Welcome to the February 2014 issue of the Factary Phi Newsletter.
Major Giving News
University to receive £6m
The University of Cambridge is set to receive £6.3m from the Avery-Tsui Foundation, a charitable trust set up by the late billionaire Dennis Avery and his wife Sally Wong-Avery.
In light of this sizable gift the university is now considering creating a new professorship that will honour renowned theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking.
The late Mr Avery, who was heir to the Avery Dennison label fortune, had been a close friend of Professor Hawking for a number of years and in 2006 he gave the university a £1m gift to establish the Stephen Hawking Trust Fund, which led to the opening of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in the university’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.
This move to establish a new professorship has been publicised by Cambridge University’s General Board, which advises the institution on educational policy, and is responsible for maintaining high standards of teaching and research.
The board said in a report: ‘Prof Stephen Hawking has for the past 50 years played a unique and pivotal role in research into cosmology and gravitation in the university.’
‘It is important that there is the opportunity to recruit from time to time scientists of the highest international level of achievement.’
Chemistry programme nets £800,000
Notable philanthropist Dr Yusef Hamied has announced plans to donate £800,000 to the Royal Society of Chemistry in order to support a new education programme for students in India, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Dr Hamied is Chairmen of the generic pharmaceuticals company Cipla, and he has also pioneered the model of producing affordable medicines for patients in developing countries.
His donation will fund the new programme, and this will be managed by the Royal Society of Chemistry in partnership with the UK’s Salters Institute and leading Indian academic institutes.
Speaking on his donation Dr Hamied said ‘I am very pleased to be working in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry to support the Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme. I believe the programme will make a real difference to the education and experience of students studying chemistry in schools all across India’.
Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Dr Robert Parker, said ‘We are delighted to be working with Dr Hamied and grateful for his generous donation to enable us to bring together leading organisations from the UK and India to deliver this education programme and make a real impact.’
Bank donates £300,000
Teach First are set to receive a £300,000 donation from global bank, Citi, as part of a recent pledge by the firm to donate a percentage of funds raised through transactions on Citi Velocity, its award winning FX electronic trading platform.
South Bucks Hospice, which provides care for people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, will benefit from a planned state-of-the-art redevelopment, with a completion date for the development set at winter 2016.
In October of last year, Teach First became the company’s European charity partner, and as part of the project, a group of economics pupils from Bethnal Green Academy, a Teach First partner school in Tower Hamlets, visited Citi’s trading floor to learn about markets and see Velocity in action.
Speaking on the initiative, Toib Olomowewe, Business Studies Teacher and Deputy Director of Sixth Form at Bethnal Green Academy, said, ‘The project was an overwhelming success. Being able to take students to a trading floor last week really galvanised their interest in all things finance and has catalysed their enthusiasm for learning. Such opportunities really do add value to our curriculum and enrich students profoundly.’
The ‘E for Education’ initiative is a long-term partnership between Teach First and Citi to tackle educational disadvantage in England and Wales, and Prasad hopes it will continue: ‘I think this is great and I’m hoping we come up with something new next year – it’s going to be difficult to top.’
Report: The Data Driven Fundraising Report
This month, we’ve included our summary of a recent report on how charities in the UK are using data to improve their fundraising. The report is entitled ‘The Data Driven Fundraising Report’, and the research was conducted by Blackbaud in partnership with NFP Synergy.
Introduction
Data, and its increasingly widespread use by non-profits, has become one of the most talked about issues in the sector in recent times. This is hardly surprising, as with the rise of online fundraising and social networking, non-profits are now able to learn more about their donors than ever before.
Using this data, many non-profits are now able to see exactly when people donate, how much, and how they do it. They can also see who their biggest online supporters are and how those supporters use their influence within their own online networks. In short, non-profits are now crucially able to gather more data on their donors and supporters than ever before.
This report explores some of the various different ways of managing all this data, and how non-profits can best use this information to improve fundraising and further their overall objectives.
Methodology
Invitations to participate in the report were distributed to not-for-profits online, achieving a sample size of 334 respondents who had responsibility for IT infrastructure in their organisations. The survey was open for 4 weeks between September and October 2013, and respondents were taken from organisations of all different sizes. Please note that for the purposes of this report, ‘small organisations’ were considered to be those with a revenue of less than £5m, medium with a revenue of £5m-£10m and large with a revenue of £10m or more.
What is CRM System Hosting and how is it Being Used by Non-Profits
In the non-profit sector, CRM System Hosting is essentially an electronic system used by organisations to help monitor fundraising demographics, membership levels and also volunteering and communications with individuals and donors. However, it is important to note that CRM systems may be hosted in a number of different ways depending on the needs of each organisation.
According to the survey, 55% said that their CRM system was hosted on-site, with only 31% of respondents using a cloud-based CRM system. However, use of cloud-based CRM was higher with smaller not-for-profits. 38% of not-for-profits with an annual turnover of less than £5 million said they were using cloud-based CRM, compared to just 28% of those with a turnover of between £5 million and £10 million and only 19 percent of not-for-profits with a turnover of £10 million or more.
From the results of the survey, it is clear that there is a wide variety of different CRM systems in use by different organisations, and obviously, these systems can also be used in a number of different ways. 91% of all respondents said they were using CRM to ‘manage supporter information’, (the most common use of CRM) and in equal second place was ‘reporting and analysis’ and ‘managing fundraising efforts around individual giving’, both of which were used by 76 percent of respondents.
The point is made that given the obvious importance of fundraising to non-profits, and, by extension the importance of data to successful fundraising, it is considered surprising that non-profits do not make an even greater use of CRM systems to achieve their aims. It is also notable that although there was a relatively high use of CRM in many areas, these figures fell significantly in all categories for smaller organisations.
This is considered to be a serious problem area by the report, as even smaller charities should in theory be able to implement an effective CRM system that will be able to manage fundraising efforts in any discipline.
Storing Data and Keeping it Clean
According to the research, one of the most common problems associated with CRM use is the inefficiency of storing data across a variety of different systems, a relatively common problem that can make the data difficult to manage, or ultimately, draw any meaningful conclusions from.
With this in mind, it is interesting to note that 39% of respondents said their data is held in at least four different systems, and almost one in five (19%) were holding their data in five or more different systems.
In terms of maintaining this data efficiently, larger non-profits were understandably the best placed, as they are typically able to employ more people than smaller organisations to work on data cleanliness. Despite this however, 33% of respondents said poor data was common in their organisation and impacted their ability to fundraise effectively, whilst 28% of all respondents felt that maintaining data quality was a drain on their resources.
The point is also made that although not-for-profits recognise the value of good data, (with 41% of those surveyed agreeing that the poor data held in their organisation made it hard to engage with supporters) it can be a struggle to find the resources to ensure data quality, especially for smaller not-for-profits.
Not-For-Profit Data Challenges
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a relatively high number (24%) of respondents said they sometimes struggled to manage the sheer volume of data generated. However, the most common challenge cited by respondents around data and data integration was having to manually manage data from different systems, with 57% of respondents citing this as a challenge.
The second most common problem cited was conflicting objectives on data, with around half of those surveyed citing this as a challenge. This was considered to be an even more pronounced problem with larger non-profits, where this figure rose to 61%.
Furthermore, a quarter of all respondents said that data silos (data stored across multiple platforms) made it difficult to reach accurate conclusions from their data. A problem which was again, exacerbated for the larger organisations that were surveyed.
More than half of those surveyed (56%) also felt that they lacked the resources to make the best use of their data, 52% said they didn’t have enough time to manage their system effectively and more than a third (35%) said that that didn’t have enough knowledge about their CRM systems to manage them effectively.
In order to address these problems, the report recommends that more time and effort is put into training staff and learning CRM systems properly.
Technology in Not-For-Profits
When technology is considered in a broader sense (not just CRM systems), the survey shows that non-profits generally recognise the importance of technology, and the importance of deploying it efficiently and effectively in order to achieve their aims.
Indeed, 62% of those surveyed felt that technology was key to the future growth of their organisation, and 36% said that their use of technology had actively increased the amount of funds raised.
However, despite its obvious benefits, there is evidence that it has not yet been universally recognised. 29% of those surveyed felt that technology was not considered a priority in achieving their organisation’s mission, whilst a further 34% felt that a lack of technological resources directly impacted their ability to achieve their aims.
Conclusion
Although the sheer amount of data available to non-profits can be bewildering at times, the report acknowledges that by a large, organisations are doing a decent job of utilising this information for fundraising, marketing and engaging with donors and supports.
However, the potential of data in bringing an organisation even closer to its supporters is huge. 70% of respondents felt there was untapped potential in the data their organisation held, and as previously discussed, 62% also felt that technology was key to the future growth of their organisation.
Based on the research, it was also clear that many respondents were struggling to unlock that potential. More than half of those surveyed said that they were not making the most of supporter data for fundraising and marketing, the reason for this being that they felt held back by a lack of resources, as well as issues with their CRM system and their ability to manage it effectively.
In the face of this, choosing a CRM system that will be able to make the most of your organisation’s data is considered absolutely essential by the report. The good news is that there is now more help available than ever in the form of peers, vendors and counterparts who can all provide input.
Above all, choosing a CRM system that will fit with an organisation’s needs is considered essential for all non-profits in order to manage their data efficiently.
In the face of this, it has become more important than ever to provide trustees and staff with the correct training, tools and guidance that will enable them to fully utilise all resources available to them.
Clickhere for a full version of the report.
A Factary note on the above: If you are one of those organisations that is struggling to understand, organise and make use of the data that is stored across your organisation then perhaps Factary can help unlock some of the confusion.
We have worked with many non-profits to help them make sense of their data. We have experience of assessing how data is stored within an organisation and helping clients to make sense of what they have and how it can be integrated into an existing, or newly designed, CRM system. Furthermore, we can help analyse the data that is held – either by undertaking a Data Screening or applying data analytics to identify new prospects or prospect types – all contributing to helping clients understand the value of the data that is held within their systems. Finally, we can help to pull together a cohesive and user-friendly pipeline for prospect identification and cultivation that is robust and fit for purpose.
Please give us a call on 0117 916 6740 if you’re facing any of the data struggles outline in the report above, and we’ll see how we can help.
Phi in Numbers February 2014
A recent upload has brought Phi up-to-date in terms of the donations registered at the Electoral Commission as donations to political parties, organisations or party members. These donations come primarily from the last three years (2011-2013) and therefore reflect cash donation patterns since the last UK general election in May 2010.
The data suggests a marked decline in cash donations from individual major donors to political parties over this period, although donations from companies have remained more stable.
The other grant-making bodies and trusts reflected in the data include a significant donation from the Electoral Reform Society to the ‘Yes to Fairer Votes’ campaign (£909,517 in 2011) and a similar sum awarded to the same campaign by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£951,000 in 2011).
Major company and individual donations to the Conservative Party dwarf those made to all the other major political organisations, although their donations show something of a decline in 2013. Major Liberal Democrat donations are shown to have increased in the last year; whereas major donations to the SNP appear to be remarkably low after a surge in 2011.
Other political movements receiving significant donations include Movement for Change and Progress Ltd who together received a total of £1,897,770 in major cash donations in the period 2011-2013. Although we note that the Electoral Commission fined Progress Ltd (£6,000) and Movement for Change (£5,500) for accepting donations totalling £734,939.60 from Lord David Sainsbury during a period when he was not registered on the electoral roll.
Lord David Sainsbury in fact emerges as the most significant political donor on Phi with three of the fourteen donations of £1m or more attributable to him – having made major donations to the Labour Party in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Top political donors are well documented by the media, making this perhaps the highest profile form of donation activity in the UK, but Phi can serve to quickly confirm the combinations of activities being undertaken by some of these high profile individuals. Andrew Rosenfeld for example emerges from Phi as a supporter of the NSPCC and Jewish Care alongside his Labour Party involvement – a pattern which is confirmed by public domain sources.
Political donations made by companies are perhaps less often reported than those made by individuals. Companies donating over £200,000 to the Conservative Party between 2011 and 2013 include JCB Research (£575,500), Lycamobile UK Ltd (£329,030), International Motors Ltd (£310,000), IPGL Ltd (£299,181), Shore Capital Group plc (£271,770), Flowidea Ltd (£268,450), David Ord Ltd (£257,820), Bestway Cash & Carry Ltd (£204,950) and Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd (£201,270).
Major company donors to the Labour Party during the same period include Bloomberg Tradebook Europe Ltd (£180,000), Political Animal Lobby Ltd (£150,000), Allam Marine Ltd (£106,900), Toni & Guy Holdings (£100,000), United Wholesale (Scotland) Ltd (£88,666), The Lionel Cooke Memorial Fund Ltd (£82,000), Betterworld Ltd (£79,000), Mascolo Ltd (£50,000) and – er – Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd (£50,000).
Disappointingly, major donors to the Liberal Democrats do not include Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd but do include Brompton Capital Ltd (£597,000) and the Ministry of Sound Ltd (£586,643). Both companies have received negative press coverage linked to their political donations in the past – see “Ministry of Sound in Liberal Democrat donations row” (BBC News, 07/11/2007) and “Pizza entrepreneur’s £775,000 gift to Lib Dems questioned” (The Telegraph, 22/12/2012) – illustrating that a major political donation can put you firmly in the spotlight.
Notes
- Data is sourced from the Electoral Commission database of donations.
- Date of the donation is the date the donation was accepted by the party.
- As Phi only records year of donation, multiple donations may appear for certain donors for each year.
- Phi focuses on donations made by individuals, companies and LLPs although some donations made by trade unions and other associations are also included.
- Phi now includes donations to main party, individual MPs, MEPs, local parties and affiliated groups but the latest upload is based on cash donations only.
Profile: The Barclay Foundation
Founded in 1989, The Barclay Foundation was created by David and Frederick Barclay, identical twin brothers and businessmen with a substantial business interest in the media, retail and property sectors.
Born in Hammersmith, London to Scottish parents, the pair left school in 1950 to begin work in the accounts department of the General Electric Company. Soon after this, they set up their own business as painters and decorators, before eventually running their own tobacconists and confectioners in Kensington by the end of the decade.
In the years that followed they continued to expand their business interests, with David Barclay becoming a director of property managers Hillgate Estate Agents in 1962 with his wife Zoe as a co-director. Frederick would then replace her on the Hillgate Board, and by 1970 the brothers’ bought Gestplan Hotels – which operated the exclusive Londonderry House Hotel in Park Lane — from a group of Lebanese bankers.
From this period onwards, the brothers continued to build up stakes in a variety of different businesses, including breweries and casinos. For example in 1983, they purchased brewing and shipping group Ellerman for £45m and later sold its brewing division alone for £240m.
The proceeds from this were then used to buy the Ritz Hotel in London’s Piccadilly, and the pair later purchased Bermuda-based shipping company Gotaas-Larsen for £370m.
David and Frederick were knighted in 2000 for their services to charity, and in particular for their support of research, to which they have given an estimated £40m between 1987 to the 2000.
Today, although they maintain a reputation for being extremely reclusive, the Barclay brothers are ranked on the Sunday Times Rich List 2013 with an estimated wealth of £2.35bn based on their considerable business and property assets.
For the financial year ending the 31st December 2012, the foundation reported an income of £1,635,173 and an expenditure of £1,601,866. Factary Phi holds 112 records made to various organisations since 2005 worth a minimum of £19,692,271.
From these 112 records, the average size of donations made is £205,127 and the largest number of donations have typically been made to causes associated with Health (54) followed by Children/Youth (47), Welfare (9), Education (5), International Development (5), Arts/Culture (2), Religious Activities (2), Mental Health (2), Sport/Recreation (2), Disability (1), Elderly (1).
The Trustees
Aidan and Howard Barclay
Aidan and Howard Barclay are David’s sons. Aiden Barclays manages the brothers’ business interests in the UK and he holds Directorships in a number of different family companies, including Ellerman Investments Ltd.