News & Insight

8th January 2020

Fundraising Fitness for 2020

Andrew Thomas, Philanthropy Company Associate Director, looks at how we can get our fundraising in tip-top shape for 2020!

As a new year dawns, the annual pressure to ditch the duvet and to become active and sporty mounts. At the Philanthropy Company we too are readying ourselves for a new assignment and this time it is to help improve the fundraising fitness of the sports industry itself!

On behalf of our forward-thinking client, Sport England, we will be delivering a programme of training from February with the aim of equipping National Sports Governing Bodies with the strategic and tactical insight to begin or embellish their own fundraising activities.

Whilst sport accounts for almost two-thirds of the £4bn+ per annum UK sponsorship market, and it is frequently used very successfully by other mainstream charities as a medium for generating donations, the sector accounts for less than 2% of philanthropic gifts[1]. Whilst this is only one perspective and is likely to underestimate some giving to local sports clubs and major donations, sport is a cause that should not be languishing in the relegation zone of philanthropic causes.

Away from the global sporting brands that can and do generate vast commercial revenues, the reality for most NGBs is much more modest and the bulk of their mission and programming is essentially charitable in nature. By increasingly aligning their work with crucial social issues that do typically attract philanthropic support – health, obesity, mental wellbeing, gender parity, aging populations, loneliness – there is a much greater chance of success and especially when sports and their teams can elicit the kind of passion, affinity and exposure that so many charities can only dream of.

We look forward to contributing our expertise throughout this year but, as with festive weight loss, there is no quick fix! Sport England is an example of an umbrella body that is addressing a structural issue on behalf of its partner organisations and we would encourage similar bodies to consider whether they too can facilitate such a change for their members through collective training and mentoring around this often under-exploited income stream.

Our track record in delivering board-level coaching and strategic consultancy across the full spectrum of philanthropy can help to support any type of organisation, so please do come and talk to us.

From the whole team at the Philanthropy Company, we wish you a prosperous and energetic 2020.

[1] https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf-uk-giving-2018-report.pdf