Bringing Together the Right People for the Right Project
How Cairney & Company and new Strategic Delivery Partner, Michael Lavery, worked together with the University of Edinburgh’s Data for Children Collaborative with Unicef.
The Client
The Data for Children Collaborative (DCC) with Unicef
The Timeline
7 weeks
The Project
A unique partnership between Unicef, the University of Edinburgh, and the Scottish Government, the DCC is transforming lives of children locally, nationally and globally. They use insight, data and science to solve some of the toughest problems they face.
The Challenge
With seed funding coming to an end, the DCC needs to become self-funding with broader financial sustainability by the summer of 2022. They have no established donor base to access, or a compelling Case for Support to articulate why they need the money. And as a collaborative of strong and individual brands, priorities must enable the partnership to deliver external impact, not internal competition.
We needed to align funding opportunities with project themes, support the creation of their Case for Support, and develop a stakeholder engagement framework, all within a funding roadmap that presented the approach, plan and components for success.
The Solution
Alongside our expertise in fundraising strategy, this was the perfect project to bring in new C&C Strategic Delivery Partner, Michael Lavery of Brand & Reputation. His strategic experience working with senior advancement stakeholders in large complex HE institutions, and third sector organisations to map their stakeholders, refine their brand proposition, and elevate their engagement allowed us to discover and design a comprehensive plan towards sustainable future funding.
Beginning with an in-depth literature review and interviews with senior partnership leaders, we created a comprehensive picture of opportunities, concerns and challenges. We mapped DCC’s stakeholder data against priority areas of work to identify potential partners and perfectly align stakeholders with areas of research and policy to unlock powerful funding and brand opportunities.
This insight, together with a deep analysis of the external global market, looking at over 20 relevant models across leading target institutions, gave us a strong platform to provide a framework that ensures the DCC can continue to create life-changing and sustainable impact.
Deliverables
Roadmap, timeline and plan for financial sustainability
Stakeholder, funder and market analysis
Draft case for support
Quick wins for funding opportunities
Recommendations for strategy, leadership, potential donors and resourcing
Client Benefits
Clarity on the value DCC partners and funders place on their work
Understanding where DCC can optimise partner and donor relationships
Increased access to other funding mechanisms from today and for the long-term
New opportunities for developing transformational philanthropy
“We chose Cairney & Company to give us a better understanding of our potential to secure philanthropic funding. Karen and the team really took the time to fully understand the drivers for the consultancy services before putting in an application. They built up trust and demonstrated they understood our needs.
They’ve proved themselves a focused and dedicated team of experts, delivering a significant piece of work at pace. Cairney & Company’s insights have provided us with a well-thought out and planned approach to ensure our future fundraising success and financial viability. They have given us a robust set of recommendations that will challenge our own thinking and a set of quick wins that we can move on now.”