About John Regan Associates
About John Regan Associates
JRA is a small company that ‘obsesses’ on the acquisition of external funding for zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens and similar organisations in the UK and across Europe, as well as for in situ conservation projects. We also help represent relevant sectoral interests in dialogue with governments, and are currently assisting BIAZA in a repositioning exercise vis-à-vis Westminster. We often operate on a sector wide basis (in both the UK and Europe) in terms of ‘funding advocacy’ to improve the overall ‘fundability’ of zoos, botanic gardens, and their like. JRA put together the Manifesto for Zoos in 2005 and more recently an Economic Impact Assessment for the UK zoo sector, both of which you can download for free from this site.
JRA brings together funding specialists, economists, curatorial experts, science educators, researchers, writers , conservation scientists and other relevant practitioners, as a given project may require.
So how can we help you?
Well pretty much by “getting you money”…!
But more specifically:
• By working on an intensive and strategic basis to help organisations position themselves for major external capital investment and to secure a given multi-pound funding package;
• By compiling one-off bids;
• By compiling simple economic impact assessments – these are important for sites looking to position themselves for public funding
• By persuading your government authority you are worth investing in (…perhaps for reasons and in ways that neither party may have thought of…)
• By helping you conceptualise and design your new site, or new exhibit or other project in such a way that the project has ‘fundability’ written into its very DNA from the outset
• By analysing and objectively measuring the sponsorship value of your project or other property so you can maximise value in a new sponsorship dialogue. Or increase it within an existing annually renewable sponsorship relationship
• By headhunting figures from the first rank of business or politics to join your trust board or informal advisory group so as to radically increase your organisation’s influence amongst the funding and political establishment
• By finding a celebrity or other figure to launch your project, thus attracting decision makers and funders to your standard and winning publicity for your site.
• By helping to organise an event at a prestigious central London event (such as the House of Lords) targeting high net worth individuals to catapult your fundraising forward
• By visiting your site to carry out a short, inexpensive workshop to set you on the rails to do your own fundraising or add to your existing work. We have done this for Sofia Zoo (Bulgaria); Nordens Ark ( Sweden); Wroclaw Zoo (Poland). Shortly after our workshop for Skansen, that organisation brought home its first very large sponsorship of nearly €4 million.
John has some 18 years experience in funding issues. He formerly set up and led Chester’s Zoo development office, negotiating a $3 million sponsorship from Jaguar Cars, initiating the ‘Superzoo’ dialogue with NWDA, and was instrumental in lobbying for the recouping of VAT tax owed to UK zoos. More recently we assisted Twycross Zoo with a £1.2 million grant from HSBC and won £3 million to establish the Himalaya project in Leicestershire.
Our informal advice on the phone is entirely free 00 44 (0)161 434 1681 – whether or not it leads to any professional association
