached the charity ad 18% reportig that they decided to become more ivolved followig attedig a evet. The overwhelmig majority of seior voluteers (82%) reported that they have bee ivolved for over five years with the charity they support. Several oted that they had fouded the charities they fudraise for. Key fidig: Seior voluteers are likely to get ivolved i fudraisig if they have a existig ivolvemet with the charity. They are most likely to be recruited by other seior voluteers. However, may also get ivolved without havig had a prior relatioship with, or idividual coectio to, a charity, where they have a geuie affiliatio to the cause: i these istaces cold approaches have bee successful or voluteers have proactively offered their ivolvemet. Discussio poits: While it appears that approachig existig cotacts remais the most successful way to recruit seior voluteers; the success of ew cold approaches, particularly those made by staff, is both surprisig ad ecouragig. Further research about recruitmet may reveal better ways to use executive search agecies ad social media to improve seior voluteer recruitmet. It is possible that these ew routes will help charities to recruit a more diverse pool of seior voluteers. Appropriate ad thorough prospect research is the basis for idetifyig potetial seior voluteers ad makig successful cold approaches. While fudraisers should carefully cosider how to do this research withi the ew regulatory eviromet, it has a vital role to play, as Dr Beth Breeze has detailed i her report Good askig: the role of research i efficiet, effective ad ejoyable fudraisig Why do seior voluteers get ivolved i fudraisig? Seior voluteers idetified a umber of persoal beefits from their ivolvemet i the fudraisig process. These iclude fidig out more about the cause, gettig their cotacts ivolved, meetig ew people ad attedig iterestig evets. 42% idetified the most importat beefit simply as beig able to make a practical differece to a charity they were passioate about i a way that was t possible for other people. Whe asked why they ca help as fudraisers where others ca t, voluteers cited their access to etworks of wealthy people as well as their credibility to ask (ad ability to stretch) prospective doors, ad their particular skills ad experiece as askers. I especially ejoy meetig the people who beefit from my support ad the support I am able to leverage from my cotacts. For me this brigs icredible joy ad remids me of what a privilege it is for me to be able to both give ad to fudraise. Lee Portoi It is importat for me to look people i the eye ad be able to say do as I do big givers eed big askers. Lloyd Dorfma CBE Whe asked if they ejoy beig ivolved i askig for moey, seior voluteers resposes varied. Over 60% said o or it depeds ad oly 35% said they ejoyed it. You have to be passioate about the product because there s othig ejoyable about askig for moey I ask because I am passioate or because I fid it a persoal challege. You ca oly really be askig for oe or two causes at a time to be credible. Dame Vivie Duffield 73% of survey respodets ad all the iterviewees reported that they fudraise for more tha oe charity: the umber raged from two to eight. Several iterviewees reported that they were ivolved i umerous charities as a direct result of how few effective voluteers were ivolved, ad they felt obliged to help through fudraisig. 3 Breeze, B. (2017) Good Askig: The role of research i efficiet, effective ad ejoyable fudraisig. Istitute of Fudraisig

10 It s ot hard to fid people who would like to take o voluteerig fudraisig roles but it s very hard to fid people who are experieced ad bold eough to ask.it teds to be the same people; you see the same ames agai ad agai. Sir Vero Ellis May iterviewees did ot see a coflict of iterest i fudraisig for several charities at the same time. They saw that beig ivolved i a umber of causes helped to broade their etworks, develop their expertise ad lear from best practice. However, fudraisers felt differetly, arguig that if a seior voluteer was goig to be effective, he or she should oly fudraise for oe charity at a time. A good seior voluteer eeds to be a ambassador flyig the flag for your orgaisatio at all times, which meas it s hard for them to effectively do this for more tha oe orgaisatio at a time. Fudraiser survey respodet Key fidig: The majority of seior voluteers claim ot to ejoy askig for moey, but they get ivolved i fudraisig because they are passioate about the cause ad uderstad that by fudraisig that they ca play a uique role. Most are ivolved as fudraisers for more tha oe charity ad through their ivolvemet ejoy the opportuities to get closer to the cause ad beeficiaries, meet other people ivolved ad atted iterestig evets. Discussio poits: I order to successfully recruit ad motivate seior voluteers, the volutary sector eeds to recogise the uique impact they have, which meas trackig ad reportig achievemets. Fudraisers must recogise the discomfort that seior voluteers have about makig the ask ad eed to esure that seior voluteers uderstad that the actual ask is just oe step i the fudraisig process. Seior voluteers ca make a impact at may poits o the door jourey, idetifyig potetial ew supporters amogst their etworks, makig itroductios ad helpig to host evets. I situatios where the fudraiser believes it is critical that a voluteer is ivolved i makig the ask, the orgaisatio eeds to provide appropriate support ad guidace. Seior voluteers are clear about the beefits of fudraisig for more tha oe charity; evertheless, there is reluctace amog fudraisers to recogise this. Fudraisers are aturally protective of their relatioships with seior voluteers ad doors, however broadeig etworks, developig expertise ad sharig best practice should be valued as beefits for the sector. 4. Do seior staff eed to play a part i the relatioship with seior voluteers? All seior voluteers stressed the importace of havig access to seior people withi the charity, icludig the chief executive ad other seior staff. Havig a meaigful relatioship was see as critical to deepeig their uderstadig of the charity s strategy ad the role of fudraisig withi it, as well as proof of beig valued by seior people for their work ad commitmet to the charity. This egagemet should be uderpied with geuie ivolvemet with frotlie staff ad where appropriate beeficiaries. The quality of the professioal staff team is critically importat; a orgaisatio does t eed may fudraisig staff, but they eed to be excellet ad have robust efficiet processes i place. However, the chief executive is most importat to the relatioship, the big doors ofte wo t ever meet the fudraisers they will have a relatioship with the chief executive ad Chair, so these seior professioals eed to be workig closely with their seior voluteers. Dame Vivie Duffield I expect the orgaisatios to which I give my time to be highly resposive. I expect a amed seior perso to support me i my efforts, but I also expect access to the chief executive. Lee Portoi Fudraisers also highlighted the vital role that seior staff play i maitaiig ad developig seior voluteer relatioships. They idetified their seior colleagues support as critical i helpig to maage voluteer expectatios ad to improve logterm outcomes. May fudraisers cited examples where the relatioship with a seior voluteer had faltered because the orgaisatio s culture was t aliged with the philathropy programme. They also expressed cocer that i some cases seior staff do t uderstad how importat their ivolvemet is ad expect fudraisers to get o with it, which ca impair the depth ad quality of relatioships betwee charities ad seior voluteers. I order to effectively maage relatioships with seior voluteers, orgaisatios eed to recogise ad celebrate what they ca deliver with appropriate support ad directio. This is oly possible where philathropy sits at the heart of a orgaisatio ad is embraced by its seior leadership. Lucy Sarget, WWF Whilst seior voluteers could see havig a relatioship with idividual fudraisers was importat, they oted that the quality of these relatioships varies greatly. It is hearteig that 81% of voluteers believe that fudraisers have the experiece ad skills to support their fudraisig success. It also emerged that seior voluteers feel more cofidet about becomig a asker if they firstly had good experieces as doors. There is o doubt that geuie partership is critical to success. Fudraisers wat seior voluteers to be part of the team ad seior voluteers wat to be workig towards the same goal i trasparet relatioships with the fudraisig team. If they ca get the relatioship right with us we have cofidece they ca get it right with our cotacts.we eed to kow we are all o the same team. Sir Trevor Pears It is vital that voluteers are brought ito the orgaisatio s objectives ad strategy without this there will ot be geuie syergy ad partership with the staff team ad i may cases, ca lead to diverget thikig. Whe thigs get choppy, as they ievitably will, it is the shared objective ad buy-i that allows for solutios to be foud. a up-frot relatioship based o trust ad trasparecy is the most robust way to a successful partership betwee staff ad a voluteer. Nick Booth MVO, The Royal Foudatio Several voluteers oted the value of developig log-term relatioships ad expressed frustratio at the high turover of staff i the volutary sector ad the impact this has o buildig meaigful relatioships. I eed to work with people who get to kow ad uderstad how best to work with me, they have to be i it for the logterm if they expect me to be i it for the log-term. Dame Gail Roso 18 19

11 Key fidig: Seior staff withi a charity must have a commitmet to, ad ivolvemet i, seior voluteer fudraisig as their support is critical to success; seior leaders eed to create a orgaisatioal culture that recogises ad embraces philathropy ad must take the time to develop persoal relatioships with seior voluteers. Seior voluteers have great cofidece i the fudraisers they work with, but perform best whe they have a geuie partership ad ca develop a log-term relatioship with paid staff. Discussio poits: Buildig a geuie partership meas seeig seior voluteers as part of the home team ot as outsiders but as members who eed a uderstadig of strategy ad priorities, ad easy access to iformatio ad resources. Maitaiig this level of trasparecy may be difficult whe sharig bad ews, such as egative media coverage or a failed bid for fudig. But beig hoest ad ope about both good ad bad ews will ultimately build trust betwee seior voluteers ad the charity s staff. As The Commissio o the Door Experiece 4 cocluded, a approach that builds geuie, authetic relatioships cosistetly over time is what puts orgaisatios at the cuttig edge. Voluteers wat to develop log-term relatioships with charity staff, icludig fudraisers, but this is challegig i a sector that experieces a high turover of staff. The Commissio o the Door Experiece highlighted this issue ad made several recommedatios relatig to staff recruitmet, retetio ad reward. Charities eed to cosider how they ca retai fudraisig talet as this will eable them to ehace these importat relatioships. 5. Are developmet boards ad other formal structures the best way to ivolve a seior voluteer? Fudraisers were asked whether their charities had created formal structures, such as a developmet board or a voluteer committee to egage seior voluteers. Half reported usig developmet boards, while other popular approaches icluded givig circles (30%), evet committees (43%) ad busiess advisory groups (24%). It should be oted that a quarter (27%) did ot ivolve seior voluteers i ay of these roles Formal seior voluteer fudraisig structures i the charities surveyed Employed by the charities of the fudraisers surveyed structures i the charities surveyed Developmet Board Special Evets Committee Givig Circle / Club Busiess Advisory Group Noe of the Above 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Half of seior voluteers reported that they are a member of a fudraisig board or committee ad most (80%) cosidered them to be successful. Assessmets of the success of these formal structures varied, ad opiio o the role of developmet boards was evely split. The majority of fudraisers who worked with a developmet board reported that they had a positive impact o fudraisig, ad 14% cited their impact as trasformatioal, exactly the same proportio as reported that their developmet board had failed. Key factors that appear critical to success whe establishig a formal structure iclude: Recruitig a strog Chair: As so much activity takes place outside of formal meetigs, the Chair plays a vital role i keepig board members focused. The Chair should be someoe with persoal authority over his or her peers. He or she must lead by example ad should be willig to make coectios ad asks before they are formally appoited. He or she should also be willig to make a persoally meaigful doatio. A weak Chair will hold up progress ad allow the board or committee to lose focus. Settig expectatios: Clear terms of referece ad idividual job or role descriptios help to give clarity about roles ad resposibilities ad maage expectatios. Seior voluteers eed to fully uderstad what is expected of them before they agree to be ivolved. Clarifyig strategy: Boards ad committees are less likely to succeed if members are expected to defie their ow strategy. Givig back-up ad support: Seior voluteers eed to have dedicated support, e.g. settig up meetigs, providig briefigs, preparig letters to sig, delivered by experieced fudraisers. Agreeig measurable ad realistic targets: Havig a clear ad time-limited icome target keeps everyoe workig towards the same outcome. Havig fu: Seior voluteers eed to ejoy the experiece of voluteerig ad good-humoured competitio ca improve performace. Voluteers eed ad ofte expect traiig, coachig ad clear roles. Orgaisatios ca shy away from this o the basis that someoe is a voluteer ad givig their time for free. I my experiece this is false thikig ad clarity upfrot ca greatly ease problems dowstream. You are askig them to do a job - so tell them what it is ad how they will be assessed/what success would look like (ad ot...) Nick Booth MVO, The Royal Foudatio It should be fu. I ve worked with a appeal board that really got o with all the people they were workig alogside. They felt they were ivolved i achievig somethig really sigificat while also havig fu ad gettig a lot back from it. Naomi Lyos, Prostate Cacer UK Really push yourself to decide whether you eed a board. They will amplify what you wat to do but ca t create somethig you caot do yourself. Gemma Peters, Kig s College Lodo May fudraisers reported that they foud it easier to avoid formal structures ad istead to work with seior voluteers o a 1:1 basis. This approach takes up less resource ad ca be less risky tha the time ad effort eeded to establish ad maitai a board or committee. Some fudraisers choose to work o a 1:1 basis with their voluteers o a small scale at first, before settig up a more formal structure. This approach allows them to test seior voluteers before ivestig more time ad effort. There were examples of fudraisers makig use of seior voluteers persoal skills to focus o specific activity, without isistig that they make the more serious commitmet of joiig a board or committee. Seior voluteers do t eed to take o sigificat formal roles to make a big differece to a charity s fudraisig success somethig as simple as sigig a letter to someoe they kow to edorse a project ca mea the differece betwee the success ad failure of a fudraisig approach. Lucy Sarget, WWF 4 Cluff, A. (2017) The Commissio o The Door Experiece, Project 09. Major Doors

12 Key fidig: Seior voluteers ca perform well i a formal structure as well as o a 1:1 basis with fudraisers. Keys to success iclude: a good relatioship with the people they are workig with (both their peers ad fudraisers) ad a clearly defied role with agreed expectatios. If a charity sets up a board or committee, the the role of the Chair is vital. Discussio poit: Charities eed to weigh up the pros ad cos of establishig formal structures, such as developmet boards, ad workig o a more iformal or 1:1 basis with idividual seior voluteers. Factors to cosider iclude: the icome target ad timelie; resources ad expertise; orgaisatioal culture ad readiess. Just as importat are the motivatios, experiece ad resources of their seior voluteers ad of course the orgaisatio s access to potetial ew seior voluteers. Charities must be clear at the outset about roles, resposibilities ad expectatios ad explore how these are commuicated at the start of a ew relatioship. There are may istaces whe charities expect a great deal from a seior voluteer, but have t bee explicit about this upfrot. I these cases, fudraisers ca become icreasigly frustrated about the time ad effort they are ivestig i a relatioship. Seior voluteers ca also feel let dow either because they are beig asked to do thigs they do t wat to do, or because they feel that their offer to help is t beig used effectively. 6. Do seior voluteers give? Givig ad askig go had i had: a third (34%) of seior voluteers doate at least as much as they are askig for from others, ad just uder two-thirds (59%) make a fiacial cotributio at a lower level tha the doatio they are askig others to make. Oly two seior voluteers said that they do ot give to the charity with which they are ivolved. Seior voluteers ca be ivolved at several stages i the door jourey, from makig itroductios ad opeig their etworks, to beig ivolved i makig the ask. A few fudraisers oted that whe askig a seior voluteer to do somethig simple, such as sigig a letter or talkig to prospects at a evet, it was t relevat whether they had made a persoal doatio, but the majority agreed that whe a voluteer is askig others to give, he or she oly had credibility if they had made a doatio themselves. Doors are able to use their givig as leverage to stretch prospective doors to icrease their givig. You have to lead from the frot ad that meas givig. I ve bee doig this most of my life ad have built up a etwork of people who I support i their charitable work ad who I kow I ca rely o to support me i mie. They trust what I m ivolved i ad give because it s me askig. The problem i the charity busiess today is that there are very few askers who ca commad respect because they are givers too. Gerald Roso CBE Key fidig: Seior voluteers eed to be givig at a persoally meaigful level to have the credibility to ask ad stretch doors. Discussio poit: Seior voluteers eed to uderstad the importace of makig a persoally sigificat doatio. This should be made clear at the poit at which they are decidig whether to become more ivolved i the charity, with persoal givig beig icluded i the terms of referece or raised durig discussios with the Chair or aother seior voluteer. Charities should cosider who is best placed to make the ask of their existig ad icomig seior voluteers. 7. Who do seior voluteers ask for doatios? The majority of fudraisers oted that seior voluteers had helped to secure gifts from idividuals (58%), with the umber makig approaches to charitable trusts accoutig for 29% ad compaies just 13%. These results were cofirmed ad amplified by seior voluteers, who reported that most of their asks were to a idividual or a couple (63%), with 30% makig asks to charitable trusts ad just 7% reportig havig approached compaies. Corporate fuds have almost vaished. Compay chairme ca t give aymore everythig has to go through edless committees ad be decided o by employee vote. I m ot i a positio to ifluece that. Dame Vivie Duffield Whe asked what types of prospects they had approached, may more approached busiess cotacts ad people they idetified as acquaitaces rather tha family members. 7.1 What type of door do seior voluteers ask for gifts from? Compaies Charitable Trusts Idividuals, couples or families I cotiually worry about maagig the charity s hopes ad expectatios. Whilst I probably have a reasoable cotact list, it is always a challege to work out whom to approach for what ad whe. Sir Trevor Pears 7.2 Who do voluteers approach for doatios? for doatios? Busiess Cotacts Acquaitaces Close Frieds People itroduced by Charity Family 0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Seior voluteers oted how carefully they pla approaches, esurig they are at the right level ad appropriately timed. They reported feelig ucomfortable if pressured to make approaches that they thought would be usuccessful. If I m approachig a persoal cotact o behalf of a charity, I have to be sure it s with a propositio that works for both sides that offers geuie syergy otherwise I m at risk of spoilig the relatioship with my cotacts ad losig credibility. Kate Hogg, Director of Beeficial Fudraisig Key fidig: Seior voluteers are more active i approachig ad securig gifts from idividuals tha from charitable trusts ad compaies. They also ted to fudraise from their busiess cotacts, acquaitaces ad close frieds, rather tha from prospects itroduced to them by the charity

13 Discussio poits: Seior voluteer approaches to compaies are less frequet tha to idividuals, families ad charitable trusts. Give the chagig corporate ladscape ad the desire to secure busiess beefits from charity parterships, we should cosider whether seior voluteers could do more to help icrease corporate support for charities. It would be helpful to review examples of successful approaches ad to cosider the types of compaies that might be particularly ameable to seior voluteer approaches. 8. Who makes the ask? Fudraisig staff members are primarily resposible for askig for doatios (i 98% of cases). However, seior voluteers ad other staff members are also ivolved. Nearly half of fudraisers stated that other staff members are ivolved i askig for doatios, with 95% otig the chief executive is ivolved ad 36% citig service delivery colleagues. 78% of fudraisers report that voluteers are also ivolved. Professioal fudraisers brig i a vast amout themselves. Goe are the days whe they are wholly reliat [o seior voluteers] If professioal fudraisers are good, it s eough to have a seior voluteer actig as a catalyst. Dame Vivie Duffield Seior voluteers are usually accompaied by a member of paid staff whe askig for moey. Most (67%) of seior voluteers oted that the decisio about whether they were accompaied by a member of staff depeded o their kowledge of the prospective door. Whe accompaied to meetigs, 88% reported they had take the chief executive, 56% a member of the fudraisig team, 36% the Chair of the charity ad 28% by frotlie staff. A fifth reported that they always go to meetigs aloe if askig for moey. 8.1 If accompaied, who do voluteers take to ask meetigs? take to ask meetigs? Chief Executive Fudraisig Team Member Chair of Trustees Frotlie Staff 0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% It depeds o how close I am to the potetial door as to whether I take someoe to the meetig with me. I like to give them a umber of well-prepared optios ad therefore eed a very good brief. Lloyd Dorfma CBE Fudraisers reiterated the importace of briefig ad guidig seior voluteers as well as other staff members. Where seior voluteers were ervous or reluctat about makig the ask, the fudraisers reported that they ofte took that role i the meetigs to esure success. It depeds o how close the seior voluteer is to a door o whether they are comfortable makig the ask. I my experiece the closer they are, the more likely they are to look to the professioal to actually make the ask i a meetig. You have to kow your voluteer ad their comfort levels sometimes they do t wat to push too hard ad ca ask for too little whe the professioal team has primed someoe for a sigificat gift. Daiel Carmel-Brow, Jewish Care 41% of seior voluteers reported that the doatio amout asked for i meetigs varied. They rely o fudraisers to guide them, based o prospect research, experiece ad the specific requiremets of the charity. Almost all (97%) of voluteer fudraisers stated that their asks had at some poit bee successful. All iterviewees reported that experiece ad cofidece i makig the ask are key attributes of a good seior voluteer, but the fudraisig team eeds to give extesive help ad support. Seior voluteers ted to do the chit chat ad broader ask, while I, as represetative of the orgaisatio, would follow with the specific partership ask, talkig about the suggested doatio amout, expected impact of the gift ad detail of how they could get more ivolved. I draft all follow-up for the seior voluteer after the meetig ad prompt them to make ay ecessary follow-up asks. Laura Stebbig, Cherie Blair Foudatio Discussio poits: Seior voluteers expect to receive briefigs ad may prefer to be accompaied to meetigs. There is plety of evidece to show that fudraisers are usually expected to make the ask. Charities should cosider how they ca help build cofidece amog seior voluteers particularly whe they are ucomfortable with makig the ask perhaps by ivolvig their peers to build cofidece. 9. What are the mai challeges for charities workig with seior voluteers ad for voluteers workig with charities? Fudraisers recogised that there are dowsides to ivolvig seior voluteers i fudraisig. Their biggest challeges were the time required to maage ad support voluteers, followed closely by frustratio with voluteers either ot helpig i makig asks, or ot givig themselves ad the ureasoable expectatios that some seior voluteers have about the charity s ability to deliver. 9.1 Fudraisers: Challeges of workig with seior voluteers - Challeges raked as top three by fudraisers surveyed Time Required to Maage Voluteers Voluteers ot askig or givig Voluteers urealistic expectatios of delivery Voluteers wastig time or iactivity Establishig a relatioship with fudraisers Key fidig: Fudraisers are primarily resposible for askig for doatios, but seior voluteers ad chief executives are sigificatly ivolved i the broader process of makig the ask. Successful askig relies heavily o detailed preparatio, briefig, guidace ad support from the fudraisig team. Ivolvig seior staff i voluteer relatioships Voluteer relatioships with other seior voluteers

14 Success depeds o a sigificat time ivestmet from both the fudraisig team ad from the charity s seior leadership. Seior voluteers expectatios - such as rapid resposes to queries ad demads for iformatio or decisios - ca be difficult to meet. Several iterviewees oted that there ca be a clash of cultures whe busiess leaders fid themselves workig as seior voluteers i charities. Seior voluteers ca get frustrated with iteral processes ad lack of resources i charities. It is a balace of tryig to maage their expectatios whilst also pushig iterally to explai that this [workig with seior voluteers] is a great platform to make thigs happe more quickly. You do t wat the voluteers to lose their mometum ad eergy, which ca happe if you do t act quickly. Charlotte Matier, Alzheimer s Society I have foud that larger charities are boud by stricter protocol, which ca sometimes make it more challegig to achieve fudraisig aims. Ruwaida Raderee Fudraisers reported that seior voluteers were ofte ufamiliar with the fudraisig process ad the part they should play i it. They oted that this, alog with a geeral lack of kowledge about the rules ad regulatios affectig charities, meat that seior voluteers sometimes risked the reputatio of the charities they supported. I have had experieces where very ethusiastic voluteers have made asks without cosultig ad before we were ready, ad as a result we had to deliver to very tight deadlies so as ot to embarrass them. It makes the orgaisatio look uprofessioal, riskig our reputatio; the ask is t delivered effectively ad so has a high likelihood of failure; ad it wastes staff time ad is demoralisig. Fudraiser survey respodet Several refereces were made to difficulties i dealig with the egos of seior voluteers; ad while it was recogised that they are ofte highly successful leaders i their fields, their skills ad approaches are ot always directly trasferable or appropriate i the charity sector. Ofte voluteers come from or work i differet orgaisatioal cultures to the charities they support. This ca be magified by demographic differeces with staff too. It is importat that there is shared uderstadig ad respect o both sides. Nick Booth MVO, The Royal Foudatio Seior voluteers said that their biggest difficulties were the lack of prospects, the charity s expectatios that they would brig i supporters, the time commitmet ad the difficulty of explaiig the cause ad eeds to their etworks. I additio, several iterviewees had struggled whe the charity they supported was t trasparet about its strategy or fiaces. Lack of hoesty ad trasparecy - charities ad their staff ca shy away from direct or difficult discussios with voluteers o the grouds they may lose their support. I my view a upfrot relatioship, based o trust ad trasparecy, is the best ad most robust way to a successful partership betwee staff ad voluteer. Nick Booth MVO, The Royal Foudatio I am happy to itroduce my etworks to charities. With the best fudraisig teams, I ca move o oce I have made the itroductio, which is my preferred way, but this oly happes i aroud 25% of the charities I am ivolved with. With the others I have to keep ivolved i the door relatioship ad ofte have to take remedial actio. Lord Fik Seior voluteers foud successio plaig particularly challegig. Some felt that the task of fidig peers willig to be ivolved i fudraisig created too much pressure ad others oted that they could t step away from their resposibilities because there was o ext geeratio of seior voluteers. Fudraisers reflected this cocer. I would like to thik there is a ext geeratio of voluteers, but the reality is that I am ot sure. There does ot seem to be the commitmet or the desire to wat to do fudraisig ad there really eeds to be a chage i attitude ad a uderstadig of the differece oe ca make i fudraisig for charity. Lord Levy There seems to be a limited group [of seior voluteers] outside of the big Lodo istitutios ad/or uiversities who have experiece ad get it. For may, there is a reluctace or discomfort with the role ad we eed to help them to up their game. They feel quite distaced from the reality of fudraisig -ad some of the slighter youger crowd plus- keep suggestig alterative fiace as the route they wat to take rather tha philathropy. Pamela Davis, RSPB Key fidig: Both voluteers ad fudraisers recogise the challeges of workig together. For voluteers, a lack of opeess ad trasparecy (particularly relatig to fudig eeds) from the charity stads out. For fudraisers, maagig voluteers sometimes-urealistic expectatios ca be particularly difficult. Both fudraisers ad seior voluteers said that the time required to build a partership ad the difficulty of fidig ew seior fudraisig voluteers were particular cocers. Discussio poits: May of the challeges of workig with seior voluteers ca be avoided whe seior voluteers uderstad the orgaisatioal ad fudraisig strategies ad processes, ad uderstad what is required of them. This uderstadig ca be developed through carefully plaed recruitmet ad a comprehesive iductio. Developig geuie parterships depeds o charities havig a thorough uderstadig of their seior voluteers motivatios ad expectatios; ad agreemet that these are importat to the orgaisatio. Charities eed to create ope lies of commuicatio with seior voluteers to keep them o the iside track ad to ease the difficulty of sharig bad ews. Sometimes, despite the best itetios ad sigificat ivestmet o both sides, the partership ca prove too challegig to be effective. The sooer this is recogised, the easier it will be to reshape or if ecessary - ed the relatioship. Recruitmet of seior voluteers is a costat ad icreasig challege, particularly idetifyig the ext geeratio of seior voluteers. Research is eeded to icrease uderstadig of milleial givig ad the expectatios of youger supporters. Recet experieces, such as the Istitute of Imagiatio s ext geeratio developmet board (i the case study below) show the potetial of this approach. 10. How ca charities best support seior voluteers ad how do voluteers wat to be ackowledged ad recogised? Seior voluteers reported that the most importat thig they eeded to be successful was a welldefied case for support, with 47% placig this at the top of their list

15 I eed a tagible, succict ask lie, a compellig case for support, ad to kow clearly what the moey raised will be used for. Lord Fik Other importat factors icluded: Active ivolvemet from the chief executive ad other seior staff, Chair ad Trustee Board Support ad advice from the fudraisig team Havig prospective doors to approach alog with useful iformatio about them Opportuities to egage with the charity s work ad really uderstad its eeds; ad Opportuities to take prospective doors to see the charity s work i actio 10.1 The support voluteers eed to esure success - Requiremets raked as top three by voluteers surveyed Detailed iformatio about the charity s work Seeig the charity's work at first had Time with the chief executive (or other seior staff) Backgroud briefigs o people they are askig Good writte iformatio to pass o to cotacts Names of ew prospective supporters Evets to meet ew prospective supporters Advice from professioal fudraisers Seior voluteers really wat to work i partership with the fudraisig team. With time commitmet cited as oe of their biggest challeges, seior voluteers oted how importat admiistrative support ad strategic guidace from the fudraisig team was to make their jobs as easy as possible, so that they could focus their eergy o iput that ca make a real differece. They eed dedicated resource, people whose role it is to work directly with them ad access to seior staff, especially the chief executive. They eed the trust that the charity will treat their cotacts with respect they eed to kow you will follow up i the way you said you would. Charlotte Matier, Alzheimer s Society Seior voluteers eed the professioal team to support ad direct them. Fudraisers eed to do their research ad be skilful i ulockig voluteers etworks by promptig ad guidig them o ames ad approaches; they eed to do all the groudwork to make it as easy as possible for the voluteers to succeed. You eed to make them a geuie priority ad give them the resources ad access they eed. Kate Hogg, Director of Beeficial Fudraisig I work at a charity that has eormous potetial for workig with seior voluteers to access sigificat gifts, yet the lack of uderstadig regardig the resources required makes it difficult to egage seior voluteers. Whilst orgaisatios may have high expectatio of fudig from High Net Worth Idividuals (HNWI), they do ot always possess a uderstadig of the patiece, commitmet, plaig ad resources required to be successful. Fudraiser survey respodet Accordig to 48% of seior voluteers, the most effective way to make them feel valued ad appreciated is through egagemet with frotlie staff as well as chaces to see their work first had ad to meet beeficiaries. This helps them build their uderstadig of the cause, strategy ad priorities, as well as improvig their persoal motivatio. Fudraisers also recogised the importace of givig more formal thaks ad recogitio. Just like ayoe else, voluteers have a wide rage of motivators. Egagemet ad stewardship is therefore built by kowig what they wat access to isider ifo via briefigs ad meetigs; offerig opportuities to meet peers; esurig stewardship ad delivery are excellet; buildig relatioships across the orgaisatio; demostratig the impact of gifts etc. Sue Collis, Pacreatic Cacer UK Key fidig: Seior voluteers rely heavily o the support of the fudraisig team to provide them with iformatio ad admiistrative support. Their time is hugely restricted ad the charity eeds to make their role as easy as possible. Seior voluteers expect to be ackowledged ad recogised by beig brought closer to the charity s work, they value opportuities to see the charity s work at first had ad to meet with frotlie staff ad beeficiaries. Discussio poits: How ca charities make the best use of the limited time they have with voluteers ad what opportuities do they have to egage ad ispire voluteers about the work of the charity? What are the best ways to ackowledge ad recogise the cotributio of seior voluteers who help with fudraisig? Might some techiques used for major doors such as impact reports ad amig opportuities also be appropriate for major askers? You eed to be creative about recogitio. Seior voluteers should get the recogitio a major door gets ad more. It s ot just about thakig (although that is importat); it s about recogisig them as part of the team keepig them o the iside track, givig them behid the scees opportuities ot available to others, ad esurig they are the first to kow about iteral ews (ad ever hear aythig secod-had). Emma Whitcombe, MS Society We support our seior voluteers, regularly sedig them iformatio about the charity ot just updates agaist our charitable objectives, but also about our fudraisig targets or ay operatioal successes. We ask them at the outset what they are specifically iterested i, ad tailor our commuicatios with that i mid. We also ask them for advice o thigs they are experts i ad might fid iterestig (such as testig out a door pitch o them ad the keepig them posted o its success). Laura Stebbig, Cherie Blair Foudatio 28 29

16 CASE STUDIES JEWISH CARE A log-term holistic approach to seior voluteer fudraisig: Approach Jewish Care has beefitted from the iput of seior voluteers sice it was fouded i All of those who are ivolved with Jewish Care i a voluteer capacity play their part i fudraisig. This icludes the Presidet, Hoorary Presidets ad Trustees, as well as a successful ad vibrat Campaig Board ad several evets committees ad advisory groups. Each of those ivolved sees themselves as a ambassador for the charity, ofte egagig their frieds ad busiess cotacts as: Patros (miimum aual doatio 12,500). There are ow over 400 families who give as Patros, each coected via a seior voluteer ad stewarded by the fudraisig team; Ivestors i key capital projects. Over the years trasformatioal multi-millio poud capital projects have bee successfully delivered as a result of voluteer fudraisig Committee members. Seior voluteers choose to get ivolved i a variety of committees, such as property project groups, commuity services, ivestmet ad marketig advisory groups Fudraisig evet participats. Resources The charity, with the active ivolvemet of the chief executive, esures robust parterships betwee seior voluteers ad the fudraisig team. All formal boards ad committees have clear terms of referece cocerig seior voluteers roles ad resposibilities. Experieced members of the fudraisig team provide admiistrative support to seior voluteers. Seior voluteers regularly visit the charity s services ad receive briefigs from seior service staff ad the chief executive. Impact Of its 16m aual volutary icome target, approximately 50% is secured i partership with seior voluteers. With a curret capital campaig to raise 45m for a ew care complex i Stamore, efforts ivolvig seior voluteers led by the Presidet, Hoorary Presidets ad the Chairma, have already raised 40m. Lessos Although at times there ca be a healthy tesio betwee seior voluteers ad the fudraisig team, ultimately, they have a shared visio to provide the very best eeds-led service. Jewish Care has beefitted from seior voluteers log-term sese of owership, pride ad coectio to what Jewish Care does for their commuity. Our voluteers have bee tremedously good at developig ad urturig logterm relatioships by stayig ivolved i the stewardship of doors; ad we as professioals have focussed o makig seior voluteers feel motivated ad recogised over the years, so that the doatios they have brought i have chaged the ladscape of what we ca achieve. It is really importat for the professioals to give sigificat time to build log-term meaigful relatioships, subtle semi-friedships, with voluteers. But we ow face challeges i egagig ad growig the ext geeratio of seior voluteers who have a differet metality, less time, less flexibility ad importatly less leverage i makig the ask. Daiel Carmel-Brow, Director of Fudraisig 31

17 CANCER RESEARCH UK PANCREATIC CANCER UK A appeal board for a major capital project: Approach Cacer Research UK (CRUK) lauched its largest ever fudraisig appeal i 2012, The Create the Chage Campaig raised 100m towards the costructio of The Fracis Crick Istitute. To support the campaig CRUK formed a ew dedicated appeal board chaired by Charles Maby, Seior Parter at Goldma Sachs. The board members were 19 philathropists from a wide rage of professioal backgrouds. Each member committed to makig doatios, itroducig the charity to their etworks ad brigig their persoal expertise to the board. Resources The appeal board was give a formal iductio pack icludig clear terms of referece. This gave them a overview of the project, costs ad timelie, as well as a uderstadig of the overall fudraisig strategy. The board met quarterly for five years. Betwee meetigs each member of the board was kept updated by a dedicated member of the fudraisig team. The Chairma cotacted the appeal board betwee meetigs to esure all members were iformed, egaged ad active. The charity s seior leadership was ivolved ad other operatioal teams also provided iformatio ad up-to-date campaig ad project literature. Throughout the campaig the board was ivolved i ad-hoc evets arraged by the fudraisig team, the board ad campaig supporters. Towards the ed of the campaig, the charity arraged driks for the board members ad other ambassadors, to thak them for their ivolvemet. Impact It is estimated that the board was istrumetal i raisig 75% of the 100m target. The Create the Chage campaig received gifts across all fudraisig disciplies; major givig, corporate, legacies ad idividual givig. I additio to raisig vital fuds, the board also helped CRUK to grow a ew supporter base ad to egage its existig supporters, creatig ew ways of workig ad developig best practice. May of the board members are still ivolved with the charity, helpig with the developmet of its ext fudraisig campaig. Lessos Recruitig a Chair was iitially difficult, so the charity used a executive search agecy. Although it took aroud a year, idetifyig the right perso proved absolutely critical to success. Regular updates to board members played a importat role i the campaig. They esured that the board was properly iformed ad remaied egaged with the project ad campaig ad avoided duplicatio with prospects. Create The Chage set out to raise a uprecedeted amout from major doors for CRUK. Oe essetial elemet was collaboratio. This was more tha a successful fudraisig campaig, it was a meas of brigig people from differet backgrouds together for a commo goal. It was a great deal of work but that sese of collaboratio betwee voluteer fudraisers, major doors, scietists ad staff helped defie the campaig ad shape CRUK s future fudraisig plas. Melaie Alexader, Head of Philathropy (Major Givig) A developmet board to establish a major door fudraisig programme: Approach The developmet board came about with a little bit of luck. Pacreatic Cacer UK (PCUK) advertised for ew trustees i The Times ad attracted the attetio of the Chair of KPMG, Simo Collis (whose father had died from pacreatic cacer). Simo joied as a Trustee, makig clear that his motivatio was to raise sigificat fuds for the cause. He agreed that he would build a developmet fud board to raise 1m over three years for the charity s existig programme of work. He approached his ow cotacts as well as people the charity had idetified, ad the board curretly has a Co-Chair ad five further members, with plas to recruit a further four i the ext year. The developmet fud board supports the charity s programme of evets ad also develops its ow evets, programme visits ad 1:1 meetigs with doors. Members cotribute to pitches ad proposals wherever appropriate. Resources The PCUK developmet fud board has terms of referece ad a clear brief for its members. They also receive a full iductio to the charity which esures that each member is clear o their objectives ad to do list. The fudraisig team provides a strog ad compellig case for support, which members ca easily articulate to potetial supporters ad works alogside members to esure they have everythig they eed. The board meets quarterly to review progress, share iformatio ad pla for joit activities. I early 2017 the charity recruited a Developmet Fud Board Maager. This staff member works across the charity to brig together the iformatio, resources ad egagemet opportuities eeded by the board. Members meet with the Developmet Fud Board Maager bi-mothly, with weekly calls ad s providig additioal support. Impact The developmet board took the charity to aother level. Simo ad Co-Chair Stuart Fletcher s strog leadership ad commitmet caot be uderestimated ad the board is icredibly ambitious. Havig successfully achieved its 1m target, the board is ow committed to raisig 10m over the ext five years, ad has maaged to coect with people that otherwise the charity would have very little hope of egagig. The charity held a hadful of very successful fudraisig evets that were atteded by a hugely ifluetial audiece. These have resulted i several ew gifts ad itroduced some ew high-value supporters. Lessos PCUK has leared that the value of the board lies i its members geuie passio ad commitmet to talk about pacreatic cacer with ad through their etworks. The role of Developmet Fud Board Maager esures all opportuities are explored ad that the board has the resource it eeds from PCUK. It does require a great deal of commitmet from the board ad also the staff team but the retur ca be trasformatioal ad as a orgaisatio has helped us deliver a step chage that we cotiue to see as we work with the board movig forward. Sue Collis, Director of Fudraisig 32 33

18 MS SOCIETY INSTITUTE OF IMAGINATION A special evet committee to maximise a fudraisig opportuity: Approach A dedicated seior voluteer secured the opportuity for the MS Society to hold a Christmas Cocert at St Paul s Cathedral i 2016, followed by a fudraisig dier i the Cathedral Crypt. This was the largest evet i the charity s history, with over 2,000 tickets available for the cocert ad 250 spaces at the dier, ad it relied o the expertise ad etworks of seior voluteers for its success. A Special Evet Committee of six voluteers was created 18 moths before the evet, led by a Chair. This committee was resposible for securig sposorship, fidig all the performers ad producig a cocert brochure, as well as sellig tickets. Committee members also sold tables at the fudraisig dier, secured auctio prizes ad delivered gifts-i-kid from suppliers to support the dier. The Committee was kept deliberately small, but it recruited a 70-perso strog virtual Ivitatios Committee, whose members were resposible for ivitig a set umber of guests to the cocert ad geerally spreadig the word. Resources O average, the Committee met every other moth ad was supported by two paid members of staff; the Head of Partership Fudraisig ad the Special Evets Maager, who was resposible for delivery of the evet. Other members of the charity s fudraisig team provided support as required, for example with corporate sposorship approaches, as did the Director of Fudraisig ad the Director of the Stop MS Appeal. The Ivitatios Committee members were supported by a member of the mai committee as well as the Special Evets Maager ad were brought together before the cocert to be thaked for their support. Impact Due to the expertise, etworks ad tireless work of the Special Evet Committee, the cocert was atteded by over 2,000 people, was broadcast o Classic FM ad was viewed olie more tha 5,000 times. The dier sold out ad the auctio was a great success. The evet raised 570,000 ad itroduced a whole ew audiece icludig a sigificat umber of ew major doors, prospects ad seior voluteers - to the MS Society. Lessos Sigificat reliace o the Committee occasioally led to tesios over owership of the evet ad decisio-makig. The MS Society would have beefitted from draftig terms of referece for the Committee, clarifyig the roles ad resposibilities of all ivolved, to carefully maage expectatios ad esure appropriate resources were allocated. This is ow doe as a matter of course whe workig with seior voluteers. The model of workig with a small focused committee but recruitig a larger support committee which works virtually so ever meets, proved icredibly successful ad we cotiue to use this model - it has ulocked much greater potetial for our special evets fudraisig goig forward. Claire Murphy, Special Evets Maager A fudraisig board to egage the ext geeratio of philathropists: Approach The Istitute of Imagiatio strives to disrupt ad iovate i every aspect of its work, icludig icome geeratio. It created a ext geeratio fudraisig board specifically with ad for the ext geeratio of philathropists. The remit, terms of referece ad perso specificatio were co-desiged with a 21-year-old supporter whose family had previously supported the charity. As board chair, he ivited his etwork (aged 20-35) to get ivolved. So far, he has recruited six members ad is plaig to recruit a total of te. Each member commits to a term of three years ad a doatio of 10,000 per year. 80% of that fudig goes straight to urestricted reserves, whilst the remaiig 20% is held i a separate accout for the board to direct. The board s focus is o usig this fudig to ivest i icome-geeratio activity that will deliver a greater retur for the charity. The board is aimig to raise 1m i three years. Resources The charity provides guidace, expertise, resource ad metorig to board members, ad this learig opportuity is part of the offer to potetial members. The Director of Fudraisig works with the board ad members have a dedicated trustee liaiso cotact. The chief executive atteds occasioal meetigs as eeded. The board meets 3-4 times a year but members are i regular cotact via a WhatsApp group. They receive iside iformatio o the developmet of the Istitute, are ivited to atted fiace ad ivestmet committee meetigs ad have a SamePage accout (olie collaboratio software) so that they always have iformatio about the charity at their figertips. The board of trustees has oversight of members activity but there is a geuie commitmet to allowig the ext geeratio board to have sufficiet freedom so that ay successes (or failures) ca be geuiely claimed as members ow. Impact All of the ext geeratio board members had previously bee approached by charities seekig to egage them ad their etwork, but felt these approaches had bee tokeistic ad did ot allow for geuie egagemet ad directio, i cotrast to the Istitute s offer. The creatio of the ext geeratio board has cofirmed the brad as iovative ad willig to push boudaries. However, the board was oly lauched i July 2016, so the impact o icome has bee limited to date. Lessos The board members are ot all based i Lodo so it has bee difficult to build a collective sese of mometum, but this is ow begiig to develop; ad the Istitute of Imagiatio has leart that cohesio takes time. Workig closely with the chair of the ext ge board to shape a ew way to egage the ext geeratio of philathropists has bee a ivaluable learig experiece. Rather tha tryig to guess what they are seekig from their charitable egagemet we have bee able to create somethig that truly meets their eeds as well as the eeds of the Istitute of Imagiatio a geuie partership approach. Critical to our success so far has bee egagig the board of trustees ad esurig they are comfortable with us pushig the boudaries i terms of access ad trasparecy. Whilst it is still early days we see huge potetial with our ext geeratio approach ad are excited to see what they will deliver. Jeifer Colema, Director of Developmet 34 35