Halpin Consulting Fellow Harpreet Kondel is a distinguished fundraising professional with nearly 30 years’ experience within the charity sector. We asked her about her experience in a recent interim role she completed for Halpin.
Q: How do you get up & running quickly in an interim post?
A: There are a number of key things that help me get started quickly:
- Preparation and research: Before starting, I gather as much information as possible about the charity, its culture, and my specific role. This can include reading internal documents, understanding strategic goals, and familiarising myself with the team’s dynamics. I tend to meet with my team one-on-one to understand their role, what they need support with and whether they have any issues or concerns.
- Clear goals: I agree clear objectives and expectations with my manager so we both know what success looks like in this role, and what the immediate priorities and expectations are.
- Quick wins: I identify areas where I can achieve quick wins to build credibility and demonstrate my value early on. These include simple process improvements, resolving a known issue, or completing a pending task.
- Build relationships: By quickly establishing rapport with key team members and stakeholders I gain trust and facilitate better collaboration.
- Assessment and plan: Through meeting the team and reading key documents I conduct a swift but thorough assessment of the current situation. I then use this to create an initial action plan that addresses immediate needs and aligns with long-term goals.
Q: Where have you been able to make a particular impact as an interim?
A: Earlier this year I was interim Head of Individual Giving at Young Lives Vs Cancer. I worked to stabilise the team, maintained employee morale, introduced better cost-control measures and budget management to restore confidence in the programme, and kept strategic initiatives on track until a permanent replacement was found. Key achievements included:
- Reducing spend in face to face fundraising (F2F) and adjusting the acquisition programme to bring on board supporters with a better ROI.
- Introducing a new welcome journey to reduce attrition of new supporters.
- Kicking off the process of developing a new Direct Response TV ad with a regular giving ask (DRTV RG) as we know these have a good lifetime value (LTV) and make good legacy prospects.
- Investing in growing our cash supporter base, and did a first round of tests in Dec 23. They will be going out with cash recruitment in June and Dec this year.
- Testing a new digital supplier whose digital ads have driven both better volume and value.
- Launching a new direct debit (DD) Lottery intending to use it for DD conversion but also acquisition, reactivation and cross-selling to digital leads.
- Moving to a new telemarketing agency for better results.
- We improved the performance of our cash appeals by working with an external agency and reviewing supporter journeys.
- Starting to review our mid-value journey.
- Restarting the Law Society Gazette advertising for legacy lead recruitment.
- Kicking off developing a new legacy propensity model and improving our forecasting of future legacy income
- Creating a new legacy proposition with an integrated legacy campaign.
- Making data improvement programmes including revising consent statements, looking at data cleanliness, reviewing data suppressions and data segmentation.
Q: What are some of the challenges of being an interim & how do you handle them?
A: There are plenty, but this is where my experience helps me navigate them. Some issues I regularly come across are:
- A limited timeframe: The temporary nature of the role means I have a limited window to make an impact. This requires quick decision-making and prioritisation skills. To handle this, I tend to focus on the most critical issues first and develop a clear, actionable plan.
- Resistance to change: Employees can be resistant to changes proposed by someone they perceive as a short-term fixture. Building trust and demonstrating the benefits of your recommendations based on your previous experience can help mitigate this.
- Lack of context: As an outsider, I do not always have the deep organisational knowledge that a permanent employee would have. I would address this by conducting thorough research, asking insightful questions, and leveraging the knowledge of existing team members.
- Integration into culture: Quickly adapting to the company culture can be challenging so I tend to pay attention to the company’s values, and make an effort to fit in whilst also bringing my own perspective.
Q: What’s important for wrapping up an interim post and handing over?
A: I tend to do the following when I am preparing to leave an interim role:
- Recruit replacement: I tend to recruit for the role I am covering.
- Documentation: Ensure that all work done during the interim period is well-documented. This includes all 121s with the team, reports, process changes, strategic plans, and any other relevant documentation.
- Handover: Complete a handover for a thorough knowledge transfer with the incoming permanent replacement or the relevant team members. This includes discussing ongoing projects, critical tasks, and key contacts.
- Evaluation and feedback: Hold a review meeting with stakeholders to evaluate the outcomes of my tenure. Provide feedback on what has been achieved and any areas that may need further attention.
- Final report: Prepare a final report summarising achievements, challenges faced, and recommendations for the future. This helps in providing a clear picture of the current state and the next steps.
- Smooth transition: I make myself available for a short period after the official handover to answer any questions and ensure a smooth transition. This can help in maintaining continuity and supporting the new permanent hire.
Taking on an interim role brings plenty of challenges, but I enjoy having the opportunity to come in and effect positive change in a relatively short space of time. I’m looking forward to my first interim post with Halpin clients!
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.