Initial findings from a research report, due to be published on 1 June 2011, highlight the need to increase co-operation between the fundraising and communications teams at leading UK charities.
The research report – developed by CharityComms, the professional membership body for charity communications professionals, and Forster, the social change communications agency– quizzed 115 fundraising and communications professionals about their attitudes to each other.
The main findings of the research are:
- 14% of respondents felt that fundraising and communications departments always worked towards shared goals; 77% of respondents felt that fundraising and communications departments sometimes worked towards shared goals
- 22% felt that fundraising is always involved in brand decisions, with 60% feeling it was sometimes involved
- 25% of respondents felt their brand was always flexible enough to meet fundraising needs.
- 8% of charity respondents stated that communications campaigns were always used to generate fundraising leads, with just under two in ten charities never using communications in this way.
"We don’t talk to each other," said one respondent of the relationship between communications and fundraising teams. "The communications team doesn't know enough about fundraising expertise, and vice versa, so both get frustrated. We don't know what the other team is working on, so brand frequently vetoes projects that fundraising may have spent considerable time working on. It causes real negativity between us."
Frustrations were also expressed around the flexibility of charity brands and the involvement of fundraising in its development.
"I feel that the fundraising team weren't involved enough when the brand was originally developed and hence have a lack of commitment to it," explains one voluntary sector staffer who took part in the survey. "We are evolving the brand and things are improving, though."
Whilst many charities have used communications to strengthen their fundraising work, it seems that only a minority ensure that all communications had a fundraising goal.
Peter Gilheany, Director at Forster, thinks this could be a missed opportunity for many charities: "Considering the pressure on budgets and income for most charities at the moment, it is surprising that more aren't maximising co-operation between communications and fundraising. If you want the maximum bang for your buck, the two disciplines need to work hand in hand," he explains.
CharityComms and Forster are using the initial findings in the report to help them shape the content for a workshop on May 25th. The session – Bridging the gap: Integrating Communications and Fundraising - will explore practical solutions to enable fundraising and communications teams to work together more effectively.
"We believe better and more effective integration is a key issue for charities of every size," adds CharityComms Director Vicky Browning. "It's about finding ways to maximise internal resources in a way that plays to team strengths, whilst realising the important role communications can have in delivering effective fundraising – and vice versa."
For more information visit: www.charitycomms.org.uk/Integrating_Communications_Fundraising_Workshop.