What should you expect from a fundraising consultancy?

Back in 2019, we published a handy, ‘how to’ guide for Third Sector organisations looking to appoint a fundraising consultancy. Some of what we shared back then also has a direct bearing on what you should anticipate once the real work of relationship building starts. In our experience, the best fundraising partnerships thrive on a clear understanding of each other’s roles and, importantly, setting the right expectations from the get-go.

Previously, we highlighted expertise, objectivity and the ability to maintain momentum as the hallmarks of a high quality, fundraising consultant. None of these attributes have changed. You should still expect the best consultancy partners to have a forensic knowledge of the sector, offer independent insights and keep your fundraising firmly on the ‘front burner’.

“Whether you’re investing in a major capital campaign or a mini review of your fundraising strategy, these three skills remain the golden threads of great consulting,” says Gifted’s Chairman, Andrew Day. “No matter the size of the project or the type of service you’re engaging, it’s an under-the-skin, yet arms-length approach that you’re looking for.”

Organised common sense

That might sound like some sort of dark art, but successful fundraising consultancy is less about shape-shifting and more about delivering the ordinary magic that’s drawn from years of experience in the field.

“Effective fundraising nearly always comes down to organised common sense,” says Gifted’s Director, Chris Goldie. “The best consultants understand this and are brave enough to share pragmatic, evidence-based advice with their clients, even when it may not be what they want to hear. This means being happy to act as both confidante and critic.”

In the independent schools’ sector, for example, we sometimes hear about development plans that feel out of step with current giving trends or the challenging economic climate parents find themselves in. A good consultant will have the tenacity to guide a school’s leadership in crafting the most compelling case for support and know how best to reach people with the capacity to give generously. “It makes little sense to target fundraising at parents who already feel financially stretched,” adds Chris. “Instead, efforts need to be focused on stakeholders less affected by increasing costs such as VAT charges, or those who might be looking for an opportunity to give back.”

Setting the right expectations

When it comes to the way fundraising consultants work or the quality of advice they share, it’s important to tackle a few misconceptions. Sometimes these stem from inexperience or incorrect assumptions about how consultants manage their time or commitment to the task in hand.

To illustrate this, we’ve put together our 10 Top Tips, for setting the right expectations from the outset. “It’s far from an exhaustive list,” says Gifted’s Chief Executive, Amy Stevens, “but it might help you feel more secure about the kind of partnership you’re entering into and how to collectively achieve your fundraising goals.”

Our 10 Top Tips

1. Optics aren’t everything- Just because you may not see us sitting at a desk in your office, doesn’t mean that we aren’t working on your brief from another location, or even while travelling.
2. Time is a wrap-around commitment - Every meeting we attend, will also require preparation and follow-up time. You should see evidence of this during and after a meeting, in terms of insightful participation and agreed actions being swiftly addressed.
3. There are benefits to engaging a team – Don’t forget that we also take holidays and get ill from time to time. But by engaging a trusted team, there will always be a colleague available to pick up key tasks should your lead consultant be unavailable.
4. Look for a varied skill-set - Expect to work with multiple team members as part of the fundraising process. Whilst you’ll always have the sales director as your primary contact, you may also meet with other Gifted consultants to deliver specific parts of your contract. This approach makes it easier to share ideas and strategy and ultimately, come up with the best solution, based on relevant expertise and experience.
5. We’re in it for the long-term. At Gifted, we live by ‘exceptional fundraising partnerships,’ which means we don’t disappear at the end of an assignment. We’ll be there when you need to pick up the phone and ask for advice, long after the contract finishes.
6. Out of hours working - Consultancy is flexible. When we say something will be with you by the end of the week, we may well mean Sunday, not 5pm on Friday. Our team might choose to work during evenings and weekends to meet client needs and family commitments, so you may receive emails at a variety of times. Of course, we don’t expect a reply outside of office hours and we wouldn’t expect our own consultants to be ‘on call’ for clients out of normal working hours.
7. Delivering the days – It’s worth remembering that ‘2 days a month’ doesn’t usually mean ‘day x and day y’ (unless for a specific event, meeting, or training session). It’s more likely that this designated time will be delivered in shorter chunks, to allow us to attend meetings, take calls and respond to emails, as and when they are required.
8. Understanding the fees - Consultancy is usually more expensive than an in-house team. This is often because of our skill set, the flexibility of our work, and the 30-day notice period in our contracts, reducing the financial risk for our clients.
9. Sharing your story - We will represent your charity as if we are one of ‘you’, (the getting under your skin bit!). This involves taking time to understand each new client at the start of a contract, so we can convincingly share your story on your behalf when we need to.
10. Remember things change - Advice given at one moment in time, for example as part of a feasibility study report, may well change as circumstances move on. So, it’s best not assume that recommendations will remain relevant years after they were drafted. It might sound obvious, but it’s surprising how quick it can be to forget that even the best qualitative research has a shelf life.

Of course, if you feel that expectations are misaligned at any stage of an assignment, it makes sense to address them quickly. Consultants, just like clients, don’t always get it right, but it’s easier to put things back on an even keel if both partners feel they can be open and honest with each other.

“It’s something we’ve always prioritised at Gifted,” says Amy. “I think the culture we’ve been building for almost ten years now, gives way to supportive, straight conversations and on-point professional advice.”

For more information about hiring a consultant and understanding the way that we work, get in touch with one of our Directors.