Case Studies

Fundraising Consultancy and Creative Services

Historically most projects, including the two examples, last between 12 and 18 months.

  • An international relief and development organisation approached TMW for help because to date it had not undertaken any medium to long term fundraising planning, but had simply been issuing newsletters at regular intervals.

    Working with senior members of the management team, TMW helped the organisation understand supporter motivation and used this information to develop a strategic plan.

    Over the year, the results included an increase of 53% in the number of first time gifts and 200% in the value of first time gifts, compared to the previous year. And the overall number of donations increased by nearly 19% compared with the previous year.

  • A mission with a stagnant, tending towards downward response from its supporters approached TMW for help. The result of consultancy and training in the writing and presentation of materials resulted in an increase of 30% in the number of gifts and 146% in the number of first-time gifts compared with the previous year.

    Database Consultancy

  • A mission with no organised supporter data reporting structure approached TMW for help. Help was given to develop appropriate codes and reports so that the impact of communication planning on supporter response could be clearly seen. The information derived enabled trends to be reviewed and appropriate decisions taken.

  • Inconsistent data capture practice over many years caused a Christian organisation to be in a position where the investment it had made in an expensive proprietary database was being almost worthless. Reports could not easily be produced, and mailing and other communication projects were difficult to manage.

    TMW was able to extract data from the programme concerned, clean and restructure it, and then re-import the data and provide clear data entry protocols to ensure that future work did not result in similar problems.

    The organisation was then able to gain good benefit from the database investment they had made.

  • A mission whose supporter involvement records had not been computerised was helped to identify a suitable proprietary database, undertake data entry from handwritten record cards, and understand how to use the information provided by the programme to plan supporter relationship development.

    Operational Model

  • Key strategic partnerships to maximise effectiveness and avoid duplication or distractions. A key example is the relationship with Global Connections (formerly Evangelical Missionary Alliance) which has been achieved through membership and also through the appointment of GC’s director to the board of TMW Trust.
        a. To date this partnership has enabled
            i. significant fact-finding research amongst GC members
            ii. development of training programmes for leaders of mission agencies
            iii. development of framework for research into the support of overseas mission by UK churches
        b. Opportunities for further partnerships are always sought.
  • Support for individual organisations via:
        a. Fundraising and communication consultancy
        b. Strategic development and structural planning
  • Support for key leaders at board, CEO or head of department (in large orgs) level, to provide a personal sounding board and consultancy.
  • Theological workshops to generate discussion in the “world mission” community about the difference between what is biblical and what is culturally bound and how a biblical concept of responsibility before God has an impact on how organisations approach fundraising, supporter development and relationships with local church.
  • Public and private training events for mission agency staff and local churches.
  • Research concerning practice and experience of mission societies to establish a basis for mutual learning among Christian organisations.

    • Links

    Some comments from clients of The Message Works


    “Thanks for helping us get our communications back on track.” Andy Prescott, Direct Response Manager, MAF UK


    “The Message Works enabled us to move from being a small mission agency to one with a defined profile, a clear communications strategy and a growing supporter base. We could not have achieved this without your support and expertise.” Peter Farley, France Mission Trust.


    “I appreciated your time, and wise counsel.” Peter Fabian, CEO, ACET.(Aids Care Education and Training)

    Free web templates by Nuvio – Our tip: Webdesign, Webhosting