East Anglia Air Ambulance’s new director of fundraising Melanie Nightingale talks to Jenny Ramage about targets, training and teamwork
You’ve been running a fundraising consultancy business for the last 13 years. What new opportunities does this new role present for you?
For me, it’s about longevity and maximising my impact. As a consultant, you do a lot of strategic work in planning and implementing strategies, but once you’ve completed this, you hand things back to the charity with a view to them achieving their outcomes. This new role will give me the opportunity to develop my team and to create long-term relationships with my supporters that I haven’t necessarily experienced over the last few years.
EAAA has just increased its fundraising targets. Why is this, and what’s the strategy for achieving this goal?
Revenue costs are increasing across the sector, and because here at EAAA we are working at the top level in terms of the kit and the crew that go out to the patients, our resources don’t come cheap. We’ve also taken on night-flying capability this year, and we want to invest in and expand that service. In terms of fundraising strategy, everything is up for review. It’s the classic review period, asking: “Where are we, where do we want to be, and what do we need to do to get there?”
What fundraising method is working particularly well at the moment?
We have had amazing success with our lottery, and we anticipate that we will continue to support and encourage lottery giving through solid marketing activity.
You’ve got a good track record in stabilising and improving income at various charities. What’s been your biggest challenge to date?
A few years ago, I worked with a charity whose new building had been open for just 18 months, and the chief executive was already talking about possible redundancies as there had been no planned increase to the revenue that would be needed to run the additional service. It was a fairly big PR disaster, and I had just three months to turn things around. I undertook a massive media campaign, and put together all sorts of stories, ensuring each publication I approached was given their own unique angle. It worked: not only did we hit our target but, overall, we took it from a projected 70 per cent to 130 per cent to budget in the space of six months.
What makes a great fundraising team?
Great fundraising teams are integrated with the work and with each other. To make your job really worthwhile, you need to be part of the service. It’s also about understanding the long-term impact of good fundraising practice. A lot of fundraisers find themselves working only to their year-end financial targets, but my view is that you need to be challenged to return more than just money; it’s about supporter development; working with people and organisations to create long-term partnerships.
What is your top piece of advice for managing change?
The implementation of your change has to be integral to the people it impacts. Your team is your most important asset, so you have to take them with you; otherwise you may as well pack up and go home.
What’s the worst mistake a charity can make when applying for funding from trusts and foundations?
Not doing research. Time and again, I hear trusts and foundations say they are very, very tired of receiving applications that are irrelevant to them. What good use of your supporters’ money is it to spend your time sending out an application that is going to go straight into the bin because it’s not relevant to that trust or foundation? Quality over quantity every time.
Why do you think the sector is finding it so hard to recruit for senior fundraising roles?
I believe the sector struggles to understand what training is needed to develop good fundraisers. If we want good senior fundraisers, we have to understand what makes a good fundraiser in the first instance. The backgrounds of our fundraisers are hugely varied and while that brings a wealth of different experience, it doesn’t help when trying to understand what skills we need to bring into the sector and what make successful fundraisers in the long term.
With a background in commercial sales and marketing I recognise only too well the need for fundraisers to have excellent sales and management skills and have benefited enormously from having received extensive training in these areas before I joined the sector.
What is your fundraising mantra?
I have two. Firstly, the supporter is key and you have to put supporters at the heart of every decision you make. Second, it is an absolute responsibility of all of us to make sure we strengthen the core intelligence and data of our charities fundraising in all that we do. So to every fundraiser, I would ask: “What is the legacy you will leave to the charity you currently work for? How will you strengthen their data and improve their supporter development?”
Which other fundraiser has inspired you most?
Victoria Webb – a supporter development officer I worked with some years ago. Vicky was excellent in all she did. Whatever I asked her to do, she would return with that job done, and 15 per cent more on top. She would always surprise me, and I found it very inspiring that someone could consistently take my words and build on them. She didn’t just do what she was asked, but went away and thought it through, and asked herself: “What is this piece of work trying to achieve?” This enabled her to see the bigger picture and always achieve better results. A great fundraiser.
Melanie Nightingale is director of fundraising at East Anglian Air Ambulance
