Page 1 Bonus Assignment You are the new Director of Development, hired to assist the Offord Centre for Child Studies to meet its Resource Development goals. The Board has asked you to develop a report that outlines a 5 –year strategy that will work towards meeting the goals mentioned above. What recommendations will you make to the Board? The following questions will serve as a guide to developing your strategy: • What research will you undertake prior to developing the strategy and the implementation plan” • Who will you involve and/or consult in the process? • What types of fund raising and revenue development techniques would work best for this organization? • What sources of funding seem to be the most appropriate for the Offord Centre? • How much do you think can realistically be raised over the next 5 years? • What do you need from the Board of Directors? From the staff? From the University? From the Hospital? • How will you implement the strategy? What steps need to be taken? What will you include in your action plan? • What resources – financial and human – will you need to execute the strategy? What will it cost (budget) to implement your recommendations? • Report format: Typewritten Report (this is not an academic paper per se but a Report to the Board) No longer than 10 pages, not less than 6 Use charts, bullet points and graphs to help illustrate your recommendations Background Page 2 The Offord Centre for Child Studies is a research centre affiliated with McMaster Children’s Hospital and McMaster University. The centre’s research focuses on identifying the factors of healthy child development. Vision The Offord Centre for Child Studies will generate new knowledge to improve the mental health of children and youth. Mission The Offord Centre for Child Studies leads the search for solutions that enhance the mental health of children by: Leading scientific research that influences programs, policies and solutions that improve children’s life opportunities; Forging partnerships with key stakeholders and policy-makers to apply research findings through families and communities to have maximum positive impact on children’s development; Training the next generation of scientists and policy makers to carry on this mission. The areas of research are: 1. Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders 2. Community Intervention Programs 3. Early Years Development 4. Family Violence 5. School Intervention 6. Social Determinants of Child Health Founded in 1992 by renowned child psychiatrist, Dr. Dan Offord, the Offord Centre has earned a strong national and international reputation for the quality of its research into children at risk and children’s mental health. Today, the Centre has over 40 staff working on some 20 research projects. The Centre is guided by a volunteer board of 16 Directors made up of representatives from the hospital and the university as well as business people including Toronto and Ottawa and the local community. The Offord Centre has three major goals: 1. Leading academic and scientific research on healthy child development 2. Sharing research findings to ensure that results are translated into action 3. Training the next generation of scientists that fosters professional collaboration, mentoring and public education. Page 3 The Offord Centre has been very successful in moving ahead with goals #1 and 3 although there is a feeling that more can be done to train emerging scientists. Goal #2 has been more difficult to achieve as it is dependent on fundraising for resources and to date, funds have been focused almost exclusively on core operations and administration. Major Sources of Funding: Allocation of Revenue: Research Grants 66% Fund Raising 7% McMaster University 21% Hamilton Health Sciences Page 4 Resource Development: Since it began in 1992, the Offord Centre has been very successful in obtaining research grants; it has experienced considerably less success in fundraising. o The first Director of Development was hired in the Centre’s 9 th year of operation. A comprehensive development process was initiated and results were starting to be experienced. Included in the efforts were: a Board campaign, an annual direct mail campaign, several special events, and foundation grant writing. After five years, the Director of Development left to take up a position elsewhere. o After two years with no Development staff, the Offord Centre contracted a fund raising consultant who undertook a comprehensive feasibility study and planning initiative. Under the consultant’s direction, a $2 million fund raising effort was started. The effort focussed almost exclusively on foundation grants intended to provide capacity building funds for the Centre so that a new Director of Development could be hired. While a few grants were realized, this effort fizzled out after nearly two years showing marginal results. o In the intervening years, the Board of Directors raised funds through one major golf event that raised about $150,000 net per year and through ad-hoc corporate and foundation approaches by board contacts. Some years, members of the Board of Directors made large personal gifts to the Centre to assure the annual budget was met. Fund Raising History: Contributed Income 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Faculty Office Space Research Projects Staff Costs Other Fundraising Research Grants Hamilton Health Sciences McMaster University Page 5 2007 2008 2009 2010 4 Yr. Average Board 0 0 21,750 0 $5,437.50 Individuals 8,855 6,350 22,430 5,675 $10,827.50 Corporations 46,095 2,701 38,857 10,338 $24,497.86 Foundations 16,600 15,000 61,000 0 $23,150.50 Clubs/Groups 702 0 2,289 4,099 $1,772.57 Special Events 152,328 45,819 28,452 9,014 $58,903.25 Golf-A-Thon 128,008 231,982 180,136 215,027 $188,788.25 Grants 227,824 2,300 226,521 66,300 $130,736.38 TOTAL $580,412.48 $304,152.69 $559,684.84 $310,453.23 $438,675.81 Resource Development Goals The Board feels that a major effort must be undertaken to stabilize funding for the Centre. The dream is to build up a $10 million endowment fund to provide a stable source of annual funds for the Centre to draw upon. In addition, there is a key requirement to fund a new research chair, which will take an additional $2 million. There is also a need to raise about $400,000 per year to cover the annual operations not funded through the University, Hospital or Research Grants.