Fundraising strategy Board library reference Document author Assured by Review cycle P168 Fundraising Manager Trust Board Annually This document is version controlled. The master copy is on Ourspace. Once printed, this document could become out of date. Check Ourspace for the latest version. Contents 1. Executive Summary... 2 2. Purpose... 2 3. Scope... 2 4. Current context... 2 4.1 Financial position... 2 4.2 Systems, structures & resource... 3 4.3 Competitive review... 3 4.4 External trends affecting fundraising... 4 4.5 SWOT Analysis... 4 5. Strategic Aims... 4 6. Fundraising priorities... 5 Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 1 of 6
1. Executive Summary The current financial position of the Fund is unsustainable over the medium term (3 years) as expenditure far exceeds income which is not being proactively generated. The revised aspiration of the Fund is to achieve gross annual income of 500,000 by end of financial year 2021-22, with annual expenditure in line with income. In order to achieve this, key strategic priorities will be: To create a compelling charity identity with a strong presence throughout the estate and the local community. To increase the baseline of donations and legacies through marketing. To influence organisational culture and ensure that staff view the Charity as their own and engage in fundraising. To develop systems and processes that enable effective management of the fundraising function, including best practice donor relationship management and the ability to report upon all income streams and their financial effectiveness. To develop a programme of fundraising activity to deliver unrestricted income. 2. Purpose This strategy provides the basis for the development of a Fundraising Plan for the Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust Charitable Fund until end of financial year 2020-21. It is the result of extensive research by the Charitable Funds Committee and Fundraising function. This report sets out in detail the future mix of fundraising activities, the resources required and the expected returns. 3. Scope The scope of this paper reflects only the fundraising and marketing activity undertaken by the Charity; any aspects relating to governance, financial and investment management and policy is not included. The plan sets out in some detail the road map for the period to end of year 2020-21. Given the inevitable uncertainty for the longer term, there is a high-level forecast provided for years 4 and 5 (2021-22 and 2022-23) however this is more speculative as circumstances will change. It is recommended that the Plan is reviewed annually by the Trustee Board in order to monitor progress against key targets and make adjustments as necessary. Annual Fundraising Plans will be set and reviewed by the Charitable Funds Committee. 4. Current context The Charitable Fund was established in 1996 to apply income for any charitable purpose relating to the National Health Service wholly or mainly for the services provided by Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (formerly Bath Mental Health NHS Trust). 4.1 Financial position The Fund balance as at 31 October 2016 was 209,843 with unrestricted funds of 43,917 and restricted funds of 165,926. This shows a high proportion of funds are held for designated purposes, with a small proportion available for general use. In addition, a minimum of 15,000 of unrestricted income is designated as reserves. Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 2 of 6
The ongoing average income received from unsolicited donations and fundraising is 9,800 per year (excluding legacies as these significantly distort the averages) The ongoing average expenditure is 69,328 illustrating that spending far outstrips income and is reliant on the balance of major legacies received in 2013 & 2014*. Expressed as a % of the overall NHS budget for the Trust, the Charitable Fund income is 0.05% compared to the average of Association of NHS Charities members which is 0.86% in 2014-15. At present the charity performs in reaction to donations and has not been proactive in driving income. 4.2 Systems, structures & resource Until December 2016, there has been no resource within the Trust with expertise in charity management and fundraising. This has led to non-compliance with key charity and fundraising legislation as well as a lack of proactive income generation. Key issues identified: There are no records kept of donors to the Fund and no fundraising database in place. Donors have not received any acknowledgement as the Charity has not captured any means by which to communicate with them (i.e. address & gift data) which significantly limits future donations. There has been no effort made to recover Gift Aid. Gift Aid is the reclamation of tax on charitable donations equivalent to 25p in 1. Staff across the Trust have a limited understanding of the role of the charity and the distinction between charitable activities and business as usual. This is combined with a lack of transparent processes for the operation of the charity which has eroded goodwill towards the charity amongst staff. There is no policy with regard to fundraising on AWP sites and there is a culture of fundraising for competing charities embedded across the Trust. 4.3 Competitive review The Charity operates in a crowded competitive landscape with many local and national charities active within the geographical area. Local NHS Hospital charities e.g. the Forever Friends Appeal at RUH Local health charities e.g. hospices and Air Ambulance National mental health charities e.g. Mind, Rethink Mental Illness Many NHS Trusts operate charities to actively fundraise from local communities, including several within AWP s geographical footprint. The table below shows a comparison of the income and fundraising resource across such charities: Total income Donations Fundraised Cost of fundraising Number of FR staff % of Trust income Heads on Sussex Mental Health Forever Friends Appeal RUH Bath Above and Beyond United Bristol Hospitals 211,000 19,000 192,000 80,000 2.8 0.08% 1,441,000 1,414,000 27,000 42,000 10 2.15% 3,551,000 1,426,000 Unknown 619,000 5 0.79% Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 3 of 6
North Bristol NHS FT Charitable Funds 1,486,000 844,000 642,000 181,000 5 0.15% 4.4 External trends affecting fundraising The most popular charitable causes with the British public are medical research (33% of adults made a donation in the past 3 months), children and young people (30%) and hospitals and hospices (25%) The top 100 charities account for 85% of UK charity income, estimated at 39 billion p.a. Charities are recovering from the loss of public trust suffered as a result of coverage of charity fundraising practices in the media over 2015 and 2016. Public trust in the NHS is the highest of all UK institutions. Economic downturn since 2009 and more recently the financial uncertainty created by Brexit in 2016 has led to a reduction in public willingness to give. Communications channels and technology are proliferating allowing charities to connect more frequently and appropriately with donors. However this also changes donors preferred giving mechanics and increases the importance of integrated communications. 4.5 SWOT Analysis Strengths Large footprint/ estate with high potential for visibility Recent recruitment of fundraising expertise onto CFC Appetite for investment into fundraising Unsolicited income demonstrates level of goodwill towards the charity Weaknesses Mental health hard to convey as cause No brand & very low visibility No systems in place e.g. database No donor history/ data pool Negative staff culture towards charitable funds Complicated & unclear processes for fundraising & bid applications Large proportion of funds restricted Opportunities Increasing profile of mental health amongst public & in media Open sharing culture amongst NHS charities learn from best practice Emergence of new giving mechanisms e.g. digital/ social media Threats Highly competitive charity landscape Tightening regulation of charities & negative press coverage of fundraising practices Donor shift towards earned fundraising streams e.g. events/ trading with higher barriers to entry 5. Strategic Aims The overarching ambition for the Fundraising strategy is to continuously grow income to be able to increase the funds available to support our charitable activities. The 5-year aspiration is to achieve an income of 500,000 by end of financial year 2021-22. In order to achieve this, the following strategic aims will underpin fundraising plans: Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 4 of 6
To create a compelling charity identity with a strong presence throughout the estate and the local community. To increase the baseline of donations and legacies through marketing. To influence organisational culture and ensure that staff view the Charity as their own and engage in fundraising. To develop systems and processes that enable effective management of the fundraising function, including best practice donor relationship management and the ability to report upon all income streams and their financial effectiveness. To develop a programme of fundraising activity to deliver unrestricted income. 6. Fundraising priorities Short-term (<1 year) Medium term (1-3yrs) Long term (5 years) Create a compelling charity identity with a strong presence throughout the estate and the local community Rebranding of charity Develop leaflets & posters to site across estate Collection boxes Establish relationships with local companies Establish relationships with voluntary orgs such as Rotary, Lions Community outreach program (e.g. schools, activity groups) Increase the baseline of donations and legacies through marketing Develop leaflets & posters to site across estate Develop website Social media Develop and seed case studies Establish newsletter Direct mail/ Email appeal mailing Develop calendar of appeal mailings Launch raffle/ weekly lottery Website upgrade Influence organisational culture to engage staff in fundraising Internal communications plan Local Funds model to facilitate fundraising Create & distribute toolkits across all wards/ units/ depts. Grow ambassador program Review of Local Funds Grow number of Local Funds and per fund Launch major appeal Recruit p/t Community Fundraiser to support and promote staff & volunteer fundraising Recruit charity ambassadors Develop systems and processes that enable effective management of the Fundraising function Install fundraising database Routine thanking Revise policies & procedures Recruit charity administrator Data cleansing Donor segmentation Part-time/ freelance Grants & Trusts researcher Develop a programme of fundraising activity to deliver unrestricted income Establish summer and winter own events Recruit 15 participants to challenge program Community campaign Grow own events calendar to 4 events Grow challenge program to 25 participants Community campaign Recruit Events fundraiser Double scale of own events and challenge program Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 5 of 6
Version History Version Date Revision description Editor Status 1.0 29/03/2017 Approved by Trust Board Fundraising manager Approved Fundraising strategy Review date: 29/03/2017 Version No: 1.0 Page 6 of 6