The problem
The foundation supported its members with two people who combined that with programme management. During fundraising campaigns, support degraded exactly when inbound contact peaked, and some member cancellations happened simply because a direct debit query went unresolved.
Grant reporting also consumed part of the programme team's time, which is the team that should be delivering the project.
What we did
Corpshore took on member and donor support and the documentary preparation of grant reporting, on a fixed, transparent budget the foundation could present in its own cost accounts.
The team handles sign-ups, cancellations, direct debit changes and questions about where funds go, which is the question that most affects whether a member stays.
Reporting is prepared against each call's requirements list and handed to the foundation's team for review and signature, without replacing their judgement.
Team shape
Three agents and a part-time lead, with occasional reinforcement during fundraising campaigns.
Timeline
A 30-day pilot on member support, with grant administration added in month three.
Data handling and compliance
The member database holds personal and bank mandate data. Processing outside the European Economic Area rests on standard contractual clauses, with a transfer impact assessment and restricted access: the agent sees the mandate's status, not the full account number.
Results
- 98 %
- Member enquiries answered
- -43 %
- Cancellations from unresolved issues
- -51 %
- Cost of the support function
- +22 h/month
- Programme team hours recovered
Against 64 % when the programme team combined the role.
Measured at twelve months on the same base.
Against the equivalent internal cost in Spain.
By no longer preparing grant documentation.
Figures relate to the period stated in each case and depend on each client's starting point.
Every euro we do not spend on structure goes to programme, and we have to be able to explain that in our accounts. That is why we needed a fixed, transparent budget.