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| A
group effort |
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| Plucking
volunteers from big business can help charities gather a highly
skilled voluntary workforce. Hannah Fearn speaks to the members
of a pioneering business development group supporting one
charity, and finds out what others can learn from their experience |
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Volunteers
are the bedrock of the third sector, and many charitable organisations
would sink without the support of hard working citizens offering
their time. Yet until recently, most volunteering opportunities
have been unskilled positions, working in a charity shop or
stuffing envelopes being typical examples.
But charities are waking up to the potential of highly skilled
volunteers, using the experience of corporate high-fliers
to inform and guide their work. Though the seats around the
boardroom table are often filled by such figures, other skilled
voluntary opportunities are not readily available.
In Liverpool, the Roy Castle Lung Foundation is pioneering
a new volunteering model aimed at leveraging the business
acumen of the city’s leading business people, consultants
and entrepreneurs. The Foundation has brought together a group
representing each sector in the corporate world, from management
to media, in an attempt to raise the profile of the charity
in business. Known as the business development group, it also
draws on the contacts of its members across Liverpool and
the North West.
The group has a headline aim – to raise £250,000
by the end of 2008 – but this is only the start of its
job; it will also inform the charity’s business strategy
and publicise its work in corporate circles, bringing in other
willing supporters and volunteers in addition to cash.
The group was the brainchild of the Foundation’s director
of development Paul Gauntlett. It has been in the planning
for over a year, but as the appointments were researched,
not advertised, it took time to draw the final few candidates
together. For Gauntlett, appointing the right chair was essential.
“Pivotal to the success of any group is having a chair
that will take ownership of the group and work with staff
on what we’re seeking to achieve,” he says. “I
didn’t want one of the usual suspects in Liverpool who
had their fingers in every pie. I wanted somebody who could
work specifically with us and our aims.”
The method for recruiting the rest of the members was simple
– each had to be a ‘sounding board’ within
each of the commercial sectors in the city. “That was
very important; if we can get 10 or 12 people in business
then we have access to 12 different networks, and they can
help us as someone who’s pivotal within their sector,”
Gauntlett adds.
The group is, importantly, just that; a sounding board –
being neither a board nor a committee and requiring dedication
rather than time. Meetings usually last an hour and are conducted
over breakfast, before business hours. The group’s work
is also focussed on Liverpool and the Northwest (unlike the
charity which is a national organisation) for similarly practical
reasons. “I have tried to do a national one previously
with much less success. These people are very busy people,
and expecting them to travel a long way in their spare time
is difficult,” Gauntlett says. Plans are already afoot
for business development groups in London and Glasgow.
The current group has a short lifespan – it will disband
at the end of 2008. The charity felt it was important that
the commitment made by members was finite, so they did not
feel tied to the charity for life. Gauntlett is keen to emphasise,
though, that this does not mean it will be the end of the
group as a body. “We’ll bring in fresh faces,”
he suggests.
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The chosen chair was Bill Addy, director of development group
Iliad. He was drawn to the work of the charity because he
lost his father-in-law to cancer, and he admits that many
other members have similar personal reasons for taking up
the voluntary post. Addy says July’s introduction of
the England-wide smoking ban in enclosed public places means
it is an excellent time for the charity to boost its profile,
and to launch the development group.
“The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has a very good
name with the public but corporately we don’t have that
same tie,” he admits. With a background in construction,
he is well known across Liverpool. “I suppose my own
ability is as a good networker with people around the local
area,” he says. “There are lots of competing charities
and we just want people to be aware of the work that we do.”
Offering expert advice on PR on the business development panel
is Jo Leah, managing director of Weber Shandwick North. She
supports the local approach to high level volunteering, allowing
group members to use their contacts on behalf of the charity.
“I think it’s an excellent example of a grassroots
approach which appreciates local differences and local opportunities,”
she says. “I think they are breaking new ground with
this approach, and it’s brave because one of the biggest
enemies of the business community is time. But we have to
make sure that we do more than turn up for meetings; we have
to actually deliver.”
This is a tough challenge for those who are rich in skills,
but time poor. James Dunningham, managing director of Fresh
Consultants and another member of the group, said the work
allocated was being divided up carefully, with sub-groups
formed to focus on each fundraising event or strategy.
Each group can then exploit its particular skills to help
the charity break into new markets. “Charities do need
to become far more sustainable,” Dunningham says. “They’re
looking towards social enterprise models, they’re looking
at engaging with the corporate sector, but quite often the
barrier is with skills and personalities. They find it difficult
to network with the private sector.”
Dunningham was approached to join the group after he was recommended
by a former client who had also worked with the Foundation.
As a small organisation with only six employees, he was pleased
to be asked to contribute by offering his knowledge and expertise
rather than his company’s money. “We don’t
have a lot of cash to throw around. One thing we do have is
certain skill sets, and we’re always looking for those
kinds of opportunities,” he says.
A mistake made by many organisations is to ask for ‘money
first, skills second’, hoping that once the business
has invested its profits into the charity it will then feel
compelled to support it with its time and know-how. Dunningham
warns other charities planning to recruit high level volunteers
from the private sector that this can be the wrong approach,
especially when seeking to work with small, local and independent
businesses. “That puts you off because you know right
from day one they’re putting you under pressure to make
a cash donation,” he says.
Big business being what it is, will alone is often not enough
to recruit and retain high level volunteers. By the week the
group was publicly launched two members had already been forced
to drop out due to other commitments. Julian Rathbone, investment
director at Rathbones, admits he has been forced to take a
backseat. “I’m very interested in it but I’ve
got a couple of things I’ve got to sort out and they
were fine with that. I’m still on the mailing list and
trying to help in other ways,” he says.
Other group members do not seem concerned about this early
hiccup. “Time will always be an issue, especially when
you consider the calibre and standing of those recruited to
form the group, as they are running or are part of successful
organisations already,” says Paul Laurie, sales and
marketing director at Medicash. “There will always be
situations where your primary business interests have to take
priority over charitable work as sad as this may be. I think
that as with many such groups a hardened core will emerge.”
Laurie himself appears to be part of that core, admitting
that he sees the opportunity to take part in the development
group as mutually beneficial. Though “personal growth”
will be one benefit, he also plans to set up the Roy Castle
Health Cash Plan for both corporate and consumer markets.
The Foundation would receive commission for each policy sold,
providing them with a regular revenue stream. “In return,
Medicash can bask in the glow of supporting a worthwhile cause,
increase our overall membership base, and both the Foundation
and we will prosper as a result,” Laurie says.
Not surprising, then, that both the corporate sector and other
charities can be expected to watch the progress of the group
closely. Laurie says other charities could be prompted to
give consideration to the concept of a development group.
The Foundation’s Gauntlett is happy to discuss the group
model with other interested parties across the third sector,
but Laurie has a final warning for corporate volunteers keen
to get involved. “We have to be careful that our new
found devotion does not take us away from the day job too
much,” he says.
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