EUConsult Information Service
2007 November
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News / Resources
Members' activities
- Theresa Lloyd becomes Trustee of European Association of Planned Giving
Theresa Lloyd has become a Trustee of the European Association of Planned Giving and will be speaking at their conference “Optimising Philanthropy” in London on 19 November on What Motivates the Philanthropist. This is just one of many engagements that Theresa has ahead of her:
- 15-17 November – attending the Legal Week Private Client Forum conference in Venice, where she will be chairing a panel discussion on Philanthropy and publicity and giving a keynote address on Raising the subject of donating wealth
- 22 November - participating in a Debate at the Institute of Fundraising conference on major donors: Would higher tax breaks encourage wealthy donors to give more to charity?
- 18 January 2008 - speaking on donor development at the Association of British Orchestras conference in Brighton
The Theresa Lloyd Associates website has recently been completely redesigned and includes a section on Forthcoming Seminars.
Theresa Lloyd Associates / Forthcoming Seminars
- Internatioal Fundraising Consultancy actively helping the development of fundraising in Eastern Europe
Mena Gainpaulsingh and John Baguley spent a week in Kiev, Ukraine, in October, helping the Centre of Philanthropy to run a fundraising workshop for fundraisers from all over the former Soviet Union. IFC began the co-operation with the Centre in 2001 and it is really taking off now as fundraising knowledge deepens and the Eastern European countries improve their economies, though they still ‘look expectantly to the West’.
EUConsult member Jon Duchinsky (TBWA) and Paulette Mahaera (CEO of the AFP) also spoke eloquently to the participants.
International Fundraising Consultancy
- Datapreneurs’ report published by UK Institute of Direct Marketing
A paper written by John Sauvé-Rodd of Datapreneurs has been published by the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) in the UK as part of a paper on donor level profitability. The research examines, through analysis and a case study, the profitability of individual donors and examines the following questions:
- What can we learn about the range and distribution of donor profitability from case studies?
- Who counts the most, profit-wise?
- What are the implications for fundraising management?
The main conclusions are:
- Profitable and unprofitable donors: about half of donors are profit-making and half loss-making in a year. Donors show a very wide range in their annual net profitability.
- It’s down to a few: a very few donors create the annual net surplus in a programme. In the case study shown, 3/4 of net profit was generated by just 1/10th of the donors.
- Strategy: a strategic focus on the few profit generators seems obvious, and a new approach to fundraising management is strongly indicated.
- Changing fundraising practice: discussions with charities, agencies and consultancies suggest that cultural factors and a reluctance to change ‘the way we do things’ impede the take up of a profit-based donor strategy.
One CEO of an international NGO wrote:
"Your article on 'Donor Profitability Measurement' has hit me like a sledge hammer. You've outlined an approach I have long asked: How to break out of old segmentation thinking and bring donor analysis down to the individual level."
Datapreneurs / Donor Profitability Measurement paper (PDF)
- Transform Management launches results of BoardsCount 2007
John Tierney of Transform Management has been working together with partners Agenda Consulting and the UK Governance Hub on the BoardsCount service for benchmarking NPO boards. The results of BoardsCount 2007 have now been published and received quite a bit of coverage in the UK trade press, not least because of the suggestion of a charity ‘glass ceiling’ (see Transform Management’s website for a round-up of press articles). However, as John Tierney explains, “The big finding is that investment of time and perhaps some money in governance can be shown to pay off. And improvements in governance don't cost much money: good news for the smaller organisations that typically don't have the ability to put scarce resources into their boards.” John has recently given presentations at ACEVO’s national conference and at the conference of the Association of Residential Care, outlining the results to them. BoardsCount will be running again in 2008.
Transform Management / BoardsCount 2007 Summary (PDF)
- Charitable Futures and Action Planning working together
Foster Murphy of Charitable Futures has recently become an Associate of Action Planning. Foster is working together with David Saint, Action Planning’s Principal, to advise the Musicians Benevolent Fund (MBF) on strategic options for their residential care home for retired musicians. A career in music seems to mean long life, as many of the active residents are 90+ in age. The MBF is a typical British charity, which provides support to needy musicians - both young and old - and receives much of its funding through the wills of musicians who have died. There are numerous charities of this 'affinity' type - for example the motor industry, the cinema and television industry, the teaching profession and the agricultural industry, to name a few. Curiously, a number of them hire retired services personnel to be chief executives. These charities have their own Association, called the Charity Officers Association.
- Marilyn Wyatt’s Handbook of NGO Governance translated into Turkish and Mongolian
Marilyn Wyatt’s Handbook of NGO Governance, written with the Central and Eastern European Working Group on Nonprofit Governance, has just been translated into Turkish and Mongolian. This brings to 11 the number of completed translations (including Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Slovenian, and Ukrainian). Serbian and Hungarian versions are also planned. The Handbook is downloadable in English from the website of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law.
European Center for Not-for-Profit Law / Handbook of NGO Governance (PDF)
- Judy Beard joins the Management Centre (=mc)
Judy Beard, who was formerly acting CEO and Director of Communications, Fundraising and Marketing at the British charity Macmillan Cancer Support has joined the Management Centre (=mc). Full details are published on UK Fundraising.
Management Centre / UK Fundraising
- NonproCons
In April 2006, NonproCons played a leading role in supporting the carefully planned and intensively negotiated merger between SoliTex and SATEX, two of the largest organisations in the clothes collection market. This year, NonproCons has carried out a detailed market analysis for the merged organisation SoliTex, which is operated by four Swiss NPOs, at the same time evaluating the risks and opportunities and recommending a number of alternative strategies. SoliTex selected the strategy preferred by NonproCons and also commissioned the consultancy to put the plan in action by taking over its management. The advice given by NonproCons proved to be extremely valuable for the four NPOs – the annual net income of the four organisations increased by 300% and the costs for emptying the collection containers decreased by 30%. SoliTex has recently taken over as having the most widely distributed collection sack in Switzerland.
- Action Planning working with the British Heart Foundation
Action Planning will be working with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), to identify ways in which the charity’s community fundraising volunteers can play an increased role in local income generation and presenting the BHF’s work to key audiences. Andrew Reid, National Head of Community Fundraising, said ‘We are extremely fortunate in having so many highly skilled volunteers who care passionately about our work. Our aim is to develop even more opportunities for them to play a central role in taking forward, financing and promoting our work, and we are delighted to be working with Action Planning on this challenge’. This is a very exciting project for Chris East, Director of Revenue Fundraising at Action Planning, who is looking forward to working with one of the best known charities in the UK.
Action Planning has also sponsored a new book published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations - The Good Guide to Working with Consultants. This is a guide for not-for-profit organisations who want to make the most of working with consultants including how to choose the right consultant, how to brief them properly and how to manage the ongoing relationship.
Action Planning / The Good Guide to Working with Consultants (NCVO)
- Beck Management Center launches second School of Power
Beck Management Center GmbH is a young and slim-line company with activities all over Germany. The company stands in the tradition of former BSU Consult (Stuttgart), which under the leadership of Martin Beck was a member of EUConsult for some years. BSU was sold to another consulting company in 2003 and has now ceased trading. More than 20 years of expertise in the NPO sector are offered by Beck Management Center, which is located in Tübingen, a medieval University town in the south west of Germany. The majority of clients are based in Germany and therefore the website is currently only in German, although an English version is being considered. Some news from Beck Management Center:
- Many of the company’s activities are focused on the management and leadership of NPOs. Recruiting, coaching, training and outplacement of executives is one of the company’s major activities.
- During 2007 Martin Beck has given presentations at NPO conferences in cities all over Germany, including Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Wiesbaden.
- Martin is also busy as a writer and columnist, having published more than 150 articles and comments over the last few years. The latest articles are available on the website. The texts (in German) can be found under “Veröffentlichungen”.
- Beck Management Center will launch another “School of Power” seminar in 2008. Together with experienced trainers, Martin brings the theory and practice of power into a business context. NPO executives from all over Germany attended the first “School of Power” which took place earlier this year.
Visit the company’s website for more information (in German) and a list of major clients (under “Referenzen”) and a map of Germany (under “Landkarte”) showing where the company is active.
