THINK launches new research unit to improve research for fundraisers
Howard Lake | 29 October 2007 | News
Voluntary sector consultancy THINK Consulting Solutions has launched an intelligence and analysis unit to improve the quality of research analysis it can deliver to fundraisers.
The new unit, THINK Intelligence, will be run by Kate Green, formerly head of fundraising partnerships at Oxfam. Starting in November, she will be able to call on four regular freelance researchers as well as a roster of ad hoc freelance bid writers. In addition, all THINK’s consultants will be available for secondment to THINK Intelligence projects.
Tony Elischer, managing director of THINK Consulting Solutions, said that THINK’s team of consultants had became increasingly aware that “our consultancy services were being hampered by the quality of information that we were having to work with…
Advertisement
“Most fundraisers are just not trained in research skills so not enough are turning their research into strategic plans and we intend to do something about that. On the other hand, some fundraisers are basing their strategic plans on the wrong type of research and we intend to do something about that as well.”
He added that THINK Intelligence would have a “major impact on the activity of the sector in this area”. It would focus on “going beyond the research findings and unpicking the more sophisticated and complex implications.”
All of THINK Consulting Solutions’ research projects will now come under the banner of THINK Intelligence, including the World Markets Report, last published in March this year. It also aims to produce a White Paper on the state of research and analysis in the fundraising sector, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, which it hopes to publish by the end of the year.
Kate Green said: “It’s not just about having the knowledge but being able to make it work effectively for you to maximise your income generating potential.”
A key focus of THINK Intelligence will be to promote within charities the discipline of ‘grantsmanship’. It defines this as the skill of identifying, researching and building relationships with and applying to grant funders as part of an integrated policy which covers trusts, foundations, Lottery bodies, statutory funders at all levels of UK government, and the European Union.
Many charities spread their grant winning responsibilities among individual departments according to which sources of funding they apply for. As a result, statutory bodies, the single largest source of grant income, are often dealt with by service delivery or operational staff and not the fundraisers who make applications to and manage relationships with other institutional funders such as trusts.
THINK Intelligence is concerned that this approach can lead to duplication of work and a dilution of grantseeking skills and experience within the organisation.
Related posts
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.