develop a long term sustainable strategic plan
Family Support Work
"Working with David and Action Planning has been so good for FSW, helping to make our thinking clear and focusing our minds on what we need to do to achieve the plans that we have. Developing future plans has been made so much easier and clear thanks to their input. I would happily recommend working with the team."
MARTIN AUTON-LLOYD, DIRECTOR
Background:
FSW, based in Chichester, has been helping vulnerable children and their families in Sussex since 1890. They work with families who are in or facing crisis and who need help to overcome multiple, complex issues. After several years of fluctuation, the charity had come into some capital from the sale of a property and wanted to explore the feasibility of expanding its operations into every deanery in East and West Sussex. Having commissioned Action Planning to carry out research to provide a clear picture of the state of provision in the region and the growth required to meet its own expansion plans, FSW needed to know the best way to go about funding this growth.
Brief:
FSW asked Action Planning to ascertain the feasibility of increasing income sufficiently to fund the threefold increase that was required to expand its operation into every deanery in East and West Sussex.
Process:
We reviewed the charity’s draft fundraising plan, draft business plan, Annual Report, draft budget and promotional materials. Having gathered all available information, we compiled a comprehensive report that outlined the existing needs and provisions and the funding sources that might be tapped into to secure the requisite increase in income, together with a set of criteria that would need to be met in order to pursue this funding with any hope of success.
Outcomes:
FSW’s leadership were left in no doubt that they needed to be engineering a dedicated fundraising team and that simply trying harder would not yield the desired results. The trustees have now approved £200,000 to be spent on building a fundraising team to begin working on the proposed fundraising streams.
Consultant’s insight:
This was an interesting brief, to explore what needed to be achieved through fundraising to deliver a plan, as opposed to what probably could be achieved. Although there has to be a reality check in the end, this is a great way to stretch the envelope of creativity.