DNDi

Context

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) was born out of the frustration of doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) who found themselves unable to treat patients suffering from tropical diseases because of a lack of suitable drugs. A radical approach to research and development, DNDi is a not-for-profit organisation seeking to discover safe and effective treatments for the 1.7 billion people (of whom 1 billion are children) who face the threat of tropical diseases.

Working with over 200 partners worldwide, many providing pro bono research personnel and facilities, DNDi had delivered 13 new treatments which saved millions of lives. Until recently, DNDi had been largely funded by governments, institutional donors, and large foundations such as the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with private sector donors contributing only a small percentage of annual funding.

To meet its ambition of delivering 25 treatments in 25 years, DNDi needed to secure an additional €600 million by 2028.

Challenge

As part of this ambitious fundraising goal, DNDi wished to attract significantly greater philanthropic support from private sector donors. Whilst the organisation had developed a clear and detailed plan for increasing funding from these donors, they needed compelling fundraising materials that would resonate with this new audience and effectively communicate DNDi’s unique model and life-saving impact.

Solution

We applied our Discovery Process to understand how DNDi was perceived by key stakeholder groups – including existing private donors, supporters and external advisers – and how those within the organisation would present the story. We also identified internal and external factors that might influence the potential for this fundraising to be realised.

The findings from this comprehensive research were then used to inform the development of a range of new fundraising materials tailored specifically to engage private sector philanthropists and support DNDi’s €600 million fundraising ambition.