Turning the tide for Action East Devon

Like so many small charities, Action East Devon (AED) struggled to recover from the impact of COVID on its operation. They had lost a key member of staff and were at risk of closing down due to lack of funds.  During one year of pro bono support, the Orchard Fundraising consultancy team enabled AED to turn things around, building a secure funding base for a three-year programme to support young people’s mental health in East Devon.

The first challenge was to bring in enough funding to enable the charity to keep going whilst a long-term strategy and funding bids were developed.  Our team developed a template application to showcase the impact of AED’s work and to allow trustees to start approaching local funders.  This was successful and a steady flow of donations started to come in.

Feedback from AED’s past funders showed that one stream of AED’s work, mentoring in schools, would be hard to fund. Orchard Fundraising supported AED in refocusing their strategy on their original core work, peer support groups.  With this hard decision behind them, the team secured a total of £411k for AED including 3-year funding commitments from BBC Children in Need and The National Lottery’s Reaching Communities fund.

AED’s staff and trustee team meet to launch their new 3-year programme

Chris Botham, Chair of Trustees at AED explains, "Orchard Fundraising quickly understood our situation and developed a practical fundraising plan.  They had great knowledge of potential funders and how to approach them.  At a time when things were looking bleak, they brought a really positive approach, weaving our story and feedback into something that leapt off the page.  They helped us demonstrate the difference that we make and rebuild our confidence in approaching funders."

Our director and principal fundraising consultant Samantha Watson said: "It has been a pleasure to work with Action East Devon.  They do fantastic work and we are proud to have helped them build a secure funding platform for the future."

If you're looking for advice or practical support with your fundraising, get in touch with us at Orchard Fundraising on 07578 222704, send us a message or book in a free discovery call now.