integrating comms and fundraising. north west regional group 8 may 2014

GIVING HELP AND HOPE

Integrating communications and fundraising

Laura Irving, Director of FundraisingJenny Roberts, Events Fundraiser


What I hope to share today• How the comms and fundraising teams work

together at RCLCF

• Reinforcing how fundamental marketing and PR is to fundraising

• Some ideas for best practice, internal comms and team working between the two departments

• A case study – The Dream Walk

• Q&A


About us

We are the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer and exist to provide help and hope to all those affected.We fund lung cancer research, provide support, help people to quit smoking and give a voice to all those affected through our campaigning.


The teams

The fundraising team needs to raise £2.2M in 2014 to contribute towards funding research projects and patient support – one director, ten fundraisers and one assistant.

The comms team support the whole organisation including Research, Tobacco Control, LCISS, Fundraising and Retail - one director, one marketing manager, one graphic designer and one digital apprentice


“The marketing team should raise awareness so that people understand who the charity is and what they are about and the fundraising team are

there to provide support in enabling people to actually give or raise money towards the cause.”


What we need• Continuously raising awareness of the charity• Compelling our audience to get involved with our

events and campaigns• Inspiring people to make cash or gifts in kind donations • Building brand awareness, getting people talking about

us and creating a buzz• Managing some aspects of our projects – Press, Radio,

Celebs, Social Media• Work to agreed timelines• Clear division of roles – who doing what at all times


What we really need


Added value


Some ideas for best practice• Plan early and plan together• Have strategies that talk to each other• Agree common goals at the start of each project• Include income generation in your digital planning• Measure success of campaigns and ROI• Share great campaigns and ideas from other charities• Involve fundraisers to generate stories, blogs, pictures to keep website

and materials fresh• Respond quickly to what's happening in the world, especially things in

popular culture linked to the cause• Work together with shared goals – keep each others objectives in mind

at all times• Respect each other as experts in our field – combine knowledge• Remember we’re on the same team!


What the fundraisers had to say…A fundamental relationship

“I think the most important thing is that fundraisers cannot work without a marketing team, because we need them to be the driving force behind building awareness of the charity, making sure that people know that we exist in the first place and that we do something that people want to support.”

”From a Marketing team I would expect – Enthusiasm, Support, A close relationship, Ideas, Creativity, Expertise and Contacts”

“It’s fantastic to have a marketing team who get behind you 100% and give you the confidence to take on a challenge. It’s important that they show that they are focused and committed to the cause and the department, despite the fact that we know that they have so many other departments to manage also. When they get behind us with press and PR for event, it gives me and the team confidence that this is a great event to be part of.”


• An established event that has been running for 6 years

Background

• Introduced at a time when charity walks where rare or a novelty

• Increased competition has made it a larger challenge to recruit ladies especially when we compete with charities that have massive marketing budgets

• We have to finds new and varied ways of engaging with the public and making our event stand out form the crowd- with limited funds!


The design concept

• An event that appeals to a wide age range

• An event that is fun


Website


• Direct Mail

• E mail communication

• Save the date postcard

• Flyer and poster distribution

• Discount offer to previous walkers

• Banners across the city

• Free listing sites

Marketing plan

The usual……


Collaboration with other departments Utilising the resources available to us a charity:


Celebrity Ambassadors


Something different….


THANK YOU – ANY QUESTIONS?

integrating comms and fundraising. north west regional group 8 may 2014

Government & Nonprofit