Project
Set up in 2006, TheGivingMachine had an annual growth of 7%, with minimal resources to leverage the platform to increase the rate of growth beyond organic growth. They sought to drive the growth rate of the site to 20%+ per annum and increase turnover to maximise social engagement, impact and donations to causes, and to achieve a sustainable surplus for the organisation.
To achieve this, TheGivingMachine required a more robust business model that attracted more users, increased the activity of current users and encouraged causes to market the concept to their supporters.
Solution
Eastside People helped TheGivingMachine secure funding from the Access, Reach Fund, investment readiness grant fund. The grant was used to help TheGivingMachine become investment ready by:
- Developing a marketing plan
- Developing a business model that showed the scale of TheGivingMachine’s ability to repay social finance
- Commissioning an assessment of the technical architecture of the website, key business processes and admin systems to demonstrate their robustness and ability to handle growth.
Solution
Eastside People’s consultancy team helped deliver an investment readiness plan and sustainable business model that:
- Refined the cost base
- Modelled the impact of varying growth scenarios
- Understood the scope for taking on social finance
- Developed a marketing plan to improve messaging, methods and channels
- Validated the technological architecture with a review and report on the management information systems, database and business processes.
Our consultancy work has helped TheGivingMachine become investment ready through better understanding and, crucially, better articulation of their social impact needs. A robust business plan and financial model ultimately helped TheGivingMachine to initiate talks with and secure investment from funders.
“From the start, the team from Eastside People took the time to really understand our current business model and social proposition in depth. This led to the development of a revised marketing strategy and supporting business plan. Funders and advisors who reviewed our plan were keen to point out the quality of the delivered plans and this was a crucial factor in securing our social funding.
Thank you Eastside People – if only every partner delivered to that quality!”
Richard Morris, Founder and CEO