Measuring your return on investment (ROI) in fundraising can help you to evaluate your performance, predict future income and budget more effectively. And if this seems really complicated, it doesn't have to be.

For Episode 6, I interviewed career fundraiser Caroline Danks, who recently published a report gathering return on investment data across the charity sector. Caroline and I discussed what exactly ROI means, and why some people resist measuring it, but why it's so important for good fundraising, budgeting and strategic planning.

Caroline explains to listeners how to:

1. Put in place a system for measuring ROI (including how to categorise income and measure time spent in different areas)
2. Benchmark your performance against others in the sector, and use this as a point of comparison for evaluating performance and predicting future income
3. Use the information in Caroline's report to look for 'missed opportunities', for example legacy fundraising

You can download Caroline's report on fundraising ROI, called The Calm Before The Storm, from LarkOwl's website: https://larkowl.uk/fundraising-benchmarking-2019/

See also this blog where I shared some previous thoughts on fundraising ROI: https://www.limegreenconsulting.co.uk/blog/building-a-business-case-for-investing-in-fundraising

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