This presentation is from a workshop at the NCVO Funding Conference 2014, sponsored by Charity Bank. We will look at the complexities of managing your brand and fundraising communications when you’re working in partnership or merging with other organisations so you can continue to maximise your income and engage your mutual supporters. Presenters: Jules Mason, Merlin and Helen Burgess, Save the Children Find out more about the NCVO Funding Conference 2014: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events/funding-conference Find out more about the funding resources provided by NCVO: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/funding

1. Sponsored by:
Jules Mason: Merlin
Helen Burgess: Save the
Children
When two organisations come
together: bringing supporters,
funders and staff with you

2. Today’s session
• Learn about the vision for why Merlin
joined Save the Children
• We will focus on:
– Our supporters within the voluntary
fundraising arena
– Detailed planning that is required to
make this a success
– How to bring supporters along with
you on this journey
– Key learnings
• You will take away:
– Better understanding of what is
involved in a project like this
– Practical things you should think about

3. Save the Children & Merlin: Who are we and what
do we do?

4. Vision for the ‘partnership’
• Our vision:
– Build a world class humanitarian health and nutrition
capability
• How:
– Combine Merlin’s expertise with Save the Children’s
global platform

5. The key drivers
• Programmatic benefits
• Strategic plan
• Funding model
• Brand awareness

6. Brand case studies
Interact and Plan UK were semi-merged in October 2009, and Interact was a fully owned subsidiary of Plan UK. Interact
previously retained a separate legal identity, with a separate Board of Trustees and separate charity number, but this is no longer
the case as the full merger took effect in July 2013.
Plan UK will continue to use the Interact brand to describe the ongoing work in sexual and reproductive health within Plan UK
NSPCC and ChildLine merged in 2006. ChildLine was incorporated as a distinct service within the NSPCC to enable it to answer
many more calls from children.
The ChildLine name has not changed. All except two of ChildLine’s trustees (President Esther Rantzen and BT’s Carol Borghesi)
stepped down when the charity merged with NSPCC. The merger saw several replacements at ChildLine’s senior management
level. HR and finance operations are now integrated with those of the NSPCC. ChildLine’s fundraising team stayed in place until
early 2007, to smooth relations with existing funders, but following that fundraising operations have now been integrated with the
NSPCC’s fundraising team.
At the time of the merger, the ChildLine service enjoyed a very strong reputation in the field, and among children themselves, and
the NSPCC had one of the best charity brands in the UK
In April 2009, Age Concern England and Help the Aged joined together to create a new charity – Age UK.
"We've brought everything together under one roof: one organisation, one website, one database, one name and
brand," said Chief Executive Tom Wright. "Two-thirds of people in the country are now aware of Age UK.
The charity operated under its original charity names as "Age Concern and Help the Aged" until the new brand launch
in April 2010. The two brand logos from the merged charities gradually disappeared once the new Age UK brand was
launched and new brand-awareness developed.

7. The question of two brands
This helped inform the debate about whether we continue with a separate brand
within the UK fundraising market: however it identified an important question about
the brand within our country programmes and how this directly relates to the quality
of Merlin’s work.
High brand awareness
Low brand awareness
Small supporter base Large supporter base
Brand: (May 2013)*
- No spontaneous awareness
-6% prompted awareness
Brand: (May 2013)*
- 17% spontaneous awareness
- 92% prompted awareness
Supporter base:
-RG = 10,000’s
Supporter base:
-RG = 100,000’s
* Brand Stats – Charity Awareness Monitor May 2013, nfpSynergy

8. Drivers impact decisions
• All Merlin country programmes will transition over to Save
the Children International
• Merlin’s Marketing & Communications Department
transitioned into Save the Children November 2013
– Physically moved into Save the Children offices and sit
within our existing structure
• Save the Children is now managing Merlin’s supporters in-
house
• No new fundraising activities are happening under the Merlin
brand

9. Our journey to date
July October November December
Quarter 3 2013 Quarter 4 2013
SeptemberAugust
Partnership
Launched
Transitioning Merlin Marketing & Comms
activities & new activity development:
-Merlin fundraising staff transitioned : 1st
November
-Ongoing transition activities
-Educating staff on new proposition
-New proposition development
-New appeals to Merlin supporters
Intelligence gathering –
mapping ways of working &
cross over
Merlin Xmas
Appeal
- 25th
November
Philippines:
Emergency Appeal
Save the Children
- Winter
Reception
January
Transfer of
supporters

10. group work:
Focusing in on the supporter, what are the challenges you think
you are likely to face when two organisations come together
and how would you over come them?

11. The partnership
• Communicating your vision
– Need to be very clear about why we came together
– Need to be able to speak to supporters about what the
partnership means
• Need to establish joint ways of working in the short term
– How do you approach the same donors?
– Funding priorities
– Multi year grants when programmes are transitioning
– What happens when a humanitarian emergency strikes?

12. activities
• Ultimately want to preserve the value that was created
• Decisions need to be made about which activities should stop
& those that will transition:
– Acquisition of new supporters
– Specific activities
– Restricted funding proposals when programmes are about
to transition
– International fundraising

13. Supporter Journey
• Aim:
– Transfer supporters and keep attrition to a minimum
• Think before, during and after
– When, how (letter, e-mail, phone call) and by whom
• Think about your audience
– The approach will be different
• Over communicate?
• Consider the legal requirements
• Educate staff on the partnership
• Think about joint & individual opportunities during transition

14. Merlin and Save the Children established 9 mobile clinics that are
supporting affected communities both in Leyte and Panay. The
activities carried out by these clinics include:
-As of December 16, the mobile clinics have seen 3,557 people
across 14 barangays in Iloilo province, Panay.
-As of December 13, the Merlin health team in Leyte has visited 5
Barangays in Palompon municipality and carried out mass
vaccination for 391 children. In addition, the mobile clinic in
Bantigue, Isabel, served 113 patients.
Save the Children and Merlin deployed a 12-people specialist
medical team that arrived in Cebu on 18 November. Staff in
Tacloban have been working with the Australian field hospital and
have provided them with special trauma support, while the other
team members headed to the north coast of Panay island to reach
some of the remotest islands and people.
20 November: “A four-year-old boy who had
his leg amputated was among children wounded
after Typhoon Haiyan. The charity Save the
Children has been working in the Philippines to
help sick and wounded children. Workers have
been at the field hospital in Tacloban, capital of the
Philippine province Leyte, and it was there they
met William who had suffered terrible injuries.”
Realise the opportunity: the phillippines -
Our Enhanced emergency capability

15. And don’t forget the small stuff……
• Transferring phone lines – especially your Supporter Care
line
• Forwarding e-mail addresses
• Updating your website – relevant links to each other sites,
up-to-date information and the donor experience
• Accessing information – Folders, photos, case studies,
supporter info
• Managing your supporters – what system will you be using
• Transferring licence agreements

16. group work:
With your supporters in mind, what are the practical steps that
you will do when you go back to your organisations?

17. Key steps to keep in mind
• Don’t underestimate the importance of
PLANNING
• Identify JOINTWAYS OFWORKING early on
• Using the RIGHT LANGUAGE with supporters
• Consider ALLTHE STAGES of the supporter
journey
• Realise the OPPORTUNITY
• DON’T FORGETTHE SMALL STUFF
• MAP OUT key milestones, your interactions with
donors and key risks
• Articulate what is/would be your NEW
PROPOSITION

18. Questions……
• Jules Mason – Head of Chief Exec’s Office, Merlin
– jules.mason@merlin.org.uk
• Helen Burgess – Head of SupporterValue -
Stewardship, Research & Risk, Save the Children
– h.burgess@savethechildren.org.uk