The RSPCA is embarking on a review of its whole fundraising strategy and mix in an effort to boost its income.

The charity will be looking to identify new target audiences, develop new products and examine the gamut of its fundraising activity and products, as well as those of its competitors, as part of an overarching review which will be conducted with consultancy Moving Thinking.

Catherine Cottrell, group head of fundraising at the RSPCA, said: “Ensuring we are meeting existing and new audiences’ needs with fundraising products that bring real value to the RSPCA is central to our strategy.”

Mark Cook, director of Moving Thinking, said that the review should set a framework for the fundraising strategy for many years. “The analysis is across all audiences and products and will give the RSPCA the tools to understand which audiences and products to invest the most in and provide some objectivity for decision-making,” he said. 

According to documents filed with the Charity Commission, the RSPCA has seen a steady increase in income over recent years. Annual reports covering up until December 2009 show the charity experienced a year-on-year increase in income from 2005, ending 2009 with annual income of £119.3m. In 2010, however, year-on-year income from legacies dropped by more than 20 per cent to £59.2m.

According to its latest annual report, the RSPCA lost 6 per cent of donors in 2010, but the value of ‘live donations’ rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year from 2009 to £41.2m.