Up next in our series on interim fundraising, Halpin CEO and Co-founder Susie Hills speaks with David Burgess to learn more about his approach and some of the challenges he has faced in his most recent fundraising interim role.
Q: How do you make sure that you can get up & running quickly for an interim?
A: I read as much as possible and speak to key people within the organisation ahead of starting. Depending on the role, this includes outgoing members of staff, direct reports, members of the senior management team and any other people I’m likely to be working closely with. This means I’m not a complete stranger when I walk through the doors on the first day, but more importantly, it’s a chance to get a better insight into what’s working, what isn’t and what I need to prioritise during the early part of the role.
A key thing as an interim is to not be afraid to ask questions. Unlike when you start other new roles, you rarely get an induction for an interim role. That means the support of people around you is vital, from background information on projects or relationships with specific donors to more mundane things like how to use the printer or where to get a coffee.
Q: Where have you been able to make a particular impact as an interim?
A: I’ve recently finished an interim role with a team that had been overstretched for a number of months and appeared to be fast approaching burnout. The brief was to provide line management support on a day-to-day basis, whilst also ensuring they had the right processes in place to deliver an ambitious step-change in their fundraising. I worked with the team to develop new processes to ensure supporter and prospect relationships were being accurately tracked, gifts were being properly processed and that fundraising was being backed up by strong research and data. Perhaps most importantly, I was able to work with individual team members to put processes in place to help them regain control of their workload and reduce the risk of overwhelm.
Moving forward, the changes we’ve implemented should have a positive impact on everyone involved, from the individual staff members and their managers through to the organisation’s supporters.
Q: What are some of the challenges of being an interim & how do you handle them?
A: One of the big challenges can be around expectations as to what can be achieved in the available time. Interim roles typically require you to be both an employee and a consultant at the same time, managing day-to-day activity whilst also making recommendations on how the team or organisation should move forward. However, it’s not uncommon for the interim position to be 1-2 days per week when the day-to-day activity had previously been a full-time job.
Managing this requires both structure and flexibility. I agree a plan at the start of the role that sets out the priorities, the outputs required and the timeframe for delivering them. This helps both parties agree what activity needs to be paused, cut or delegated. However, both parties also need to be flexible to respond to opportunities and challenges as they arise. This includes being open to moving working days around to meet the needs of the role.
Q: What’s important for wrapping up an interim role and handing over?
A: Making time for a proper handover is key. This is important for talking through any recommendations or changes that have been made to ensure they can be maintained moving forward. It’s also a chance to go through any ‘works in progress’ to make sure everybody is clear what needs to happen next.
In addition to the handover, it can be really helpful to schedule one or two follow-up calls in the two months following the handover. This is a chance to talk through anything that might have been missed or misunderstood during the handover and to support the organisation as it moves forward.
If you have gaps in your fundraising and alumni relations team and would like to find our more about the benefits of an interim, and how Halpin can help, contact us.