Category Archives: Business Services
Book Review by the Guardian’s Robert Ashton
Reviewer: Robert Ashton – social entrepreneur and business author
Book Title: Seven Secrets of Successful Fundraising – Amal Abdalhakim-Douglas
ISBN: 978-0-9535993-4-9
Like most authors, I read a lot of books. It stretches my thinking and encourages my writing style 
to evolve. Like most social entrepreneurs, I can be crushingly critical of ‘one size fits all’ solutions, especially when applied to challenges as huge as fundraising. So when even a time served fundraiser sends me a book promising to reveal ‘seven secrets’ sharpen my pencil and prepare to be cruel.
Which only goes to prove how wrong I can be; this book is 80 pages of the common sense we all too often overlook in our quest for complexity. Too short for flannel or author self aggrandisement, you soon realise that you’re reading the words of a modest and very human man.
Wisely in my view, the book starts with the reader. Are you a Reflector, Theorist, Pragmatist or Activist? By page 20 you know what you are and understand, or perhaps are reminded that what you well is what you can do well and the rest is best shared. In other words, fundraising is like surgery, likely to be botched if you try to do it alone and successful if anaesthetist, surgeon and nursing team combine their respective skills.
And then, prepared or perhaps pre-warned, you discover what is in effect a compendium of answers to the questions you’ll almost inevitably ask yourself on any foray into fundraising. Clear, explicit and confidence boosting, the book says it like it is, as you’ve probably already found it and as inevitably you’ll find it again very soon.
And there are some things here we’ve all seen before and that is actually very reassuring. The million pound appeal pyramid is always worthy of revisiting. It’s something that I’ve found to my cost to be annoyingly accurate.
My only criticism is of the publishing world. This book is proof that the big guy can be too cautious leaving a gem to be marketed by someone smaller and braver. I’m going to keep my copy near my desk. I suggest you do the same.
Robert Ashton is a social entrepreneur and best selling business author and a regular Guardian contributor. www.robertashton.co.uk
The book is available through Black Stone Press or Amazon
Janet Braithwaite’s 10 Minute Interview with author Amal Abdalhakim-Douglas
Janet Braithwaite’s 10 Minute Interview with Amal Abdalhakim-Douglas about his newly released book: Seven Secrets of Successful Fundraising
Title: Seven Secrets of Successful Fundraising – A Handbook for the Professional Fundraiser
Publisher: Black Stone Press and DMC Books
ISBN: 978 0 9535993 4 9
JB: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE BOOK?
AD: One of the things was simply to coordinate all the notes that I use when delivering training. Another was to stop repeating myself every time people came to me for advice and I also thought it might be a useful tool in publicising my training events. But I have this habit of always trying to make things that I understand clearer for other people.
JB: WHERE DID THE TITLE COME FROM?
AD: Well, it’s the same title as the one day workshops I run, Seven Secrets of Successful Fundraising, and that came from a friend and associate of mine Khalid Mair who has a company called the Digital Lead. He’s one of my internet marketing gurus.
JB: HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE YOU PERSONALLY RAISED?
AD: From the book or as a fundraiser?
JB: AS A FUNDRAISER
AD: it’s hard to say really. It’s hard to know when to draw the line. If you count all the fundraising projects I’ve been associated with in any way, shape or form then it will certainly go into the millions of pounds, because that includes some big players who have come on my courses and some significant organisations that have called me in for advice or to run training days for their staff or their members. Then you have projects I’m more directly connected with. This might be raising anything from £500 to £1.5 Million. What I really do is help people become better fundraisers rather than actually doing it for them.
JB: WHAT’S YOUR PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?
AD: Professionally, I started out as a junior accountant in the City of London, but my family have always had business interests which I’ve always been involved with from a young age. After that I ran a travel and shipping agency in Paddington for a while and also distributed health products to shops and through mail order. And I did ride the telecommunications bandwagon for a while supplying 0800 and other services to businesses. There’s a lot more but perhaps another time.
JB: HOW DID YOU GET INTO FUNDRAISING?
AD: I got into fundraising really through necessity and trying to support projects I was personally involved with. So I studied the business thoroughly and as I learned things put them into practice and experimented. I mean everywhere I looked around me there was a project I could help. Later I joined the Institute of Fundraising just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything and to see If I could hold my own with some of the really big guns and seasoned profesionals.
JB: AND DID YOU?
Oh Yes! In fact some of those guys even attend my events. I like having them at my events because it creates a great mix. You have people absolutely new and knowing nothing at all, and then you have guys who have done a lot, but they don’t know how to be flexible and so find themselves becoming irrelevant.
JB: DO YOU SEE YOURSELF MORE AS A TEACHER?
AD: I certainly enjoy teaching, both adults and children. If I wasn’t involved in some very important projects i could easily become a full-time, very specialist teacher. and I suppose I’ve shaped my business around helping, teaching and empowering people in some way
JB: WHAT CAN PROFESSIONALS EXPECT TO GET FROM READING THE BOOK?
AD: I suppose the very first chapter is a clue. it’s based around a working styles questionnaire I developed that I use in my workshops. A look at different personality types and how they relate to fundraising. So it not only involves a little self-analysis but includes breaking down every single type of fundraising into it’s four chief aspects, which we call the Fundraising Cycle. Anyone who goes through that process and even applies a quarter of what they learn cannot fail to see some positive progress.
JB: YOU SEEM VERY CONFIDENT ABOUT THAT
AD: Yes, that’s because I’ve been lucky enough to witness this time and time again, but I still get quite excited when you see people actually getting it. You see the proverbial penny actually dropping
JB: WHAT’S YOUR OWN WORKING STYLE?
AD: I can’t remember, but I can probably guess that you might be similar and I often predict what people will show up as in the workshops.
JB: SO YOU’VE BECOME AN EXPERT AT READING PEOPLE
AD: Not particularly, but I do know someone who has. In fact let me mention a book that some people might find useful if they like this thing of personality types thing. It’s called Know Yourself by Alex Carberry and it’s only come out recently but I was given an advance copy.I know it’s on Amazon because I wrote a review. It doesn’t do a questionnaire like my book but it goes much deeper into the whole thing of personality types.
But, the other things that professional fundraisers in particular might get from the book is a chance to examine a range of different fundraising techniques and methods that they may not normally use. It’s easy to get used to one or two types of fundraising, whether it be grants or fundraising concerts or membership fees. What I do in the book is look at about 15 or 20 methods, give each a bit of analysis and then give some tips on making the most of these methods. I think this will be a very popular section of the book for many people.
JB: SHOULD PEOPLE BUY THE BOOK OR COME TO THE WORKSHOP FIRST?
AD: Doesn’t really matter I suppose, but everyone should certainly have a copy of the book and it doesn’t cost much. The book’s on sale worldwide so I suspect not everyone will have a chance to attend one of the workshops.
JB: DO YOU EVER WORK OUTSIDE THE UK
AD: I have done bits of work in the States (USA), in Jamaica, in Nigeria, in South Africa and I have clients in these places and of course quite a few UK based clients also operate across Europe and other parts of the world. The latest serious enquiry I received was from India.
DID YOU TAKE THEM ON (AS CLIENTS)?
AD: I did what I normally do with all prospective clients. I ask them to send me all the information they have about the project, including legal status, finances, aims & objectives, current & previous support, projections and progress reports etc. I particularly try and find out as much about the motives and role of the person contacting me. I’ll have a look at that and make a few notes as to what I think I could realistically offer them. Then I ask them what exactly they’d like me to do for them and of course what budget they have to support this. If it all looks good and there is some common ground we thrash out a contract. if not I invite them to at least take part in one of my training sessions to get them up to speed.
JB: HOW HAS FUNDRAISING CHANGED SINCE YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED?
AD: It’s not that things have really changed except perhaps for the emphasis and new technologies
JB: EMPHASIS?
AD: For example, some really big charities now make a lot from people giving £2 or £3 a month and have perhaps move away from things like big charity auctions. Or perhaps smaller organisations that used to rely on local corporate sponsorship now aim to get grants. So in that way some big players are not actually abandoning tried and tested methods, they are at least temporarily paying a lot of attention to what might have been neglected areas and developing new ones.
JB: WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS?
AD: Sometimes it’s just a way of attracting a new set of supporters and staying relevant. These new supporters might then be channeled into more traditional ways of giving. So if you have a sponsored bungee jump you may attract some young people who are initially only interested in the thrill not the cause, but through the event you educate and cajole them and the next thing you know they are a paid up member with a monthly direct debit coming out of their account, or they themselves organise the next event.
JB: AND YOU SAID NEW TECHNOLOGIES?
AD: Technology is primarily around the internet but also in things like call centres. In the book I talk about the Generic Fundraising Statement which is that short statement that let’s everyone know that you accept donations and just how they will be well spent. This is something that must be on websites and on the tongues of all trustees, staff and volunteers. So I talk about how to come up with an effective statement and how to use it effectively with new technology.
When I say Call Centres, I’m talking of the use of professional call centres to run fundraising campaigns. So like many businesses charities are finding it more effective to outsource some of their work. Similarly, websites like Just Giving and even Paypal and WordPress can take away a lot of the hastle of setting everything up from scratch yourself, but I certainly don’t recommend this for everybody.
JB: I NOTICE THAT ON THE BACK OF THE BOOK IT HAS THE PRICE IN UK POUNDS, EUROS AND AMERICAN, CANADIAN AND AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE IT QUOTED IN ISD – SILVER DIRHAMS, ARE YOU PART OF THIS “SILVER IS MONEY CAMPAIGN?”
AD: I’m absolutely one of those advocating using gold and silver as currency for a number of reasons.
JB: SUCH AS?
AD: Such as combating injustice and poverty and transforming our societies for the better. To put it simply, paper money is banking money and people are waking up to the fact that banks and big multinational are not actually institutions of good, but If i start I could go on for hours about this.
JB: PERHAPS WE CAN DO ANOTHER INTERVIEW AFTER THIS?
AD: Yes, why not!
JB: WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS THEN ON THE BIG SOCIETY?
AD: Well some of the things put forward as part of a big society sound very good but I’m not one that takes very seriously what comes out of the mouths of politicians. However, the book itself is all about helping people who have a worthy cause, or an organisation or a social, or charitable project and helping them move forward.
I’m very much for people having much more control of what happens in their communities and I believe the key to this is enterprise. What the government can do here, it’s the same as needs to be done in Asia in Africa and other parts of the world, is to support and build infrastructures that support enterprise. What I mean here includes air, road and sea transport links, high speed internet access, telephone access, and access to markets. In fact all the others are about access to markets. We don’t really need a fairtrade movement if so called third world producers are given easy access to our markets. In order to regenerate deprived areas of the UK you need to make it absolutely easy and free, without cost, for local people to trade. Either on the high street or in new locations that will attract and facilitate shoppers and traders.
JB: ARE YOU A SUPPORTER OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES?
AD: In one sense all natural enterprise has a social element. Multinationals and banks take that away. Charities, local governments and political activists need to support initiatives that make it free and easy and potentially lucrative to trade. it would transform our inner cities in ways hard to imagine. So yes, I do support social enterprise in a very big way.
JB: OBVIOUSLY YOU COULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT ANY NUMBER OF SUBJECTS, SO WHY WRITE A BOOK ON FUNDRAISING?
AD: When someone approaches me seeking my help for a worthy cause or a great project I can often get more enthusiastic than them and give a lot of my time, often for free. it’s the advice I often need to give to these people that is really the stuff covered in the book. Building a Corporate Profile, Building and Exploiting the Database, Building a Team, Exploring Different Fundraising Options, Actually Knowing How The Fundraising Cycle Works etc. And of course, How to Submit Great Grant Applications. So now it’s all in one place. It saves me time, it’s laid out in what I’ve tried to make an easy to use manner, and of course I get a chance for some additional income and some publicity. It’s also, in my opinion, the exact material that experienced professional fundraisers need to remind themselves of from time to time.
JB: SO WHO SHOULD BUY THE BOOK?
AD: Well if everyone who bought a Harry Potter book would buy one that would certainly be a good start, but it’s obviously for anyone remotely connected to fundraising whether as a trustee, volunteer, paid staff or professional fundraiser. It’s for people who want to build a great team. It’s for administrators and those who have to prepare project budgets. It’s for charity and social enterprise managers, and I think it’s a very useful tool for small business owners and the self-employed.
JB: WHERE IS THE BOOK AVAILABLE?
AD: It’s available through the DMC website (www.dmcconsultancy.co.uk). It’s available through Amazon and through Black Stone Press (www.black-stone.net/books) It’s only £6.95 and is also available in various ebook formats. I think the Kindle version might just be about ready.
JB: THE BOOK IS CERTAINLY PACKED. YOU HAVE THE WORKING STYLES QUESTIONNAIRE AND PERSONALITY TYPES, YOU.VE GOT POETRY, YOU’VE GOT GRAPHICS, SAMPLE BUDGETS, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, LOADS OF TIPS. IT’S REALLY A LITTLE TREASURE TROVE THAT I CAN CERTAINLY RECOMMEND. WHAT NEXT FOR YOU?
AD: Well thanks for that ringing endorsement. It’s always good to know an interviewer has actually read the book.
We have a series of book launches to roll out across the UK. So far we are looking at Norwich, two dates in London, Cambridge, Birmingham and Manchester. Hopefully we can follow that or mix it up with some of the workshops. I’m looking forward to having some people attend who’ve already read the book. And of course I’ll continue to be personally involved with a couple of projects that promote and support commercial and social enterprise.
JB: AMAL DOUGLAS, GOOD LUCK WITH THE BOOK AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
AD: Thank you, it’s been a pleasure
The Big Question! Limited Company, CIC or Registered Charity?
Over the years I have helped set up and register a number of limited companies (both by shares and guarantee) and a number of registered charities and then on top of that countless voluntary organisations with no more 
than a constitution and a bank account. What is missing is a Community Interest Company or CIC. One reason for the omission is simply my own failure to grasp their benefit and the other is the wider ignorance concerning them which can prove detrimental to an organisation. The most common scenario being that potential donors are not sure about the eligibility of CICs to receive grants or other concessions automatically granted to registered charities.
Also the “asset lock” clause that seems to differentiate CIC is not actually that useful and can be accommodated within existing models.
However, in general terms that does often leave the question of whether a limited company or a charity (or indeed neither or both). For some smaller specific groups starting out I often advise setting up with a simple constitution similar to that of a registered charity, gather then trustees, get a bank account and then get going. This is more than enough for many groups who will never go beyond that even if there income exceeds £100,000. For me the natural progression here is straight to a registered charity.
If I have a group that has charitable aims but will perhaps make almost all of it’s money from charging for services then I will often prescribe a company limited by guarantee making sure that there are provisions allowing subscribers to also work and get paid through the company. When/if the need arises it will always be straight forward to add a charity registration and deal with that extra set of accounts and submissions that will now need to be lodged with Charity Commissioner.
In the past a limited company was used for just about everything else including partnerships, but I must admit that i’m now inclined to recommend the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) as it does actually support the way most partnerships do (and perhaps should) work. Particularly as the partnership agreement is separate from the LLP registration.
This leads me to mention here one of the first questions I ask new clients which concerns “motive.” I ask why the client wants to set up a charity, especially if they are on their own. It often transpires that some indeed have a quite noble and charitable cause they wish to support. For some it is about getting employment for themselves. For others it’s about making money. So my advice varies. Sometimes the best thing someone can do is go and volunteer or fundraise for an existing charity. Others need to build a team before they do anything else. Another set I advise to spruce up their CV and stay away from the voluntary sector and simply get a real job. Most others can normally be facilitated through acting as either a sole trader or a limited company and then simply offering themselves and their services commercially.
Business Startup Review and Levi Roots Interview (audio)
Businness Startup Review & Interviews
A review of the Business Startup exhibition held at Excel in London. Includes an interview with Levi Roots of Reggae Reggae Sauce and Dragons Den fame and other exhibitors including golf man Paul Preston.
Why Bank Collapses are Good for Small Business and Social Enterprise
Twenty Four Billion English Pounds was the reported loss made by one UK bank last year. That’s twenty four thousand million pounds (£24,000,000,000). It seems like the government or taxpayer is going to once again “bail them out.” Simple logic might suggest the government is actually buying some significant shares in the bank outright and will no doubt sell it back to the same bankers at a much reduced price later on. We’re used to this level of corruption and the lame explanations that accompany such a decision. However, things have moved on. This time the government will simply purchase all the uncollectable debts or “toxic” assets as they have been called, indemnify the bank against further significant losses and leave them to re-start the process once again.You add to this mix the huge bonuses being paid to bankers and it can only lead to one logical question, “Are they really going to keep chasing me for the £1,500 I owe on my credit card?” I’m sure even a couple of million here or there won’t bother most taxpayers.
Now why are banks in fact bad for real business? The fact is that banks stifle real business. In the most obvious case it’s simply that by offering savers interest it means that in one fell swoop a significant number of potential investors in business are taken out of the equation. They go for a guaranteed 5% interest payment rather than a “risky” 25%. Now the entrepreneur is forced to borrow at interest rather than share the risk with an investor. Not to mention the collapse of the futures market and other such “financial instruments’ that also sucked up a lot of potential investment
It’s also the impact on big business that will be significant. Big business has been able to leverage the banks and in fact borrow £100 million in order to make £100,000 and to do this time and time again, a luxury not afforded to small business. Small business is not able to make 75p on a coat because it will sell 10,000 of them and use this as a “loss leader” to corner the market and kill off smaller competition before hiking the price up again and way beyond the original selling price.
The decline of the bank marks the beginning of the reinstatement of the significant of the real trader and the commercial and social entrepreneurs. It marks an opportunity for real guilds to replace trade unions, and it marks the opportunity to change the dying shopping centres into free and open marketplaces. Yes! i really do mean free to the trader, no rent for selling space. I know it’s confusing to some of you to accept the logic of “free trading space for all,” but we’ll discuss it further at a later date, for free and open markets, accessible to all is the key to a revitalised and just economy.
“POWER TO THE TRADERS AND ENTREPRENEURS”
DMC’s Best of the Year Awards (part 1)
Mainstream Politician
One might think the obvious choice would be Barak Obama, although I have to admit Thabo Mbeki & Hugo Chavez were also under consideration and a few lesser known names as well. However, despite this “award” my contempt for politicians in general remain unabated, particularly those named Blair or Brown and i’m certain that very little (if anything) will change for the better under Obama. I in fact saw very little of the American leadership contest even the Clinton/Obama bit, and I was shocked when I woke up to the news that Obama had won because i’d though the election was on the Thursday, not the Tuesday.
So the award actually goes to another American Congressman, Ron Paul who set up the Campaign for Liberty after pulling out of the race to be Republican candidate for the American Presidential Election. His 2006 speech to congress “The End of Dollar hegemony,” detailing the detrimental effects of banking and paper money has really been “under-reported” but remains unique in it’s analysis and clarity for something delivered by a main stream western politician in recent times.
Sportsman/Sportswoman
It’s Usain Bolt vs Michael Phelps and despite the magnificent achievement of Phelps and some other great olympic performances that took place I have to give it to the Jamaican Bolt. Firstly i’m a big athletics (track & field) fan, and lets face it, everybody has a 100 metre sprint champion with no special equipment needed or fast suits, so it’s a true test. Many observers also feel that with the American crackdown on performance enhancing drugs that this is the first time in years that there has been a level playing field. Of course just watching some people fulfil their dreams and others having theirs shattered makes for great stories one way or another, and noting just how much time and effort great sportsmen put into training and preparation is a great motivational lesson for all of us. Formula 1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton was also in the frame.
Entrepreneur
As a business plan you can’t get any better than this. Invent some investment scheme, attract some investors, borrow money to give them returns like they’ve never had before and let the word spread. The bank.s making money, you’re making money and your investors are making money. The ultimate pyramid scheme. So the award must go to Bernard Madoff who managed a feat of entrepreneurial genius in keep it going for so long before finally confessing to fraud. However the story doesn’t end there as we find that the “confession” may be part of the biggest insurance scandal in modern history (see article).
Now, in these pages we are not advocating that type of criminal or dishonest behaviour but perhaps we can take the lesson to THINK BIG in 2009 with some really groundbreaking projects, schemes and approaches to business.
Please feel free to share your own alternative suggestions for award winners
A New Year Treat
2011 is now upon us
So let’s make a success of the year
I wish you success for all your projects and endeavours
So some advice you must now hear
To start I will quote from Rudyard Kipling
He said it so very well
As soon as I heard it, I got immediately thinking
This advice to you all I must tell
“I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are what and why and when
And where and how and who.”
So these are the questions you must answer
When making the business plan
These are the things that if explained correctly
Potential funders will readily understand
Also, building a team is absolutely essential
Don’t be tempted to go it alone
One-man projects rarely reach their potential
And stay in the twilight zone
Here at DMC we do lots of training
And for you we’ll always go that extra mile
So we advise you to spend some time in 2008
Building your corporate profile
I mean fax numbers, phone numbers, web and email
As well as, how your phone gets answered
I mean office address and dealing with mail
To avoid embarrassing disasters
So I wish you a happy and prosperous new year
That brings you a wealth beyond just money
So my cryptic wish for those with an ear
Is that you get both the milk and also the honey
