Unlocking value and change capability in fundraising and supporter engagement 

Christian Aid is an international development charity that exists to create a world where everyone can life a full life, free from poverty. Working closely with partners on the ground across 37 countries, it delivers programmes that tackle poverty at its root causes, provides aid to humanitarian emergencies and actively campaigns for dignity, equality and justice.   

Christian Aid’s Fundraising and Supporter Engagement (FSE) Directorate engaged Wharton BC to: 

• Help them identify key enablers and processes to empower their fundraising and supporter engagement teams to deliver excellent fundraising 
• Make recommendations on how these improved ways of working could be embedded into business as usual
• Enhance internal capability to lead and drive change going forwards through the mobilisation of a change champion network and masterclass skills session for senior leadership  

Working collaboratively with teams across the Directorate, we facilitated focus groups, interviews and workshops to identify the key enablers and processes improvements that would unlock value throughout Christian Aid’s fundraising campaigns. Based on these insights, we produced refreshed process maps, responsibility matrixes and prioritised recommendations to enhance ways of working. 

Using industry best practice, we then designed and delivered a Change Champion approach. This included a mobilisation session and bespoke Change Champion Toolkit to build the confidence and capability of the Change Champions and support them to drive the adoption of new ways of working.  

Finally, using reflection, group discussion and commitment to action, we ran ‘Leading through Change’ masterclass for the FSE Senior Management Team to explore their role in driving change and introduce concepts to help them engage and motivate their people.  

By the end of our engagement, the fundraising and supporter engagement teams had a detailed list of change recommendations to deliver excellent fundraising, a mobilised and enthused change champion network and a leadership team energised around leading their people through the change and supporting their new network.  

We asked John Lamb, Fundraising Expert Advisor, about his experience of working with us: 

“Wharton BC started this project by developing a thorough understanding of fundraising within the organisation – which meant they were then able to offer tailored solutions to the issues we were facing and meet our required outcomes. I believe the documentation they have produced, alongside the excellent training mean that we are now fully equipped to be able to deliver excellent fundraising now and in the future.”