Raising the researcher's profile by sharing knowledge and success

@benrymer #iofinsight

• Billions of pounds of income in the Fundraising sector is predicated on the ability of fundraisers to build relationships

• Relationship building is central to increasing your visibility and voice in your organisation Fundraisers do this as a matter of course in their work, you should too

• Taking this aspect of your work will pay dividends

• Approaching prospect research and insight as primarily knowledge management functions is an important step in building visibility and raising research’s profile

• Who here has objectives or KPI's around

building internal relationships?

• Reasons for and against doing this (on

the poll)

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• A more active, integrated approach

• Broader emphasis, allows focus on using knowledge as well as obtaining it

• Loud and proud! Make sure your work is useful and used

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• Inductions and demos

• Screen early and often

• VIP's

• Acquisition activities

• Business planning and

ROI

Copyright Daniel Kahneman

• Networking and suppliers (for new tools)

• Reports and dashboards

• Lifelong learning and building your skills

base

• Prospect management meetings

• I initiated and help to run the Later Life

Champions mid-value programme

• The programme works in conjunction with IM

• We have regular cross-team meetings to plan

for this programme

• Organised regular, more general catch ups to

share knowledge

• Worked with regional legacy officer to identify

opportunities in streaming prospects through to

local colleagues to follow up with high-value

legacy prospects in person, and used the mid-

value programme

• Also used wealth screening information to raise

research’s profile

• Corporate prospect management meetings

• Business news often relevant

• Also arranging trainings on web searches and

other research tools

• Corporate prospects for events selections

• Corporate team also to use our RE protocols

• Invited them to supplier demos

• Prompt list for the Chairman helped showcase

research

• Also crafting lists of suggested invitees for the

CEO, Chairman, Trustees and Directors has

helped visibility

• Network mapping can also be worthwhile,

several tools allow you to do this

• We worked closely on creating RE

protocols

• When working on protocols we always

tried to see issues from their side, the

many demands being made of the

database

• Depends on structure of your department

• Researcher turned fundraiser!

• Identified the opportunity, created meeting

opportunity and co-ordinated with relevant

colleagues in Services

• This has just been down to my willingness to be

entrepreneurial and create an opportunity where

none existed

• Introduced me to new networks, raising profile

• Industry group: RiF, SIG's, First Thursday

events

• Other industry groups like the Fundraiser’s

Research Group

• Social media can help, ie Twitter and

LinkedIn, or blogs

• Visit other organisations, invite others to you

• Knowledge management is a powerful way to approach

your role

• Building on the traditional research skills and being an

effective advocate of the this work is central to raising

your profile and visibility.

• A strong focus on implementation, concentrating on

quick wins and identifying big, fixable problems can all

bring impact to your role, even in the early stages of a

role

• Attitude is key in taking advantage or opportunities

• E: ben.rymer@ageuk.org.uk

• T: 0203 303 31395

• Twitter: @benrymer

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/benrymer