How can regional, local and national fundraising work together more closely? A case study - The WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995

Fiona Duncan WaterAid, 419 Balrnore Road, Glasgow, G22 6NU, UK; TeVfax: +44 141 355 5154

Received: 26th June, 7997

Fiona Duncan was appointed as WaterAid’s regional fundraising manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1993 when this post was introduced. Her role includes managing most aspects of fundraising. She was sole fundraiser working with voluntary committees on the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 which won two ICFM awards. Currently she is on an ICFM Steering Committee working on a drait code of practice for land-based events in response to concerns regarding the environmental impact of outdoor events. She presented the draft code and guidelines at the ICFM convention in Warwick in July 1997.

ABSTRACT T h e WaterAid Miinro Cliallerzge 1995 started lijie as a srnall, local, hill-climbirig everit arid after the event’s potetitial was vecognised WaterAid decided to execirte the everit riatiori-

Thi s paper exariiiries h o ~ u the tvarisitiori was rtiariaged, how the riirie vegiorial cow- rriittees iueve co-ordimted, arid ho1u some of the d@crrlt issiies lucre tackled fvorri O I I C o f f e with orie s t a x rtiember.

al ly .

WATERAID WaterAid is a dcvclopmcnt agency that

J o w n a l oiNmprotit d i i d was set up in 1981 in response to the v0i. 1 ~ ~ . .(.i‘r)7.pp.).3~-.3.(1. United Nations Water and Sanitation VoIunr~ry Sccror MirkcrinS.

OHci i ry Srcwart l’iihlicxioiis, 1.3fdLX.57f, Decade. The aim of the decadc was to

tackle global water problems, with the goal being that every living person achieved access to safe, clean water by the year 1990.

Unfortunately, this aim proved to be too ambitious. I t is cstimatcd that thcrc are still 1.4 billion people in the world who do not have acccss to safe watcr and 2 billion who do not havc adequate sanita- tion (SOJII’CC: United Nations). The health consequences of this are that every singlc day 25,000 children die needlessly of as- sociatcd discasc.

WaterAid works with communitics in Africa and Asia hclping them plan, build and maintain thcir own low-cost, appro- priate technology water and sanitation schemes.

WatcrAid’s total income for 1995-96 was over S6.5m and approximately one- third of this is raised through the water industry.

SCOTLAND AND NEPAL In 1995 the Scottish water industry-bascd voluntary committees had pledged to raise funds spccifically for communitics in Nepal whcrc, in the hill areas, it is not uncommon for women and children to havc to walk for one and a half hours to collect watcr.

I t was 1995 that marked a dramatic change in regional conimittee fundraising in Scotland. Until then thc voluntary

committees had concentrated on organis- ing small, local events and campaigns.

In the previous year one local fundrais- ing committee, covering the region of Tayside, had arranged a mountain climb- ing event. It was from this local event that the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 came about. It took much considera- tion to conclude that this local mountain climbing event could be replicated and executed nationally.

THE WATERAID MUNRO CHALLENGE 1995 A Munro is a Scottish hill that is over 3,000 ft; there are 277 Munros in Scot- land.

The aim of the WaterAid Munro Chal- lenge 1995 was to get a team, which had a minimum of three and a maximum of six members, to the top of every Munro within the same time slot (1200 hours- 1400 hours), on the same day, Saturday 10th June.

To achieve the challenge with the mini- mum ofonc team of three members a t the top of each hill the event would need to recruit 831 people. To be confident of achieving the challcnge two teams for each hill would be ideal, but this meant the event needed 1,662 keen mountain climb- ers sufficiently committed to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning to climb a hill for WaterAid.

Thc recruitmcnt drive for participants generated almost 4,000 applications. Evcry applicant was thoroughly screened and 3,700 were eligible to and did participate.

The aim was to raise funds in two ways:

-by asking the participants to get in- dividual sponsorship

- by seeking a corporate sponsor for each of the 277 hills (the minimum sug- gested donation was S250).

The financial target was set at &150,000. The WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995

cost &15,750 in total to organise and raised a net total of over &200,000. The expendi- ture is detailed below:

.€ 4,000 fact packs for participants

sponsor forms and safety leaflets 640

t-shirts 7,622.11 Glenturret whisky

miniatures 3,525 travel and accommodation 362.97 commemorative booklet 600 corporate reception catering 600

total 15,750.08

The challenge also generated huge amounts ofnew support.

Munro challenges had been tried before, but never been achieved. WaterAid was the first group ever to succeed and this feat generated huge amounts of media coverage. The event was featured in national and local press all over the United Kingdom, in trade press for the water industry and charity press. It also managed to get television and radio coverage. O f the written coverage there were more than 11,300,000 opportunities to see articles on the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995.

Number ofopportunities

Number ofnewspapers

I’crccntage coverage

to sce (approximately) 11,360,661

in which articles appeared 64

in newspaper weekly 42% Scottish daily 19% regional daily 16% other 15% national daily 8%

Newspaper readership figures are used

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to calculate opportunities to see. The newspaper multiplies the number of papers sold by the number of readers that each paper has to get the circulation figure. This equation is also used to calculate opportunities to see.

Before the event the Guinness Book of Records was contacted with a request for information regarding how, if successful, the challenge could be included in the book. The criterion was that the event must be audited thoroughly. In order to do this satisfactorily every participant was asked to check in before they set off to the mountain and at that time they were given a card with their check-in time noted on it. They had to note the time they reached the summit and when they got back to the check-out point the time was noted on the' card. In addition to this one-third of the mountains had to be independently audited by individuals not involved in the challenge. Mountaineering clubs were ap- proached and their members were asked if they would be willing to climb one-third of the Munros to arrive before WaterAid participants to ensure the hill was con- quered within the allotted timescale. For- tunately this was well received and more than one-third of the hills were audited. Finally, all this information was checked by three different, independent people after the event. The three scrutineers wrote to the Guinness Book of Records explaining that they were confident the information was correct. All the informa- tion was made available.to the Cuinness Book of Records and one of the steering committee members visited their office with a sample of the information.

The event has won two ICFM Awards. The first at the Scottish ICFM conference in October 1995 where it won the Award for Excellence. Then the event won the gold award in the events category at the Professional Fundraising Awards at the ICFM conference in July 1996. It was also

shortlisted for the Utility Week Awards in the Achievement category.

To achieve agreement, so that the small regional voluntary committees,t who were once in competition with each other, worked together to attain a com- mon goal, and to manage the conversion of a smaller event to a national one, involved serious planning and tackling some difficult issues.

RECOGNISING POTENTIAL Events are infamous for being prob- lematic and not cost-effective, and often there are arguments and case studies to reinforce this perception. WaterAid has found that following some straightfor- ward and often obvious steps can help to tackle successfully some of the problems in managing events.

The first step is to set up a thorough event evaluation system in order to recognise fully the potential success or failure of existing or planned events. The majority of WaterAid's regional com- mittees throughout the United Kingdom organise their own local events. The committees are asked to fill out evaluation forms and these are examined to identify good and bad practice. In evaluating any event it is essential to look at its aims and whether these were achieved. (See Figure 1 .)

The evaluation process of all local events is imperative to ensure that every opportunity to optimise income and awareness is maximised. Every so often it becomes obvious that an event has a much greater potential.

The first mountain climbing event in the summer of 1994, which led on to the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995, enabled WaterAid to:

- raise income from corporate water industry contacts and encourage these

to raise (new?) income cost-effectively (from targeted sources?) to utilise volunteers’ skills and interests to maximise opportunities for participation (from existing and new supporters)

to bring volunteers closer to the cause to create loyalty from supporters to raise awarenesdthe profile of the work - generate media interest to meet organisational objectives other than fundraising

how much work and time went into the organisation? did it meet its targets - financial and other? was it cost-effective - did it stay within budget? were the risks worth it? how much enthusiasm was there - before, during and after?

organisations to become involved more actively in fundraising

- make the most of the keen mountain climbers and turn their hobby into a fundraising event

- encourage people who had previously never supported WaterAid to take part in an event that interested them from a personal point of view

- raise awareness of the gruelling jour- ney women and children make daily all over the world by informing par- ticipants that their walk was com- parable in length to people’s journey for water

- develop a relationship with volunteers through better understanding of the organisation’s work

-achieve media coverage and raise awareness of what WaterAid does overseas

- achieve a specific aim in the WaterAid strategic review, which is to forge closer links with the water industry.

As a model, the local mountain climbing event achieved some extremely impor- tant aims. The questions asked to deter-

mine if the event was a success are given in Figure 2.

The local mountain climb took very little staff time as the voluntary com- mittee had organised it with support from the regional fundraising manager. It raised f15,000, captured the interest of the IocaI media and cost WaterAid very little (the only cash cost was sponsor forms and generic leaflets). A low risk event, it was extremely well received by participants. The organising committee enjoyed running the event, it captured the interest of the corporate sector and was talked about afterwards. O n the basis of the evaluations it was decided that the indicators from the Tayside mountain climb were positive and suggested the event theoretically could be translated to a national event.

But the biggest question had to be: ‘How easily can the event be replicated on a much larger scale?’ The two key or- ganisers were confident that the moun- tain climb had enough potential, enough supporters, received enough enthusiasm, and that the existing model was strong enough to replicate on a national scale.

Figure 1 Possible aims

of an event

Figure 2 Questions asked

about the local climbing event

They offered to steer a national event and on this basis the regional fundraising manager decided to take it forward.

SELLING THE EVENT NATIONALLY The first task was to sell the event. No event or product can be sold if it is not what supporters or potential supporters are going to want to buy.

The aim of the PEST analysis was to indicate the key factors outside WaterAid’s control, which would affect the running of the event and the opportunity to sell it to the water industry, a key supporter group in Scotland at that time. - ?e

PEST analysis examines the:

Political Economic Social Technological climates

At the time of planning, local govern- ment reorganisation was impending and the water industry was to be taken out of local government control. The existing twelve regional council water depart- ments were to be merged to form three quangos. The water industry support for WaterAid is critical and at this time it was essential that WaterAid and the industry worked well together to strengthcn the links. The idcal situation was for WaterAid to supply the industry with a positive distraction from the bad press and the uncertainty. The best way to sell the event was examined in more detail as shown in Figure 3.

There were two broad groups within the industry whose support had to be secured:

- the senior level of management within

- the regional water industry-based

c

the water industry

fundraising committees.

The event had to be packaged differently to appeal to each group.

Securing senior level support To this group the event was packaged as a team-building, morale-boosting, posi- tive public relations focus for the water industry as a whole in Scotland, as it was felt that this was what the industry needed a t this time.

In order to go ahead the event would need staff time, energy and commitment and this would not happen without sup- port from the directorate.

In general, the directors were ex- tremely supportive of WaterAid and could sce the benefit to the industry of a close relationship with the organisation. Most initiatives were given support, but to avoid the risk of not securing blanket support key people were approached individually and sold the event. The regional fundraising manager then at- tended a meeting where the 12 directors were together to present the proposed WatcrAid Munro Challengc 1995 and ask for the full support of the industry. Peer prcssure sccurcd approval for WaterAid to go ahcad and push the Munro challcnge through the industry.

Directors wcrc also asked if they would

Figure 3 Examination of the best way to sell the event

the event idea - it was a challenge and if achieved WaterAid would be unique how well the event had been received recruiting a network of credible, influential oracles to sell the event and give it kudos how the event could best be presentedlpackaged general enthusiasm for WaterAid’s first national event

help with the appeal to the water industry corporate contacts asking for financial support. The ‘ask’ would be written and co-ordinated by WaterAid, but the letters needed signatures that would encourage the corporate contacts to respond. Two- thirds of the directors agreed, the other third felt this would compromise their position.

Selling the event at the senior level had not proved to be too difficult and the door was now open for the event to be promoted to the people needed to or- ganise it.

Securing regional support The two key organisers of the Tayside mountain climb and the regional fundraising manager toured Scotland, visiting the majority of the regional water industry-based committees to sell the idea and gain approval for the event to go ahead. It was absolutely imperative this group supported the event as it was the regional committee network that would make it a success. An event of this scale needed a broad supporter base.

Unfortunately this did not prove to be easy. The event received resistance for a number of reasons, with the objections split into three broad categories.

The first concerned the politics of the individual committees and basic reluc- tance to participate in another com- mittee’s event.

The second concerned how soon it was to tackle an event of this scale and

- a lack of confidence within the com- mittees about their ability (the regional fundraising manager had been in post for only 18 months)

- the difficulty in recruiting enough people to make it a success

- the lack of active corporate support to secure a sponsor for each mountain.

-. The third set of objections surrounded the event itself:

- concerns about the size of the event - the health and safety implications of

managing an event based on mountains - the difficulty in tackling certain hills -

remoteness, danger etc -how to manage effective screening of

participants - the impact the event could have on the

environment.

Every concern had to be acknowledged and overcome. This took time, sensitivity and persuasion, but eventually when the water industry in Scotland had given the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 their support, the actual organisation of the event could begin.

SElTING UP A STEERING COMMllTEE It was imperative to set up a steering committee to manage the organisation of the event for a number of reasons. There was only one staff member working in Scotland and Northern Ireland, who was responsible for a number of areas of fundraising, not just events. The regional fundraising manager had (and still has) never been up a mountain and con- sequently had limited knowledge of what would be needed to ’manage a national Munro challenge. The event was scheduled for the following summer and time was at a premium.

The majority of regional and com- munity fundraisers have experience of setting up committees. Setting up a steer- ing committee, which is task specific and needed for a set amount of time, may require more careful consideration than mobilising a group of people who already have a common interest other than the charity.

The Munro Challenge steering com-

mittee was recruited from all over Scot- land. Many of the people selected had never met before and their one common interest was the successful execution of the event.

When recruiting the committee, ex- plicit guidelines were set down regarding the type of people needed:

- excellent organisational skills - mountaineering experience and con-

- understanding and commitment to the

- access to a support network.

tacts

task

* m Each member did not necessarily have to be a supporter of WaterAid.

The committee set up required:

- well-defined roles - a good chairper-

- one ultimate decision maker -a wide range of people (in terms of

geography and seniority within the industry).

son

It was essential that every steering com- mittee representative could set up a sub- committee to deal with the workload locally. The actual steering committee would be responsible for decision making but not for the administration of the event.

Co-ordination and management Effective co-ordination and management of the steering committee were impera- tive to the success of the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995. Commitment to making the time to attend meetings from every committee member was critical. The WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 was planned for June 1995 and the first meeting was in December 1994.

The steering committee secretary’s role was to produce clear, prescriptive

minutes with action points and time- specified checklists within a week of the meeting. A system of keeping in regular contact with committee members was t developed to ensure things were getting done and all members had to participate in this. Where necessary standardised guidelines on how best to achieve tasks, draft copies of letters, sources for research etc were given to committee members to save time and make it easier for them to delegate their duties. At the meetings the committee always agreed on the next steps and received approval. for the impending workload. There was one decision maker to avoid conflict, and work and home telephone and fax numbers and addresses were circulated.

Barriers There are numerous things that can re- strict people’s ability to work together. These could be relevant within the actual committee itself, especially if the com- mittee is manufactured to achieve a task and not set up as a group of people< with a common cause as its interest. Bringing together a group of people that has never worked together before and that, in many cases, had never previously been expected to fulfil specific roles, for instance committee secretary, was prone to problems. Some of the barriers ex- perienced while managing the event are given in Figure4.

There were problems in managing this group. Obviously every concern had to be acknowledged and, where relevant, tackled. The scale of this had not been expected but was consistent throughout the organisation and had to be dealt with.

Almost all of these barriers could also be used in a positive way to emphasise the selection’process gone through in choos- ing the group; how their skills and ex- perience complemented each other, and how critical the group was.

Individuals As with any event involving large numbers there are inevitably strong personalities. There were numerous attempts at event hijacking and a number of prima donnas, who were determined to get some glory, had to be managed.

At committee level the excellent chair- man dealt swiftly with the difficulties and managed to avoid the exacerbation of many of the problems.

At local level there was less control and therefore a few problems were ex- perienced. For example, a senior level water manager secured a local television interview where he claimed glory for the event when actually behind the scenes a very committed group was doing all the work.

A huge amount of sensitivity, under- standing and diplomacy was required at almost every committee meeting so that the members could air their in- dividual grievances. Maintaining a sense of humour, as well as a healthy amount of eye-rolling and shoulder-shrugging, was also essential for committee members.

Generally, the group settled and peer pressure from others helped bring every- one down to size.

Capability and potential A major factor in managing the event was determining manageable workloads in the early stages. Individual’s and group’s history, support network, other commit- ments and time available were looked at. Progress was monitored at every meeting and workloads often had to be re- allocated.

It was important to be receptive to changes in people’s circumstances, for ex- ample one of the committee member’s partner had a baby during the planning stage. Consequently, his workload was partially re-allocated so that he would need to spend less time working on the event.

a,,

geography history reputation knowledge personal age experience competition prejudice local

Figure 4 Barriers

experienced in managing the event

This was ongoing and taken very seriously, as the group could not afford an individual to fall behind. The minutes stressed the importance of achieving tasks within time slots and progress was checked at the meetings.

EVENT FOLLOW-UP It was decided before the event that consistency with the follow-up was necessary. The committee appeared to recognise the importance of following up and finishing off an event, and agreed on a plan of action. This was a perfect example of the struggle of putting good theory into practice.

There was a very definite ‘high’ after the event and the urgency to get tasks done was forgotten in the celebration of achieving the challenge. The result of this was that the vast majority of the event follow-up was managed by WaterAid. This was huge, unexpected and incredibly time-consuming.

If the event takes place again more thought would be given to the follow-up. It may be decided that the task of the steering committee would be exclusively to execute the event and not to manage the after-administration, and other ar- rangements would be made.

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM The euphoria kept the event at the front of people’s minds, but the task was to translate enthusiasm for an event into future action for a charity.

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The voluntary network in Scotland had only one dedicated staff member support- ing them for two years and yet this event had taken off and in many ways taken over - it sometimes felt as if the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 was bigger than Water Aid.

Constantly, people had to be reminded that WaterAid was about helping people in the developing world to plan, build and maintain their own water and sanitation projects and that funds were needed to support this. This helped nurture relationships with both new and pre- viously involved supporters.

The local committees were asked to take on some of the new supporters and organise local events to keep people interested in WaterAid's work. The committees had supported the Munro Challenge, but had not been as active through the summer. This changed and the focus was back on them to provide fundraising events.

* m

NURTURING R E LATi 0 N S H I PS The WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 generated numerous new supporters of WaterAid, both from the individuals who took part and the companies who sup- ported it financially.

Every supporter was contacted and thanked and asked to fill out a reply slip, which offered them options regard- ing how they may want to support WaterAid in future. It was important to WaterAid to understand what the new supporters wanted, if anything, from WaterAid.

Every participant received a book- let commemorating the event; every corporate supporter was invited to a reception. Responsive donor pro- grammes were set up and the pressure is still on to hold another challenge. All participants and corporate supporters are

on the WaterAid database' and are contacted appropriately.

The steering committee, the organisers and their supporters also need nurtur- t

ing. In addition to being thanked, it was stressed to them how important they were to the success of the event. WaterAid could not have organised and executed an event of that size without its active volunteers and it was important that they knew that.

As with most charities, many of WaterAid's supporters cannot offer sub- stantial financial help, but can give the benefit of their time, knowledge and enthusiasm.

Every corporate supporter is still ac- tive, and the majority of the participants are involved with other committees, taking part in events or signed up' to payroll giving schemes.

CONCLUSION The transition from a local to a national event was not easy, but it was success- ful. The Munro Challenge 1995 was WaterAid's biggest ever event, raising more money than any other WaterAid fundraising efforts. It had more par- ticipants, including existing and new supporters, than any other WaterAid event and involved corporate support, both from existing organisations who support WaterAid and from new sup- porters.

The challenge also met a number of objectives other than fundraising. The WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995:

- brought volunteers closer to the cause as participants compared their walk for pleasure to the walk for water that women and children have to do daily in Nepal, the country for which all the funds were being raised

- utilised volunteers’ skills and inter-

- maximised opportunities for participa-

- raised funds cost-effectively - gave the committees the confidence to

organise bigger events than they had done previously

ests

tion

- raised WaterAid’s profile.

The WaterAid office in Scotland was set up in 1993 and the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995 helped galvanise a num- ber of fundraising strategies that were still in the early stages of development.

If a similar exercise were to be under- taken, it would use the model of success from the WaterAid Munro Challenge 1995. A number of valuable lessons were learned and many are put into practice on a regular basis, such as event evalua- tion.

Two years after the event there is still a great deal of pressure to organise another challenge. Since the Scottish Mountaineering Council’s decision to add another eight Munros to the existing list of 277 the pressure is even greater and the next WaterAid Munro Challenge will take place on Saturday 6th June, 1998.