Before you start: setting up your Self Audit
Thank you for buying a Self Audit. This page covers who should answer, how long it takes and how the screens work. It takes about four minutes to read.
Why one person answers
A Self Audit is answered by one person. That keeps it quick and keeps the cost down, and the report has one clear point of view to work from.
It also means the report shows how the system looks from one chair. The report says so on its first page, and we come back to it in the guide on answering well. A Guided Audit gathers views from several people, if you want that later.
Choosing who answers
Pick the person who sees the most of fundraising from end to end. In most charities that's the director or head of fundraising. Sometimes it's the chief executive, especially in a smaller organisation where they hold the income targets.
A good respondent can say how decisions about fundraising really get made. They know where the strategy lives, who signs off budgets, how data is used and how the team works with other departments. They needn't know every detail, but they should see across the whole of it and be willing to describe it plainly.
If you're unsure between two people, choose the one closer to the day-to-day work. Then ask the other to look over some of the answers before you submit. Guide 3 explains how.
How much time to set aside
There are about 50 questions, one per screen. Most people take between 30 and 45 minutes to answer them. Block out 45 minutes in your diary and treat it like a meeting you can't move.
Gathering documents takes extra time, and that varies a lot. If you know where your strategy, accounts and risk register live, it might be 15 minutes. If you need to ask colleagues, give it a day or two. Guide 2 has a checklist.
Signing in
You sign in with a code we email to you. It goes to the address you used to buy the Self Audit. There's no password to remember.
If the code doesn't arrive within a few minutes, check your junk folder. Some charity email systems hold messages from new senders. If it still hasn't come, write to hello@fundraisingsystemaudit.com from the same address.
Moving through the questions
Each screen asks one question. Your answers save as you go, so you can stop and come back at any time. The progress bar shows how far you are through.
A few keys make it quicker:
- Enter saves your answer and moves to the next question.
- Shift and Enter together start a new line inside an answer.
- Letter keys pick an option where the question gives you a choice.
If you get interrupted
Close the window and go. Everything you've answered so far is saved. When you sign in again, you'll pick up where you left off.
If you've been away for a while, it can help to read back over your last few answers before carrying on, to get back into the same frame of mind.
What we'll never ask for
We'll never ask for supporter data. Please don't upload names, contact details or giving records of individual donors, even inside a larger document. Guide 2 explains how to remove them.
No document is required. If something doesn't exist, that's useful to know, and the report will say so.
Changing your mind
If you decide not to go ahead, you can have a full refund at any time before you submit your answers, within 30 days of buying. Once you've submitted, we start work on your report.
Your next step
Put 45 minutes in your diary now, ideally within the next week, and decide who will answer.