# Linking outcomes to a story AND your fundraising

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/22/linking-outcomes-story-fundraising/
- Published: 2014-10-22T09:05:37+01:00
- Author: Kevin Baughen

Many of you will have seen the [amazing story of Darek Fidyka](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29645760),
the Polish man now walking again with a frame after being paralysed in a knife attack
in 2010. The words “medical breakthrough” are perhaps overused but the reconstruction
of nerve tissues enabling paralysed people to walk certainly warrants them.

What we don’t always see is how the breakthroughs were funded and I wanted to share
the examples of the two charities involved in this amazing story by way of an example
on how to make the most of success stories. The two charities are [UK Stem Cell Foundation](http://www.ukscf.org/)(
UKSCF) and Nicholls [Spinal Injury Foundation](http://www.nsif.org.uk/) (nsif).

The medical breakthrough has appeared across numerous national media and broadcast
channels (including a BBC Panorama programme) but the two charities appear to have
taken a different approach to capitalising on it to drive further support for their
work and this I think is of key importance when an issue drives so much positive
coverage.

## Advertisement

![The Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation (nsif) homepage, featuring the BBC Panorama
medical breakthrough](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/11/nsif-homepage.
jpg)

nsif have reworked their website to directly incorporate the scientists, the story
and their involvement in this breakthrough. The slider at the top of the page tells
a story that links directly to a fundraising ask, leaving users in little doubt 
about what outcomes their money would support. The rest of the page is very ‘mobile
app’ in design and tells the simple story of the charity’s aspiration to help people
walk again, linked to this breakthrough – described as having taken the first step–
and asks for donations to continue the work.

The remainder of that home page then devotes itself to updates, stories and events
but the majority of the real estate is given over to the breakthrough as a lever
for generating future donations. Their [Twitter streams](https://twitter.com/supportnsif)
and [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/NichollsFoundation) follow a similar
approach, although in a less voluminous way and in the ideal world, they would be
shouting more loudly and more frequently over the next few weeks at least (resources
allowing of course)

UKSCF seems to have taken a different approach. Their website homepage is simple,
easy to navigate and has a contemporary design but doesn’t even mention the story
and highlights one of the key scientists only as a regular feature on the broader
research team. The [twitter stream](https://twitter.com/UKSCF) has a few mentions
and retweets but the [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-Stem-Cell-Foundation/149410808524927?ref=ts&fref=ts)
has not been updated and you wouldn’t really know that UKSCF has been involved in
this truly groundbreaking work.

![The UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) homepage, "Medicine's brightest hope"](https://
wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/11/UKSCF-homepage.jpg)

Of course there might be lots of valid reasons UKSCF has taken this approach:

 1. they have a much smaller team and resources looking after communications
 2. they focus on a broader range of outcomes supported by stem cell research per se
    and not just this particular kind of injury
 3. they rely on government and corporate funding so don’t need broadcast publicity(
    highly unlikely given their donations web pages)
 4. or it might just be that the two charities decided that it would be nsif that lead
    with communications and promotions – all fair enough but this is a belting opportunity!

Consequently, I’m not criticising either charity but nsif’s approach, whilst undoubtedly
taking more time and resources to plan and deliver, is well articulated, totally
joined up and links fundraising directly to the long-term aspirations and immediate
outcomes the charity is delivering.

In my experience, opportunities like a Panorama programme don’t come along very 
often and thinking across internal comms/fundraising silos and working on how to
grow both the awareness of what your charity does linked to the funds needed to 
make it happen is vital to success. In fact, even without the documentary, the story
of successfully transplanting olfactory cells to repair spinal nerves is plenty 
amazing enough to generate interest from new and existing supporters.

If I were working at either of these charities, I would have been planning from 
the point we heard about the medical breakthrough along the following lines:

 * How we can leverage any coverage to raise awareness of the charity, the work 
   and the outcomes
 * How we can tell our story in a way that makes the fundraising ask completely 
   obvious and powerful
 * How these messages could be coordinated and delivered consistently on and offline
   across as many fundraising and communications touchpoints as possible
 * What we could be doing to refresh the story over time to ensure we can use it
   over several months and beyond, not just at the ‘eureka’ moment
 * How we could mobilise our supporters (celebrity, organisational and otherwise)
   to start sharing the story too

What would you be doing? And what are you doing at your charity to link your outcomes
directly to generating support?