The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) have put getting to know supporters' interests and motivations on a much more personal level at the heart of the organisation's new Fundraising Strategy being rolled out in 2009.
As part of the reorganisation of RNIB's Fundraising Group, the strategy will ally fundraising closely with the charity's frontline services and campaigning work. The strategy also sets new aims to make RNIB the sector leader in the training and development of fundraisers and volunteers.
A review of Supporter Relationship Management (SRM) will also see some changes being made. All teams will have access to the same supporter information rather than the splintered database systems that have been previously employed. This will allow a full picture to be gathered of supporters' involvement in all aspects of RNIB's work.
Many charities are beginning to implement SRM strategies, but RNIB is going a step further in the genuine structural separation between the management of audiences and the delivery of fundraising channels and products.
Joe Jenkins, RNIB's Head of Fundraising Strategy, says: "For most charities, it is typical to structure teams around fundraising disciplines, which inevitably results in an approach driven primarily by product profitability. We plan to shift our focus to managing overall supporter lifetime value, which requires working in a completely different way, developing new targets, budgets, processes and measures of performance."
RNIB also hopes that the new strategy, which will provide the organisation's fundraising thrust up to 2014, will create a much more active relationship in supporting individuals to challenge poor decisions and services, and campaign for political change.
Paul Amadi, Group Director of Fundraising for RNIB, says: "We want our supporters to be invited to play as full a role in our work as possible. We're looking to understand the relevance of sight loss to supporters, their motivation to support RNIB's work, on a 'one supporter, one relationship' basis.
""if you are going to commit to a strategy that enables customers to engage in different ways, you have to invest in the infrastructure to support it. We are fully committed to developing the capacity to provide customers with a diverse and meaningful experience that will meet our need to transform the lives of blind and partially sighted people."
Other changes to RNIB's Fundraising Group include the split of Direct Fundraising into Donor Development and Fundraising Services arms, separating Direct Marketing from Telemarketing, Digital Marketing and trading work. A new Business Development team will also be looking at innovative new fundraising projects.
The new approach will bring fundraising in line with RNIB's revised organisational strategy, which is to be implemented later in 2009. This will move to establish closer relationships between services, campaigning and fundraising, creating a fundraising culture across the board.
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For more information or to talk to an RNIB spokesperson, please contact Gary Hartley, RNIB press office, on 020 7391 2223. Out of hours mobile: 07968 48 28 12.
Notes to editors:
Every day another 100 people will start to lose their sight. There are around two million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem, RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk.