
Unity Works supports people with a learning disability to gain skills, achieve qualifications and secure jobs, so they can reach their full potential.
We first started working with the charity when they were called The Camden Society. In a changing social care environment, and facing widespread statutory spending cuts, they urgently needed to increase voluntary income and develop a new fundraising strategy.
Their first step had been to try recruiting a Head of Fundraising, but this wasn’t successful. As many charities experience, finding candidates who have both a wide range of hands-on fundraising experience and strategic planning skills is difficult. And without a clear fundraising strategy, the trustees could only create a vague job description, which inevitably attracts fewer applicants.
At this point, they got in touch with us to see how we could help.
We ran a series of in-house strategy workshops so that senior staff and trustees could explore opportunities and develop their views on fundraising. Over several months, we helped them to perform a forensic analysis of their fundraising potential, then create a comprehensive three-year fundraising strategy.
The charity decided to initially focus on some key ‘quick wins’: securing more trusts and foundations funding, launching a re-designed Friends Scheme and building a community fundraising programme.
This tighter focus made it much easier to build a fundraising team. We helped to recruit two new staff and provided ongoing support and mentoring to the fundraisers, as well as some specialist support with major applications.
In the first two years of the new strategy, they raised over £600,000.
This included securing a major multi-year grant from the Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities programme and raising over £100,000 for a capital appeal to renovate a community centre in South London, which included running their first ever crowdfunding campaign.
Later, Unity Works was launched as a separate, specialist charity to continue running employment services and social enterprises. This was an exciting but delicate time, given the need to explain the changes to funders and donors, and maintain short-term funding. We provided vital strategic support during this challenging period, helping Unity Works to develop a transitional fundraising plan and a new three-year organisational strategy.
We first started working with the charity when they were called The Camden Society. In a changing social care environment, and facing widespread statutory spending cuts, they urgently needed to increase voluntary income and develop a new fundraising strategy.
Their first step had been to try recruiting a Head of Fundraising, but this wasn’t successful. As many charities experience, finding candidates who have both a wide range of hands-on fundraising experience and strategic planning skills is difficult. And without a clear fundraising strategy, the trustees could only create a vague job description, which inevitably attracts fewer applicants.
At this point, they got in touch with us to see how we could help.
We ran a series of in-house strategy workshops so that senior staff and trustees could explore opportunities and develop their views on fundraising. Over several months, we helped them to perform a forensic analysis of their fundraising potential, then create a comprehensive three-year fundraising strategy.
The charity decided to initially focus on some key ‘quick wins’: securing more trusts and foundations funding, launching a re-designed Friends Scheme and building a community fundraising programme.
This tighter focus made it much easier to build a fundraising team. We helped to recruit two new staff and provided ongoing support and mentoring to the fundraisers, as well as some specialist support with major applications.
In the first two years of the new strategy, they raised over £600,000.
This included securing a major multi-year grant from the Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities programme and raising over £100,000 for a capital appeal to renovate a community centre in South London, which included running their first ever crowdfunding campaign.
Later, Unity Works was launched as a separate, specialist charity to continue running employment services and social enterprises. This was an exciting but delicate time, given the need to explain the changes to funders and donors, and maintain short-term funding. We provided vital strategic support during this challenging period, helping Unity Works to develop a transitional fundraising plan and a new three-year organisational strategy.
"You've contributed so much to us during a challenging transition period – helping to mentor our fundraising team, secure crucial grant funding, communicate change to funders and plan our new strategy. Thanks to your knowledge, strategic approach and bid writing expertise, we can look forward to a positive future."
Denise Largin, CEO, Unity Works
Denise Largin, CEO, Unity Works