Request for Proposal: Consultancy for Fundraising Strategy

MSI Asia Pacific (MSIAP), its entities and affiliates, are a specialist sexual and reproductive health, non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in Australia, Asia and the Pacific to ensure the fulfilment of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of all people. Our mission is children by choice, not chance, as we believe that reproductive choice has the power to transform lives.

MSIAP is committed to providing family planning, and sexual and reproductive health services and overcoming barriers to access for marginalised individuals and groups including people with a disability. MSI Asia Pacific is the Australia based regional support office for the MSI global partnership. We are a separate legal entity from MSI Reproductive Choices, but share the same global mission.

In Australia, there is another MSI affiliated program which provides abortion and contraceptive services to people in Australia through a network of clinics and telehealth. MSI Australia (previously Marie Stopes Australia or MSA) is distinct from MSIAP.

MSI is active in 37 countries and our courageous service providers currently reach over 75,000 clients every day. Through our global 2030 strategy, MSI has committed to meeting the unmet demand for contraception and unsafe abortion with a particular focus on reaching clients who would otherwise be left behind. The fulfillment of this strategy, necessitates that we increase our global fundraising to deliver substantially over the next 8 years.

About MSI Asia Pacific’s Fundraising

MSI Asia Pacific is currently responsible for fundraising to support country programs in PNG, Timor-Leste and Cambodia. For the last few years, our focus has been on our local region of the Pacific and South-East Asia, mainly because we manage the relationships with Australian and New Zealand Institutional donors who are focused in our immediate region. We have been successful in raising institutional funding for MSI programs across the wider Asia region, but do not actively fundraise to support their programs. We wish to enhance our focus on fundraising and have ambitions to increase our fundraising ambitions and scope.

MSIAP’s fundraising is led by the External Relations (ER) team. The remit of the ER team covers policy, advocacy, external relations, communications and other functions, but most team members are either focused entirely on, or have some responsibility for, securing funding. In 2021, MSIAP had its best overall fundraising result ever, due in part to a COVID-19 related Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funding opportunity which is unlikely to be repeated.

The ER team consists of five people (4.0 full-time equivalents) as below:

-One person responsible for raising funds from HNWI, trusts, foundations and bequests.

-Two people focused on digital fundraising, community fundraising, communications, brand awareness and other supporting activities, especially on individual giving and digital content.

-One person focused on institutional donors, with a particular focus on DFAT, and

-The director who oversees the team, and leads on external and DFAT engagement.

Other MSIAP teams’ involvement in fundraising includes:

-Donor stewardship as a shared responsibility between external relations and programs.

-Senior management support on donor management of several HNWIs.

-The programs team lead on program management and reporting.

We have an excellent track record and reputation with the Australian Government Aid program through DFAT, but we are highly reliant on this as the main funder in the region. Around 65-95% of our annual fundraising comes from DFAT, and the total amount secured annually varies significantly based on timing of key tenders. To mitigate against the risks of DFAT dependence, we want to grow our other fundraising streams. Our fundraising from the Australian public, HNWI and trusts and foundation has increased in the past 4 years but has plateaued and remains modest overall.

MSIAP has a website and social media channels and does digital marketing to raise funds from the Australian public. In early 2022 we launched a community fundraising platform, and we are also interested to explore workplace giving, brand partnerships, cause marketing and influencer marketing to encourage diverse income streams. We have also had a bequest program, which was paused in 2020, 2021 due to COVID-19 related sensitivities.

MSIAP faces a number of challenges that impact on our fundraising strategy and success and we are keen to get support from an external expert to review our current approaches and help us plan to grow our fundraising. Relevant information and data will be included in a background brief which will be made available to the successful consultant(s).