1. Strategy – useful tools that really work
Simon Burne
August 2010

2. Objective
• To share a set of easy to use tools to help
you to make fundraising strategies that
work

3. Four key drivers

4. Thinking inside the box

7. 80% Rule: Roughly right
– not precisely wrong

8. What is Strategy?
It is not
A structure
A list of things to do
Tactics
A big document that decorates your shelf
and gathers dust

9. We trained hard… but it seemed that every time we
were beginning to form up into teams, we would be
reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend
to meet any new situation by reorganising and a
wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion
of progress, while producing confusion,
inefficiency and demoralisation
Petronius Arbiter 210 BC

10. “I always leave my strategy on the
train in the hope that a competitor
will pick it up and believe that’s
what we’re really going to do”
Denis Stevenson

11. “However beautiful the strategy,
you should occasionally look at the
results.”
Winston Churchill

12. “Strategy without tactics is the
slowest route to victory. Tactics
without strategy is the noise before
defeat.”
Sun Tzu 500 BC

13. donor
“A satisfied customer is the best
business strategy of all.”
fundraising
Michael Leboeuf

14. What is Strategy?
•Objectives
Monitoring Our vision
•Resources
•Plans
•Budgets
Our mission External
Our strategy Factors
Where we are now

15. In times of crisis…
The horizon gets closer
So strategies get shorter

16. Too much to deal with!

17. Risk Management
Death by risk aversion
Bright lights Electricity
- aargh – oo er
Non- Broken
recyclable glass –
Tut tut danger!!
Bright idea Risk assessment Final product

18. Risk Management
Paralysis by analysis
Strategic options Internal analysis No change

19. How do we escape?

20. Or… 10 things to do with a box

21. 1. SWOT
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats

22. Internal Bridges & Barriers

23. Internal Bridges
• Processes that work
• Key allies
• Core skills and competencies
• Networks and contacts
• Beneficiaries

24. Internal Bridges
• Recognise them
• Celebrate them
• Strengthen them
• Use them
• Learn from them

25. Internal Barriers
• Lack of expertise
• Finance
• Service Staff
• Lack of information
• Poorly-defined need
• Lack of strategy
• Processes that don’t work
• No resources

26. Internal Barriers
• Form alliances to overcome
them
• Work around them
• Find a way through them
• Accept your limitations

27. 2. PEST
Political Economic
Social Technical

28. External Market Factors
Focus on top 3-4 key external factors
which could have a genuine major
impact (+/-) on fundraising success.
Invest resources in these areas = do a
few things well.

29. External Market Factors
Develop scenarios for each key factor:
• In-depth knowledge of factor
• Predict range of possible outcomes
• For each outcome:
– What would be impact on your fundraising for
each?
– What action would you need to take to maximise
benefits/minimise problems?
– What resources will you need?
– How will you monitor the situation?
– How will you be prepared to respond quickly?

30. Benchmarking
Develop links with similar NGOs, share
information, monitor position
Income:cost ratios of each activity
Comparative size of each activity
Comparative growth of each activity
Mystery shopping

31. 3a. Boston Matrix (Products)

32. Product Development Cycle
Need
Evaluate Innovate! Audience
Product

33. Product Lifecycle
R&D investment maintenance cull
Profitability
Time

34. Product Lifecycle
R&D investment maintenance cull
Profitability
Time

35. Product Lifecycle
R&D investment maintenance cull
Profitability
Time

36. Building your fundraising
£
Time

37. Boston Matrix
PROBLEM CHILDREN
Internet
Monthly Giving Upgrade
Direct Dialogue Mail Acquisition
Annual Giving (High Value)
Major Donors
CASH COWS DEAD DOGS
Renewals
Special Appeals Foundations
Legacies and Merchandising
Planned Gifts DRTV Acquisition

38. Boston Matrix
RISING STARS PROBLEM CHILDREN
Internet
Monthly Giving Upgrade
Mail Acquisition
Annual Giving (HV)
Direct Dialogue Major Donors
CASH COWS DEAD DOGS
Renewals
Foundations
Special Appeals
Merchandising
Legacies and
DRTV Acquisition
Planned Gifts

39. Value (ROI) vs. Volume (potential)
volume 1
3 2
value
value
PROBLEM CHILDREN
Internet 2
Upgrade
Mail Acquisition
Annual Giving (HV)
Major Donors

40. 3b. Boston Matrix (Problems)
+ Devils Mysterons
Level of
impact
Sacred Sad
- cows sacks
+ Level of -
understanding

41. 3b. Boston Matrix (Problems)
Devils
– Focus on the four biggest
– Develop clear strategies for neutralising
Mysterons
– Watch closely
– Be ready to take action
Sacred cows
– Need change at the very top
– Learn to work round them
Sad sacks
– Safely ignore

42. 3c. Boston Matrix (Competitors)
Rising Stars Problem Children
Potential threats
Ideas to copy Ideas to improve
Best practice Learn from mistakes
Real threats
Cash Cows Dead Dogs

43. Competitors
What I will do What I want to know The questions I need How can I find this
with the to ask out?
information
Develop new New ideas or products Which new products Speak to them,
products from my competitors are being developed share information.
that I could use/adapt. or tested? How well Mystery shopping.
are they performing? Research.
Be first with Which competitors also What are their plans Speak to them,
my appeal for raise money for xxxx. for launching an share information.
xxxxx Timing. appeal for xxxx?
Improve Ways in which How well are their Mystery shopping.
performance competitors are offering current products Financial reports.
of my current my products more performing compared Conference
products successfully. to mine? What are presentations.
they doing differently Research.
to me?

44. The Ansoff Matrix
?
new
taking them to new products for
new audiences new supporters?
market/audience
existing new products to
current
product existing supporters
current new
offer/product

45. E.G. Monthly Giving
Mail
DRTV
new
Events
On-line ?
market/audience
Upgrade
Campaign action
Direct
Special Appeal
current
Dialogue
current new
offer/product

46. Different Audiences from Different Media
Income
ABC1s - traditional core
supporters
mail, door drop, inserts
Face to face
Age
DRTV
On-line
Telephone

47. 5. Investment Sailing Boat
Net return
Market Market
potential understanding
Level of risk

48. 5. Investment Sailing Boat
Net return
Market Market
potential understanding
Level of risk

49. Goals & Objectives

50. Goals & Objectives
• Important to set targets.
• Objectives can divide as well as motivate.
• Objectives need to be set that are cross-
organisational.
• KPIs should be few, and not all financial.
• Remember the Rule of Four

51. 6. Balanced Scorecard
Financial Processes
Vision &
Strategy
Supporters/ Learning
Stakeholders and growth
• one objective per quadrant –max 4
• keep the objectives SMART

52. Objective-Setting
SMART
• Strategic
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-limited

53. Objective-Setting
SMART
• Scary
• Mouthwatering
• Ambitious
• Rare
• Team-building

54. 7. Brand positioning
Modern
Where we want
to be
Conservative Innovative
Where our
supporters
think we
are Old-fashioned

55. 8. Strategic Risk Analysis
Impact
Stakeholders Finances
Probability
Culture/skills Processes

56. 9. Vulnerability Index
Very important
Relatively Very
safe vulnerable
Insignificant

57. 10. Ease of implementation vs. impact
impact
Must haves Low-hanging fruit
ease
PROBLEM CHILDREN
Internet Quick wins
Upgrade
Mail Acquisition
Annual Giving (HV)
Major Donors
Sinks

58. Last thoughts…

59. “We don’t see things
as they are.
We see them as we are”
Ref.: Anais Nin

60. Innovation
“If we don’t make utter fools of
ourselves from time to time,
we grow smug - that is,
we do not grow at all.”
Ref.: Tom Peters

61. ‘We are taught to
solve problems
not to recognise
opportunities.’

62. “Every act of creation
is first of all an act of
destruction”
Ref.: P. Picaso

63. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes. And
we’ve been very lucky at times. Some
of our products are things you might
say we’ve just stumbled on. But you
can’t stumble if you’re not in
motion.” R.Carlton

64. A culture of successful risk
‘If you don’t screw
up at least once in
your first year with
us, you aren’t trying
hard enough.’
Words used by a boss to a new employee on
their first day at work

65. The Formula for Failure
‘There is no formula for
success. But there is a
formula for failure, and
that is trying to please
everybody.’
Nicholas Ray, Film Director

66. The truest word…
Whether you believe
you can or whether you
believe you can’t,
you’re right
Henry Ford

68. The two most important words in
fundraising