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We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

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Case study

Esteem: securing a space for young adults

How our Advisory team supported youth charity Esteem to purchase a base for young people.

Project snapshot

Who

Youth charity, Esteem 

What

Providing charity advisory services to help smaller charities realise their fundraising potential.

Why

To secure the charity’s base for the long-term and support young people.

How

Charity advisory

The cause

The idea behind Esteem, a charity based in Shoreham-on-Sea on the Sussex coast, was sparked by Chief Officer, Cat Vizor’s mother – an experienced and committed foster carer. She recognised that when people reach the age of 18, they are left to find their next steps in life alone, and with little or no support.  

Esteem offers a range of help, with a variety of free group activities and one-to-one support available to those aged 14-26. A core focus is to provide attendees with a safe space, built around each young person’s needs and the tenets of trust, support and respect.

“Young adults come in and we’ll cook, or they will cook, and we all eat together,” Cat explains. 

Young people can also access:

  • A mentoring programme.
  • Help to secure work experience by volunteering for the charity or undertaking paid positions.
  • A wellbeing project, providing free counselling and general wellbeing advice and support.

The charity manages to keep its founding ethos front and central, “We still maintain that family feel – and that’s what young adults say – that it has a homely feel, especially the building. It’s run by, and for, young adults as much as possible,” says Cat.

The objectives 

Unsurprisingly, this all depends on Esteem having a robust base. Currently, the charity is housed in a property owned by Adur and Worthing Council in West Sussex. But the building, a haven for hundreds of young people, is under threat of being sold due to being unsustainable because of its age and character. 

Finding a way to secure it for the long-term was the focus of Esteem’s collaboration with CAF’s Impact Advisory team, as part of the Lloyds Bank Foundation’s development support programme.


Our support

Following a referral from the Foundation, CAF works with programme participants – like Esteem – to help them strengthen their resilience. This includes guidance from the expert CAF advisory team, using their in-depth sector knowledge and experience, on how the charities can diversify, develop and increase their income. 

The advisory team tailor their support to suit each individual organisation’s needs. For Esteem, this involved exploring how they could secure the long-term future of their home base, purchasing it themselves via a community asset transfer from Adur and Worthing Council. 

For this to happen, Esteem would need to raise around £500,000 – the equivalent of their annual income – within 12 months of the building being put on sale.

“This is an amazing opportunity as well as a hugely daunting task,” says Cat. “We’ve never had to think about owning a building, let alone raising money for one”. 

Our advisers worked with Cat and her colleagues, alongside Esteem’s Trustees to help them establish and embed a more intentional culture of philanthropy within their organisation – bringing together senior leaders, employees, young people and wider stakeholders to drive their fundraising goals and help them secure the future of the charity’s base as a team. 

This advisory support comprised: 

  • Delivering sector-benchmarking and prospect research to generate insight, ideas and challenge, as well as share best-practice examples.
  • Co-creating a strategic fundraising plan, designed to realise the charity’s fundraising potential.

“I think charities can struggle to find that business focus because we are focused on the day-to-day and the young people we’re supporting. But we’ve had some amazing sessions with the CAF advisers.

“I'm very creative, as a CEO, however, I struggle with structure and systems and processes. CAF has really helped us to move forward.

The impact

CAF’s strategic expertise gave Esteem the space, insights and frameworks they needed to set out a strong case for funding support, as well as key messaging that aligned with their values and would work with their target audiences.

“The major donor and corporate fundraising support that CAF’s Advisory team has given us has been transformational,” says Cat. 

“As a small charity, it's a struggle to know where to start, but because of the excellent tailored sessions they facilitated for our employees and Trustees, we are now equipped with tools, a clear plan, and the confidence to achieve our fundraising campaign goals”. 

In the months since, Esteem has put together a steering committee to help them drive their campaign, and their plans are gaining momentum. Although it’s still early days, the charity has also been able to win the Council’s backing and progress new funding opportunities. 

And Cat hopes Esteem’s relationship with CAF can continue, “CAF’s advisers have given us a really strong foundation to build on. Being able to talk about their involvement felt like we had had a rubber stamp when we had any conversations with stakeholders such as the council and high net-worth individuals we are trying to engage”.

“As for the future, I’m hoping that our relationship stays strong”.

 

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