# THINK launches new research unit to improve research for fundraisers

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/10/29/think-launches-new-research-unit-improve-research-fundraisers/
- Published: 2007-10-29T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

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.

 

 

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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…

 

 

“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.

 

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