I’ve written about this before, but some topics deserve revisiting.
Two recent conversations brought this one back. One was with an existing client who has finally decided to tackle some of the data management issues I’ve been harping on about for a while. The other was with an old contact who asked me for costs for some data work. It’s not a huge project, but for a small charity they’ll need to apply for external funding to make it happen.
Different situations. Same question: How do you position the argument when you’re asking for money to fund data projects?
What struck me was that the external application will almost certainly be stronger than the internal one. Why? Because external applications are built around need, outcomes, evidence and benefit. Internal requests often become: “We need £x to clean the data.”
That’s not the real ask. The real ask is:
• Reduce risk.
• Reduce cost.
• Increase income.
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we borrow from our Trust Fundraisers? Imagine treating your own organisation like a funder. Research what has been approved before. Understand priorities. Frame the request around outcomes. Demonstrate impact. Show what happens if you do nothing.
Data projects rarely fail because they don’t have value. They fail because they’re presented as cost.
With the help of our trusty Trust people, could we change the conversation from asking for money to protecting income, reducing risk and creating capacity? That feels like a very different ask.
I’ve got some space over the coming months to help teams build business cases for data, CRM and process projects – turning “we need budget” into something that’s easier to support.
And if you know a team struggling to get buy-in for data work, I’d really appreciate an introduction.
#CharityData #Fundraising #CRM #BusinessCase #DataGovernance #ChangeManagement #CharitySector