Article Text
Abstract
The role of enterprise in the charity sector is increasingly that of entrepreneur. As the down turn in the economic climate reached the high street so did the realisation that traditional routes of income generation could no longer sustain current patient care provision, nor give scope for future planning and direction.
It was agreed that this was not purely a challenge to the enterprise and income generation team. As an organisation we needed to prioritised time to work together to find fresh ground for innovative and creative income generating opportunities.
An enterprise committee was set up to report to the Board. This is chaired by Chairman of the Trust and consists of Trustees, Fundraising and Retail Directors and income generation staff. The outcome from this united approach is still unfolding.
Key new ideas that the income generation team have taken forward to date include:
▶ Sourcing sponsorship for our web pages
▶ A sponsored DVD about the hospice running in our charity shops
▶ Local businesses being approached to include us on their on- line sales as a charity of choice for their customers at a suggested donation of £1 per transaction.
▶ Major investment of time to sell items on Ebay.
A further outcome from this work is a series of dedicated ‘blue sky’ thinking events. Benefits have included a further integration of the various work strands in the organisation and sense of unity as we “boldly go…….” into the forecasted austerity ahead.
This paper will give an honest presentation of the challenges we have faced and share some of the successes and lessons learned along this journey.