active business planning alice dabrowska
TRANSCRIPT
Institute of Fundraising Workshop
BUSINESS PLANNING
The Cranfield Trust – Alice Dabrowska Operations Manager
Cranfield Trust Volunteer- Collete Williams
Why do I need to Plan?
NOW?!
The UK has fallen from fifth to eighth in the World Giving Index, CAF's third
annual report on giving across 164 countries, which surveys the amount people
have donated to charity, whether they have volunteered their time and whether
they have helped a stranger.
UK Giving 2012, Britain's biggest annual survey of charitable giving, also published
by CAF showed that giving dropped by an "unprecedented" 20% in 2011-12 –
representing some £1.7bn in charitable income. The amount rises to £2.3bn when
adjusted for inflation, CAF says.
A recent House of Lords discussion of the Small Charitable Donations Bill,
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town quoted CAF's research, which found one in six
charities could be threatened with closure and up to 40% were worried they
would have to close if the economic situation failed to improve.
NOW?
Payment by Results - how will cashflows and contracts operate? Organisations
need good business and negotiation skills to avoid suicidal contracts. Current lack
of clarity and confidence. Threat of massive liquidity strain for those charities
affected as they provide services where delayed payments form part of the contract.
The voluntary sector‟s enhanced role in delivering public services through L.A.
commissioning offers many opportunities but also comes with associated risks.
Funding shortfalls and increased demand is threatening the sector's capacity to
successfully deliver services. The government is opening up new channels for
funding, infrastructure and resources to allow voluntary organisations to become
more responsive and decrease the risk of service failure.
Large gap in information between what councils are doing to administer personal
budgets and how charities should prepare for them….two massive challenges at
the same time: cuts to charity budgets as well as service users being told they are
ineligible to receive a personal budget at all.
NOW?
•To understand the charity as a business and to view the organisation from a fresh
perspective
•Raises awareness of internal and external influences
•A chance to identify gaps, resource needs, knowledge and skills
•Builds and improves teamwork through participation
•Provides a means of communication inside the organisation with both internal and
external stakeholders.
•Effective in presenting charity to funders and boards.
•Guides the operations; sets targets and allows measurement of successes and
achievements as well as highlighting areas for improvement.
•Revitalises and motivates staff, boosts moreale, “we know why we are here”,
aligns personal objectives
Why bother with Business Planning?
Where do we
want to be?
Analysis is necessary to identify the principal
success factors for your organisation moving
forward.
But if these facts can't be easily explained to
stakeholders and/or stakeholders can't see the
need or urgency for change, the plan will
inevitably fail through lack of buy-in.
If, however, the essence of the plan - including the principal reasons why the
stakeholders MUST change is identified and wrapped in a compelling narrative,
engagement and therefore action is more likely to follow.
The right narrative facilitates strategic change by making change welcome,
achievable and personally relevant.
In 2008 they requested help from The Cranfield Trust in
order to produce a Business Plan for the purpose of a
Capital Asset in which to invest a lump sum. This was
deemed to be a huge success by the charity, with Kim
Brown, the Chief Executive commenting that:
“The volunteer had a massive impact. We have recently
received a £1m grant based on the vision the volunteer
helped us formulate. (He) is now one of our Trustees which
we are delighted with... Thank you so much - we have had
such an amazing outcome from our involvement with
Cranfield Trust."
Case Study
Hampton Trust
Business Plan, Salary & Structure
Review and Advice on Pension
Schemes
Performance
Management
Marketing
IT
Human
Resources
Finance
Business
plans
Strategy
Formulating the Plan and Periodically Reviewing
Develop the vision…where we want to be in x
months time
Agree the values…how we want to work
together and the image we want to portray
Where we
are now
Change
Where we
want to be
Setting the goals, deciding and defining where the organisations needs and wants
to go
A plan is of no use unless it is followed
The high level thinking must be translated into something tangible – things to be
done, actions, the plan
The plan is a roadmap. Take time to look at where you are and compare and
contrast your current position with what you had planned. Are you adrift? Then
change events, alter plan to reflect reality, get back on track.
The plan is a living document it is NOT a documents, created at great expense,
that simply gathers dust.
What do we mean by
Business Planning?
“The strategic planning project, resulted in the Scottish part of the organisation forming a
more cohesive bond, gaining insight and clarity as to the strategic issues we face,
the options for responding to those and planning well for the future.
In particular, and unexpectedly, it resulted in us presenting a positive, coherent and well
thought out strategy for Scotland to our newly appointed CEO, in her early days in the
organisation. Since then, keeping a focus on Scotland, within the context of a UK
organisation, has been made both easier and more effective.”
Case Study
Community Service Volunteers Scotland
Strategic Plan Community Service Volunteers (CSV) is the UK‟s leading volunteer
and training organisation, with 200,000 volunteers and 20,000 trainees
involved in programmes across the UK each year. It is a
registered charity and has an almost 50 year history of social action,
with a wealth of experience in creating opportunities for people to work
together to have a positive impact on the community.
We have a strategy, why do we need
a business plan?
If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail. Tariq Siddique
BUDGET
Detailed list of all planned
expenses and revenues
produced on an annual
basis.
CASHFLOW
Rolling record of actual and
planned movement of cash
in and out of the venture –
liquidity. A continuous
check on the use and
availability of resources.
We have a budget,
what’s the use of a
cash flow?
Cash Flow Summary Year 1 Month 1 Month 2 Capital Forecast Actual Forecast Actual Investment Capital Set-up costs Expansion Total Income Restricted Funding Grants Unrestricted Funding Grants Sales Donations Total Expenditure Opening Costs Promotions Marketing Staff Materials, stock Workspace Services Insurance Transport Expenses Tax PAYE, NI Financing Loan interest Loan repayment Total Cash Position Income expenditure Bank opening balance Bank closing balance Reserves Contingency Total
The first step for all trustees is to obtain clear and reliable financial
information, along with realistic and regular cash flow forecasts.
In a time of financial difficulties this information will indicate whether
there is scope to renegotiate the timing of grant receipts – allowing
trustees to explore other sources of income or to contact the Charity
Commission for permission to use restricted funds for general
purposes.
Recruiting and retaining good
Trustees…
financial sustainability is the key to survival as
well as growth
Corporate World = maximising shareholder value
Charitable Organisations = identifiable public benefit
How do we define what value we
add?
Can we define what the need is that we are endeavoring to support by
our intervention?
If we can, then what is the value of the work we are doing and how can
we package and communicate what we are doing or are planning to do
in a way that people can understand?
Be realistic
Ensure your back-up plan is practical and workable. The use of an independent
third party to review assumptions can incur short-term cost but avoids bigger
problems.
Understand your finances
Robust financial information and strong budgeting processes are key to avoiding
insolvency. Understand the cost and benefit of your services.
Be prepared
Organisations that have survived major funding cuts are those which have
anticipated the problem in advance. They „ve been able to make decisions and
put their contingency plan in operation, whether that is cutting back provision
and overheads or supplying alternative services.
NOW?
Matt Dunham is an advisory partner with Grant Thornton
Develop the right mindset
Charities need to be commercially aware as do the individuals within them. Having
staff who are flexible and understand the economic realities while maintaining a
caring approach can make all the difference to success or failure.
Strong leadership
These leaders have a clear vision, can communicate that to staff and achieve a
consensus. They are compassionate but aware of the commercial environment,
they understand the need to generate surpluses to be sustainable, but happy to dip
into them on occasion to invest in the future to improve services.
Look for service efficiencies
Don't make the simple mistake of cutting services if you could instead have made
them more efficient. Mergers and shared services offer major potential for
efficiencies and will prove the solution for many organisations.
NOW?
Matt Dunham is an advisory partner with Grant Thornton
“…..business plan; to review the strengths and weaknesses of the
organisation and to agree goals and objectives for the next 5 years.
This was a searching process and I appreciate the skills and empathy Doug
brought to the project, his genuineness and firmness regarding necessary
change along with his time commitment. His willingness to meet with staff and
trustees enabled him to gain an accurate picture of the organisation as a whole
along with the challenges we will possibly face in the future. I am confident
that this special time will have safeguarded the future development of UCHM
while enabling the business plan to be used in generating much need funds for
the establishing of our ongoing service to vulnerable people in the community.
Case Study
United Churches Healing Ministry
Business Plan
Performance
Management
Marketing
IT
Human
Resources
Finance
Business
plans
Strategy
“I love what you guys do and that you exist in the world.” Love is All We Need
The Cranfield Trust’s
600+ Volunteers are high
calibre managers, active in
the commercial sector.
Most have postgraduate
qualifications and are from
leading international
business schools. "The project volunteer
brought (what the
charity needed) an
objective, skilled and
knowledgeable
approach to our
strategic planning
needs…"
Ormerod Home Trust
"The volunteer had a
massive impact. We have
recently received a £1m
grant based on the vision
the volunteer helped us
formulate…."
Hampton Trust
20+ years experience as the UK’s leading provider of free management consultancy for the voluntary sector
200+ Management Consultancy Projects a year
Where we are now
Change
Where we want to be