One of the few causes that is universal is the importance of a dignified and well-supported end of life. Sadly, in the UK, that is not the experience for many. A recent Marie Curie Report, “Measuring unmet need for palliative care”, highlighted that nearly one in three people – 170,000 people in England and Wales alone – died with unaddressed symptoms or concerns and insufficient access to GP and other health services. Put simply, far too many people are dying isolated, in pain, and without the care and support of people they love around them. Marie Curie exists to change this and, since 2023, More Partnership has been by their side as they strengthen the role of philanthropy in delivering their new organisational strategy.

The brief
Paul Davies, Director of Philanthropy & Partnerships, says: “Data suggest most people needing palliative care want to die at home so Marie Curie’s new strategy focused on delivering a range of services – helplines, highly specialised palliative care nurses and connections to the GP and health system – so that more people could end their lives in the place of their choice.”

“We already had committed friends – donors and volunteers – to call upon, but we also knew we needed to transform both the scale of our fundraising and awareness and openness around the topic through campaigns. We approached More Partnership to help us understand how our major donors saw us and our work, and what we needed to do to make a breakthrough in philanthropic giving. Most of our fundraising is strong and we are loved as a charity brand, but philanthropy just wasn’t an area where we had enjoyed consistent success.”

Insight to shape action
To begin our work with Marie Curie, a More team of partners Simon Pennington and Vérane Castelnau completed a series of interviews with key donors and volunteers to understand their perceptions and motivations in supporting the charity. Many of these committed friends had begun to be involved through fundraising for a Marie Curie Hospice in their community.

“Our interviews were really illuminating” says Vérane. “Everyone can see the system is in crisis, everyone agreed about the need to rewire the system. But there were different views about how to do that, what was the role of an innovative healthcare charity like Marie Curie, and what was the role of the NHS.”

“The interviews were a call to action for me and the team” says Paul. “We had a first-hand view of how our plans were perceived, how we had managed key relationships, but also how the people closest to us had experienced end of life care for the people closest to them. It has led to a change of culture within the team, focused on a deeper understanding of people’s giving motivations.”

Raising the bar for philanthropy
Following the interviews, and the process of refreshing the strategy, Marie Curie created a Development Board led by the chair of the charity, Kevin Parry OBE, and a range of key senior stakeholders have agreed to serve on that.

More Associate, Kitty Hazell, has been supporting the Board and its members for more than a year, helping them to learn more about Marie Curie, consider their own giving, and how they might reach out to others. More’s support reaches across the factors known to make a successful philanthropy programme. Through More’s specialist copywriter, Ben Beaumont, we’ve been working to translate the emerging strategy for Marie Curie into a compelling narrative for major donors. We’ve also spent time with the Philanthropy & Partnerships team to bring creativity and ambition to the development of major donor engagement plans.

The Board has already generated its first six-figure gift, and Kitty has worked with every member individually to plan engagement events, one-to-one approaches and introductions to new potential donors.

The impact of our work
“Marie Curie has ambitious plans, and philanthropy is a necessity if they are going to be delivered” says Paul. “We appreciate More’s support at two levels: advising us on best practice, and approaches and structures that really work. And then also, in Kitty, a highly experienced fundraiser with a strong track record of engaging senior volunteers and ensuring they feel valued, supported, and meaningfully involved.”

Under the leadership of Kevin and Marie Curie CEO, Matthew Reed, the Development Board is creating new networks and energy throughout the Philanthropy & Partnerships team. Members have been generous in their own giving, provided input to the development of the Case for Support, and have been active in offering to host and support Marie Curie events.

Working with More
“Working with More held a mirror up to some of the things we had been doing” says Paul. “The voice of the donor coming into the organisation cut through to some of the ways we needed to change, and the team is more experienced and confident in developing comprehensive engagement plans. Kitty has provided inspiration and organisation to the Board. We feel we’ve moved the organisational dial on philanthropy.”

To find out more about the bespoke support we could provide your organisation, contact us on info@morepartnership.com or 01382 224730.