=mc consulting has worked on this approach with agencies as diverse as London Borough of Brent, British Red Cross and Alzheimer’s Society.
Michael Porter has produced a number of ‘deep thoughts’. But perhaps his most famous is the Five Forces model.
Essentially this is a tool that allows you – at an organisational or ‘business units’ level – to:
Fundraising is essentially all about deciding whether you can effectively operate in a market. So in many ways this model requires relatively little adaptation.
Porter says you can decide what to do in terms of market position by assessing 5 key forces:
Five Forces comes out of Porter’s work on competition at Harvard University. It has been widely used in business – but less so in the public and voluntary sector.
=mc has used it in a number of practical international and national charity settings:
The Five Forces model doesn’t produce an answer – it still requires interpretation. So the easiest way to start is by asking yourself several key questions under each competitive force.
It might also help if you try and keep in mind this diagram.
This shows that all these forces are connected and in a dynamic relationship.
To help make this tool more relevant and useful we’ve used two different examples after each force:
CCC is currently a small provider of ‘relief’ services for parents of children with behavioural difficulties. They have heard that the local authority in the area where they work will be considering whether to continue using the NSC (National Society for Children) to provide residential childcare for children who are in care/looked after. This contract could be worth £5M and could lead to a national series of contracts for CCC. The CEO and senior team are trying to decide what to do.
The easiest way to use the model is to ask some key questions under each force:
To some extent the power of suppliers is complementary to the power of sellers.
Is there significant rivalry among existing competitors? This rivalry can take a number of forms:
For our childcare charity they again might want to consider: how many competitors are there? Are there likely to be many more of these contracts that make it worth bidding? Will they be able to use any newly-trained staff or newly-acquired buildings?
Welcome to another Insight from =mc consulting. These articles are designed to share with you some of the classic and contemporary techniques we’re using to help transform the results of major charities in the UK and internationally. Collect the set!
Even if you don’t want or need Porter’s 5 Forces model, why not let =mc help unlock your fundraising potential?
=mc has a team of unrivalled fundraising consultants able to assist with the biggest and smallest campaigns. Between us we share experience in large charity work, international development, arts and culture, disability and the environment.
=mc consulting have worked with many of the world’s major charities on their strategy. We’re proud to be helping or have helped Oxfam, UNICEF, The World Health Organisation, the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Greenpeace International, WWF, Concern Worldwide and Amnesty International. In the UK, we’ve worked with Imperial War Museum, Alzheimer’s Society, Oxford University, Care, Science Museum and the National Trust for Scotland.
To find out how we’ve helped these organisations achieve their big ideas, reach out to Bernard using the contact details below.
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Clare Segal, Director