Daniel Pritchard’s Post

#Funding Fact 🚨 **Most funders prioritize alignment over innovation.** Did you know that funders are more likely to approve proposals that directly align with their mission and priorities, even over the most creative ideas? 👉 Researching a funder’s goals and tailoring your application to showcase alignment is critical to getting funded. It’s not just about what *you* need—it’s about how your mission helps *them* achieve their goals. 💡 We're going to show you exactly how to do this in our upcoming From Surviving to Thriving Funding Training. We are going DEEP! Comment below and we'll share the registration details with you.

We're an unrestricted funder and wanted to be more confident about how we capture learning and understand the difference we're making. You can read here about our learning review with Institute For Voluntary Action Research, our headlines, actions and what the new framework looks like. https://lnkd.in/eSNmaH9E

This is Business Critical - especially in the challenging times that are here already and lie ahead for the #charity #socialenterprise sector. We collectively champion start up and diversification and rarely champion maturity, stability and make space for safety around endings. #governance is complex and #mustdobetter

Walking the walk. Whether planning a meeting or a workshop, I start with the overall outcome I need and then think through some sub-outcomes along the way to get there. I think I have quite a logical brain and know that this approach has its limitations too. So this is essentially the approach a Theory of Change takes. It enables organisations to track backwards from their overall purpose or mission and understand the changes they need to see to be sure of achieving the mission. This in turn ensures credibility and confidence when talking about impact - in front of funders, donors, partners and the wider community. The outcomes from my first in the 'not just a workshop' series on 27th February is a Theory of Change workshop in Norwich and has the following outcomes: 1. Participants have more knowledge and confidence to create and review their Theories of Change 2. Participants are better able to articulate the difference they make and what makes it happen 3. Organisations can better articulate to a range of funders how they do or will make a difference 4. Organisations are better placed to make a difference to people’s lives and secure the income to do it or keep doing it In just one day you'll have an outline Theory of Change AND it will be written up and sent to you You can book online using the Eventbrite link in the comments.

👍 👎 Why feedback matters to us. We regularly ask the organisations we fund and engage with to let us know how they find the experience of working with us. This helps us identify opportunities to improve, especially around our grant-making processes and relationships. In our latest blog, Partnerships and Learning Manager Elaine Gibb explains how we've recently reviewed our feedback system and shares what we've learned and what we'll be doing differently in future. https://lnkd.in/eUnkxwYu

How do you know you're making a difference, as an unrestricted funder? 💭 🆕 blog from Peter Minet Trust breaks down how they explored this and related questions - and shares their new approach to collecting and managing data and learning. What an absolute joy it was to work with you, and so exciting to see where you got to summarised in a clear & compelling way!

We’re an unrestricted funder and wanted to be more confident about how we capture learning and understand the difference we’re making. You can read here about our learning review with Institute For Voluntary Action Research, our headlines, actions and what the new framework looks like. https://lnkd.in/erkr2R-a

NEW PRESENTATION: Perfecting Your Pitch to Funders Wendy Brooks and I have just finalised our brand new never-before-seen presentation on Perfecting Your Pitch to Funders. In working on this project, we distilled our presentation to three key take-outs: - Your CEO / Chair needs one well honed story to speak to your need and impact and we include multiple real-life working examples of stories that our clients use in their pitches that funders respond really well to - Preparation is key, "The public praises people for what they practice in private" and it's no coincidence that our most successful organisations are those with an enthusiastic CEO that has honed their story. We give you tips on how to prepare, what information to collate and how to structure a funder meeting to get the best out of it - Social proof, from those that benefit from your service, the community workers around your organisation and even from other funders, is a key part of demonstrating impact and we've collated loads of great examples from our clients on how to demonstrate that your solution works, makes a meaningful difference and will set you apart We are delivering this presentation first to our existing clients this Wednesday, as part of our exclusive Client Value Program. Please reach out if you're a current or past client (you never truly leave the family!) and I'll send you the link to our live webinar. We are then going to run bespoke versions of this presentation for clients of Law Squared in both Melbourne and Sydney, including a Q&A panel discussion with clients who have nailed their pitch and can talk more about how they prepare for funder meetings. We know it's so valuable to hear from other CEOs walking the talk. If you'd like an invite to these events in either Melbourne or Sydney again reach out and i'll ensure you get sent the invitation. Thanks to the team at Wendy Brooks & Partners - due to them we have so many fantastic working examples of cases for support, testimonials, letters of support from funders, social media tiles demonstrating impact, infographics and more to show you! Look forward to seeing many of you there on Wednesday and in our in-person events at Law Squared in August and September. #fundraising #socialimpact #communicatingyourimpact

I’m excited to announce our partnership with Chapter One UK! It’s staggering that 1 in 5 children aged 5-8 don't own a single book. Learning to read is not just about succeeding in school, it’s about succeeding in life. Through this collaboration, we’ll be working to measure the long-term impact of Chapter One’s incredible reading programmes. Our goal is to help them demonstrate their social value, secure more corporate sponsors, and grow their impact—ensuring more children have access to the skills they need to succeed.  As Emma Bell, CEO at Chapter One says: "We chose to partner with Impact Advantage because their measurement platform, impact.Ai, goes way beyond traditional proxy values. It allows us to truly understand and showcase the profound impact our programmes have on children, volunteers and companies alike."   Through this partnership, we will work together to maximise Chapter One's impact, playing our part in creating a world where all children have the literacy skills needed to thrive.

Last week, we had to get something off our chests.     Something that means a lot to us.     We were sending out a message to all the organisations we have supported through funding so far this year.     The goal of this message was to request feedback on how this funding has helped them to grow, give back to the communities and most importantly, get on with their important mahi.     This is standard.    Along with the many other ways we connect with our communities, we send this message every year.     But this year, we wanted to add something in.     We wanted to communicate what ‘impact’ means to us.     Because, as a funder who supports a wide range of organisations – from the grassroots to the well-established, we know that ‘impact’ realistically looks different to every organisation.     That message read:    “Nikau understands that every organisation is different. The way you work, your kaupapa, journey, resources and story will be completely different from another organisation - even those working in similar areas!    For this reason, we don't have a single way to measure or look at impact. While some organisations will be able to share their impact in numbers, others will be able to share theirs through feedback from the community or through stories and words.”     So, whether you gave out 500 meals or if you helped to build confidence, your impact is valid, valuable and powerful.