Session Title:

More Bang for your Bucks Big fundraising on a little budget

SPEAKER

Erica Myers-Davis DSJ, FRSA, MFIA, AIMM

Prahran Mission UnitingCare

• Established in 1946

• Part of the Uniting Church in Australia and UnitingCare network of agencies

• Based on Chapel Street and service South Eastern Melbourne

• Provide mental health rehabilitation and support to 1,000 clients and emergency relief and meals to around 3,000 clients per year

• $11million operation – 60% of income comes from local, state and federal government funding

• 8-15% of funding from fundraising

• Remainder from service fees, Op Shops, café and catering

Fundraising Team

Fundraising team total 2.2 FTE with a target of $1.2million

• Donor Liaison Officer (16 hrs)

• Philanthropic Trusts Manager (16 hrs)

• Corporate Partnerships Manager (16 hrs)

• General Manager, Fundraising & Community Relations (40 hrs)

Mullets for the Mission

aka the Event that didn’t raise money

• Footy Lunch in Sept

• Sports, blokes, beer, Christmas Appeal

• Unique and fun concept to create a point of difference

• Celebrities

The Plan To raise $25,000 (net profit) from 150 guests Through Income = $39,000 Ticket sales $18,000 (150 @ $120 each) Sponsorship $15,000 Donations $3,000 Grand Auction $3,000 Expenses $14,000 Catering Print, design Audio Visual Table decorations Staff resources = 1 fundraiser x 16 hrs pw x 12 weeks = 192 hours What we actually raised -$2,000

• Management wanted a major event in September

• The fundraiser was unable to make the ask for sponsorship income

• We didn’t sell enough tickets

• In the lead up the fundraiser was away for 5 weeks

• Not enough promotion around the event

• Not enough human resources – logistics, PR, sales, fundraising

• No buy in, not interested in sport

So what went wrong?

Lessons Learnt

• Have the right person who can make the ask

• Allow enough time to organise the event

• Have enough people to work on the event

• Have a cut off date if you need to cancel event without losing money

• Have a personal interest or passion in the event

• If you don’t have enough or the right resources, then say NO!

Turning the lessons into strategies…

Make Great Relationships

• Internal Relationships are key:

• Boss, a fantastic working relationship makes your job easier

• Team, getting the best out of your team and inspiring them means leading by example, don’t ask them to do something you wouldn’t do, be honest and upfront, they’ll appreciate that, tell them they’re doing a great job when they are

• Colleagues within the organisation, make them LOVE fundraising: – Celebrate every win

– Volunteer/participate in their programs

– Help them with their work

Be Assertive & Financially Savvy

• Get training in assertiveness – This will help you develop better working relationships

– Also enable you to say no to unrealistic demands

• Hone your financial skills – There will be times when you need to make a business case for or against

an idea, plan or event. Money is at the root of everything we do, so make sure you can articulate the need and demonstrate it with sound finances

– Also a great way to develop a good working relationship with your Finance people, they love showing Excel models they’ve developed!

– It will show that you know what you’re talking about, build your credibility and help demonstrate that Fundraising is necessary, positive and vital, rather than evil.

Leverage

• Your time – Test for Success

– Pareto principle 80/20 rule – do the 20% of things that work really well

– Each organisation is different, events might work better for you than direct mail – you have limited time and resources, follow what works WELL

• Get other people involved – Delegate activities to others, find out what interests them and reframe to meet

their interests

– Fundraising process donations but the receptionist prints the thank you letters and receipts, the finance team take the cheques to the bank

– Get external people involved – donors, volunteers, clients, suppliers, family, friends, your neighbours such as local schools, TAFEs, universities, churches, community groups like Rotary and Soroptimist International, other agencies you may work with. Ask/recruit on facebook.

Database • You cannot grow without a fundraising database of some

description – not an excel spreadsheet • Fundraisers and other users should choose the software not the IT

people • Price is important but only one of many factors to consider. Look at

initial investment cost, ongoing maintenance and training costs, helpdesk costs

• When selecting a new one, you need to understand your current system. What works? What doesn’t? What reports do you need vs what you actually use? Future needs? Online capability especially for payment processing

• Find out what similar size organisations are using and ask what works/doesn’t work for them

• Allow time to understand new system – it won’t install and enter data by itself, are you and your team competent to use it

The Internet is Your Friend

• Find students, teenagers or other tech savvy volunteers to update your website, facebook, instagram and twitter feeds.

• Trybooking.com – free ticket booking service for events, registrations, memberships, fees, seminars, shows, dinners, also collect data and donations

• Ourcommunity.com.au – online donations, free to use and they set up for you

• Flipsnack.com to turn your newsletters, annual reports and other promotional material into online ‘flipping’ books – free and easy to use

• Shutterstock.com – royalty free low cost high res photos for your promotional material

Putting that into practice.

• Fashion Show

• Collaboration with Fashion School

• Restyling, reusing Op Shop clothes

• Melbourne fashion designers

The Plan

To raise $20,000 Through ticket sales, clothing

sales and donations

Expense budget $500

http://youtube.com./watch?v=IwM4SJuqRs4

THE PLAN WORKED! • Raised $40,000 • Over 400 guests • 150 new donors • Extensive mainstream

and online media coverage

• We spent $500

Lessons Learnt

• Students gained work experience, Cert V in Event Management, 60% final year mark

• Cost 10 hours of my time; 27 students @16 weeks full time (approx 18,000 hours)

• Students making the ‘ask’ was highly successful

• Students had an extensive network for ticket sales and donations

• Pop Up shop worked better than auction –relevant to audience

• Students worked social media hard and it paid off

Lessons Learnt

• Internal relationships improved – my team and colleagues love fashion and were very supportive

• Articulate why events hadn’t worked for us in the past and demonstrate the actual resources required

• Leverage my networks, my best friend was a teacher at the school and his passion is fashion – so total buy in

• Using the internet, captured donations, ticket sales and prospect data

• Prahran Mission UnitingCare is now cool, fun and hip

• Victim of our own success

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwM4SJuqRs4

THANK YOU! For more information Erica Myers-Davis Prahran Mission General Manager Fundraising & Community Relations 03 9692 9500 erica@prahranmission.org.au