Charities and Voluntary Organisations are facing a financial crisis with a double whammy of cuts from government funding and reduced donantions from individuals. The top 400 charities recieve over 43% (£13bn) of the total annual income in the voluntary sector.
As the recession has taken its toll, everyone has cut back on their expenditure. Charities and Voluntary Organisations have been two of the hardest hit sectors, as donations are down, lottery funding has been redirected, and Local Government have reduced their grants. This is a time when there is increasing pressure on voluntary organisations to deliver more than ever with diminishing incomes.
Charities are now focusing on trying to deliver more to frontline services and as a result, they are spending less on administration and infrastructure. Voluntary organisations are now seeking to squeeze as much value as possible from every pound donated.
Wyse Solutions has worked with a number of major charities to review their document production requirements, across both in-house and outsourced functions, and as a result, the money saved has gone into worthy projects that needed investment.
A LEADING CHARITY
This client was formed through a merger, and has become arguably one of the largest charities in its given field, and provides leading edge services to its core market. Following the merger, there was a significant overlap of services, and Wyse Solutions was engaged to initially outsource the print unit.
Over time it became clear that a holistic strategy was required to ensure a consistent procurement and production process in order to achieve the synergies and savings that were obviously available post merger. This covered areas such as high volumes of externally sourced print, and other hard copy activities such as printing, copying, scanning and faxing.
Wyse was subsequently commissioned to advise the procurement team to create a strategy and build a business case for a new, more cost effective and user friendly approach.
The bulk of this client's print expenditure (which ran to millions of pounds per annum), was incurred as a result of its high profile and extensive marketing and fundraising activities. Some of the issues faced by the charity included no pricing benchmark, no visibility of costs as budgets were devolved, and between 100-200 suppliers with no service level agreements in place.
Wyse advised the procurement team on tendering the work to a single supplier, using a Print Management company. The resultant sole supplier arrangement contributed to achieved savings in excess of 25% on the overall print budget, savings which are both tangible and sustainable. Additionally, the Charity enjoyed reduced levels of IT and administrative support for printing as well as improved governance and cost control.