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Not content with achieving ‘rugby legend’ status during an illustrious sporting career, in 2009 Lawrence set up The Dallaglio Foundation, whose aim is to identify, support and raise funds for cancer and youth development causes that will change lives through teamwork.

And because Lawrence applies the same dedication to his charity work as he did to his sporting career, the organisation has gone from strength to strength, and last year began the search for a CRM and fundraising system to support its various programmes and operations and to ensure all their supporters had a positive experience with the charity.

Despite its high profile figurehead, The Dallaglio Foundation is run by a small, dedicated team with little network infrastructure. The priority for the team was to find a cost effective, hosted solution which had standard functionality that would suit their needs.

The modular nature of thankQ meant that The Dallaglio Foundation was able to buy the fundraising, CRM, finance and events modules to meet their immediate needs, adding on functionality as the organisation continues to flourish.

CEO, Rachel Roxburgh said of the decision, ‘The Dallaglio Foundation is all about achieving through teamwork. thankQ not only gave us the functionality we were looking for as standard, for the whole team, at an affordable price, but also worked with our IT supplier to agree a suitable hosted solution’.

http://www.dallagliofoundation.com/

The aim of the Catalyst funding is to offer organisations ‘the opportunity to move their fundraising and development expertise on to the next level, whatever their current starting point’.

Unsurprisingly, many culture organisations have recognised that in order to develop their fundraising processes and to create real business efficiencies, they need to invest in fundraising software, and we are delighted that so many culture organisations have shown an interest in thankQ software during their selection process.

thankQ software has been designed solely for the not for profit sector and is perfect for marketing, fundraising and membership. thankQ is ideal for arts and culture organisations from theatre groups to galleries and museums, ballet companies to orchestras.  

The closing date for the £55m worth of Catalyst Endowment funding has now passed and we wish everyone who applied for funding the very best of luck.

However, arts and heritage organisations can still apply for the £30m Catalyst Arts funding Scheme (closing date 31 January 2012) and for  Catalyst Arts and Catalyst Heritage fundraising capacity building grants (applications open: 1 April 2012).

We would be happy to provide information, cost estimates and advice for any arts organisation applying for funding through the Catalyst programme with the specific aim of investing in fundraising software.

Yet that is just the position thankQ application developer Michael Hutchinson found himself in as he gamely volunteered to take the starring role in the thankQ festive challenge, which the company took on as part of its Leicestershire Cares membership.

Having already completed a gardening team challenge over the summer, the festive challenge called for a completely different range of skills, as we were tasked with organising a Christmas party for 16 children with a range of learning difficulties at Glebe House in Loughborough.

thankQ Sales and Marketing Assistant, Laura Houghton was an obvious choice as team leader, using all of her creative and skills to ensure the party was a great success.  As well as a glitter strewn crafts table, the children took part in a lively game of pass the parcel, before hitting the dance floor with the thankQ team, who showed off some pretty neat dance moves. True to her name and role, thankQ support team member Angela Hart made a special connection with a young girl who did not make friends easily and liked lots of space around her. By the end of the day, she was holding hands and dancing with Angela, to the amazement of some of the centre staff. Eventually, a very nervous Santa made an appearance and was an instant hit. He spoke to all of the children as a group and individually by name, making them all feel very special.

Team Leader, Laura Houghton said of the experience ‘It was remarkably rewarding for me and I think everyone in my team. I’d happily do it every year and the feedback from the children was priceless’.

The festive challenge marks the end of a full and rewarding year working with Leicestershire Cares on various volunteering programmes. These have included individual volunteering opportunities helping students with their literacy, numeracy and interview skills. In addition we have taken part in two team challenges, which have been very different in nature. The broad range of skills needed for each of these these activities has ensured that 88% of thankQ staff felt able to get involved in one or more activity.

We are planning to do it all again this year and look forward to seeing what challenges Leicestershire Cares has in store for us. Elf, anyone?

I suspect that most of the thankQ staff who volunteered to take part in the Leicestershire Cares ‘Go for Reading’ scheme had their own reservations about being able to commit to a long term programme, even as they were putting their names down to take part!

thankQ joined the Leicestershire Cares scheme in 2011 following a long search for suitable volunteering opportunities. Leicestershire Cares delivers a broad range of flexible local programmes which organisations can choose to get involved with, taking into account the skills of their workforce, their ability to run programmes in-house or within the community and the level of volunteering they are able to commit to.

thankQ took on several individual and team volunteering opportunities, both ongoing and one-off, to provide enough variety to enable as many staff as possible to take part. 15 staff took part in ongoing programmes in local secondary schools, assisting students with literacy, numeracy and interview skills. An additional 23 staff volunteered for the team challenges; a school gardening project, and a Christmas Party for schoolchildren with learning disabilities. To date, 88% of thankQ staff have taken part in one or more volunteering opportunities through Leicestershire Cares alone.

 4 thankQ volunteers are taking part in the ‘Go for Reading’ programme which involves visiting a local secondary school for an hour a week to read with a selection of year 7 students with special education needs.

We were proud and delighted to see just how far the students have progressed in the last 26 weeks, not just in terms of their reading skills, but in their self confidence, behaviour and self-belief. In the latest feedback, the school reports that 75% of those involved have increased their reading age by 1 year, 12.5% have remained consistent and 12.5% have increased their reading age by a staggering 3 years. Significantly self-esteem and confidence has improved in 88% of children.

The children have also commented that they now enjoy reading more and feel happier about reading aloud in class. Most said that reading makes them feel happier.

One thankQ volunteer, Peter Conway commented that the most rewarding aspect of the programme for him was getting to know the children and seeing their confidence grow week on week. Oh, and getting the chance to show off his range of accents during the play readings!

For many years, thankQ has been demonstrating its commitment to society with environmental initiatives which include green commuting and taking part in the annual National Forest Business Benefit tree planting scheme - as well as supporting the local community through its membership of Leicestershire Cares. However, this is the first initiative that seeks to fulfil the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility within the third sector.

Rose Farris, CSR Manager at thankQ told us: ‘CSR is certainly not a box ticking exercise. thankQ people take great pride in working for a company that genuinely believes in giving back. It’s part of the fabric of who we are’.

CEBF was launched in 2009 to support the 600,000 plus charity employees in the UK. In a sector which is largely dependent on funding, salaries are generally low and without the additional benefits commonly available to the rest of the UK workforce. As a result, the sector is especially hard-hit in times of recession. CEBF provides advice and financial assistance in times of hardship, acting as a safety net for charity employees and their families when in need.

As a relatively young organisation, the CEBF will start with a single user system to assist in its CRM, fundraising, mailing and donor management processes, trust application processes and grant administration, and will add functionality as the organisation matures.

John Bird, Managing Director of thankQ said: ‘As thankQ operates almost exclusively in the not for profit sector it can be difficult to find opportunities to demonstrate goodwill towards causes which do not appear unfair to our existing customers. We feel that the CEBF’s role, with the potential to provide benefit to all of our customers as individuals, gives us a great opportunity to give something back to the sector’.

Grant–giving organisations are an extremely diverse group, with no two organisations operating in the same way. However, thankQ has significant experience in providing tailored CRM solutions for this market, counting the Civil Society Benevolent Fund, the Bank Workers Charity, the Charity Finance Directors Group, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and BEN amongst its current customers.

In accepting the offer CEBF Chairman, David Preskott said:’CEBF is very grateful to thankQ for recognising the unique role of the Fund in caring for less fortunate people across the entire charity sector. The thankQ system will enable increased efficiency, especially in the areas of grant-making and fundraising which are fundamental to its further development’.

Grant–giving organisations are an extremely diverse group, with no two organisations operating in the same way. However, thankQ has significant experience in providing tailored CRM solutions for this market, counting the Civil Society Benevolent Fund, the Bank Workers Charity, the Charity Finance Directors Group, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and BEN amongst its current customers.

Team bunQ-up will be ably represented by Ben Ashton, Chris Jenkins, Laura Houghton, Lee Darby and Peter Conway. All will be leaving the bosom of their families and the comfort of their beds to spend one night cosying up in a flimsy cardboard box- brrrr!

But let’s not forget that this is the reality for thousands of people every single night. Framework provides a whole host of services to help homeless and vulnerable people get off the streets, get out of the cold and get their lives back.

If you would like to support team bunQ-up, then you can do so via our justgiving page. If you too are taking part in The Big Sleepout on November 10, then come and say hello! And as you lie snuggled up in bed tonight with your head on a soft pillow and your feet on a hot water bottle – do spare a thought for those who are not.