The chief executive’s view: delivering on the key principles

Keith Felton

Director of corporate services

A year and a half in fundraising

May 2015

A year and a half in fundraising

Summer 2015

Journalist in the room

What happened next?

• Etherington review

• Fundraising Regulator replaced FRSB

• IOF and PFRA lost regulatory powers

=> Fundraising Preference Service

=> Donor consent

Practical challenges

We still don’t know what we have to do but….

• New procedures

• Systems developments

• Compliance

…for smaller charities these challenges will be particularly significant

Financial challenges

• The number of potential donors with whom we can engage will reduce

• Some donors will withdraw or restrict their consent

• Income projections ????

• We will carefully review our reserves requirement

Reserves

• Reserves are that part of a charity’s unrestricted funds that is freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes.

• In practice, this means that trustees should: • develop a reserves policy that: fully justifies and clearly explains

keeping or not keeping reserves

• identifies and plans for the maintenance of essential services for beneficiaries

• reflects the risks of unplanned closure associated with the charity’s business model, spending commitments, potential liabilities and financial forecasts

Reserves requirement

Budget

2016/17

less

secured

income

Budget

2016/17

Risk

factor

2016

Risk amount

Direct Marketing XX,XXX XX,XXX 20% X,XXX

Legacy XXX XXX 10% XX

Community and Events XXX XXX 10% XX

Corporate Partnerships X,XXX (XXX) X,XXX 15% XXX

Major Gifts X,XXX X,XXX 15% XXX

Trust and Statutory X,XXX (XXX) X,XXX 10% XXX

Regional Fundraisers XXX XXX 10% XX

National and Regional Development XXX XXX 5% XX

XX,XXX (X,XXX) XX,XXX 18% X,XXX

Investment portfolio XXX XX XXX

Working capital XXX

Total X,XXX

Increasing reserves requirement….

• ….leads to a more conservative approach to the charity’s activities

The opportunity

• Improve the way we communicate with donors and potential donors

• Strengthen relationships with our supporters

• Make more focused use of resources

Crisis’ response

Any time we plan, write or talk about fundraising – imagine there is a ‘Supporter in the Room’

Total honesty and transparency

Stop – ‘targeting’ ‘acquiring’ ‘cultivating’

Start – ‘engaging’ and ‘inspiring’

Excellence in supporter care and stewardship

Supporter in the room – the story so far

Beyond compliance – ‘The Crisis Promise’

Fundraising strategy and business plans re-written

Telemarketing campaigns and scripts re-written

Traditional summer appeal replaced with launch of ‘Supporter in the Room’

Thank you from some of our supporters

“I feel a sense of pride in being a small part of the support that Crisis offers to so many homeless people.”

“Carry on with the good work. A lot of people would be in a bad place if Crisis was not available.”

“You can take it from me that I treasure the work you do for unfortunate people and I shall continue to help for as long as I am able!”

Supporter in the room – the story so far

Agency review – values match

Supporter questionnaire – loyalty and benchmarking

Complaints policy reviewed

Moments of joy

Supporter development strategy

To conclude

• We will lose supporters

• We will raise less money – at least in the short term

• We will be more cautious – at least in the short term

…but

• We have to adapt

• We will improve and strengthen our relationships with our supporters

• We will use this as an opportunity