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Helping UNHCR support of millions of forcibly displaced people

Helping UNHCR support of millions of forcibly displaced people

Since 2016, Bain has been supporting UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in its mission to safeguard the rights and wellbeing of people forced to flee their homes due to violence, persecution, war, or disaster. Bain increased its level of support in 2022 to help UNHCR refine its private sector partnerships strategy and provide even more help.

These teams helped UNHCR improve private-sector fundraising.

Bain consultants, capability experts, and designers helped UNHCR understand its markets and partners to ultimately generate additional donations to support even more people.

These teams helped UNHCR improve private-sector fundraising.

Bain consultants, capability experts, and designers helped UNHCR understand its markets and partners to ultimately generate additional donations to support even more people.

Bain Capability Network (BCN)

The BCN team helped the team conduct additional analysis by researching the private sector donation potential for several countries.

These teams helped UNHCR improve private-sector fundraising.

Bain consultants, capability experts, and designers helped UNHCR understand its markets and partners to ultimately generate additional donations to support even more people.

General Consulting

Bain consultants have run several cases to help UNHCR define and refine its fundraising strategy for private sector donations. The consulting team conducted research to assess fundraising potential and recommend a donor engagement strategy.

These teams helped UNHCR improve private-sector fundraising.

Bain consultants, capability experts, and designers helped UNHCR understand its markets and partners to ultimately generate additional donations to support even more people.

Innovation & Design

Collaborating with the consulting team, I&D designed several of UNHCR’s digital/ self-serve donation journeys.

These teams helped UNHCR improve private-sector fundraising.

Bain consultants, capability experts, and designers helped UNHCR understand its markets and partners to ultimately generate additional donations to support even more people.

  • Bain Capability Network (BCN)

    The BCN team helped the team conduct additional analysis by researching the private sector donation potential for several countries.

  • General Consulting

    Bain consultants have run several cases to help UNHCR define and refine its fundraising strategy for private sector donations. The consulting team conducted research to assess fundraising potential and recommend a donor engagement strategy.

  • Innovation & Design

    Collaborating with the consulting team, I&D designed several of UNHCR’s digital/ self-serve donation journeys.

Background

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, helps people across 137 countries and territories. It provides a wide range of services that help people displaced from their homes settle in a safe place, far from conflict or those trying to harm them, rapidly deliver life-saving supplies and mobilize expert staff to protect them. UNHCR helps ensure they have documentation, shelter, food, water, access to medical care, and help to find missing family members. Bain has a longstanding, ongoing partnership with UNHCR dating back to 2016, when Bain helped it with a range of strategic and tactical projects.

In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million for the first time. Bain increased its support to help UNHCR in several areas, including efforts to improve its partnerships strategy and attract more donations to deliver on its mission.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine also added urgency to the work. Nearly one-third of Ukrainians were forced to flee their homes and by the end of 2022; an estimated 5.9 million people were internally displaced, while nearly 5.7 million refugees and asylum-seekers from Ukraine were recorded across Europe. The war also created additional humanitarian and macroeconomic crises such as food shortages, trade disputes, and fuel shortages which could, in turn, trigger additional refugees. In response, UNHCR significantly scaled up operations in Ukraine and refugee-hosting States and, together with partners, providing assistance to some 4.3 million people inside Ukraine, and 1.5 million refugees outside Ukraine. Support from the private sector injects new and vital energy into UNHCR’s work, in addition to much-needed financial resources. Some of the world’s leading companies, foundations and philanthropists are already helping UNHCR to maximize its impact and improve its capacity to make a difference.

The plan

Against this backdrop, and to be able to support an increasing number of refugees, UNHCR requested Bain’s support to evaluate the strategic potential of various markets for private sector engagement, and to understand private donors’ primary motivations and propensity to support. This allowed UNHCR to prioritize the highest potential regions and segments and prioritize donor groups to reach out to.

Bain teams conducted various market analyses that included: 

Market entry assessment: A prioritized list of markets for potential entry 

Segment assessment: A list of target donor groups within each country 

Donor engagement assessment: Designing an optimal donor journey   

These reviews were tailored to specific markets and aiming to address critical questions, for example:  

  • Which markets presented the best opportunity to engage donors?

  • Which factors could UNHCR use to prioritize those opportunities?

  • How would UNHCR engage with key donor groups?

  • Could UNHCR improve its existing digital donation process?

The approach

A tailored approach addressed the specific questions for each market based on the level of UNHCR’s current presence. In particular: 

  • For markets where UNHCR is currently not present, Bain consultants and BCN conducted an outside-in market assessment (attractiveness and feasibility). For prioritized markets, Bain proposed an operating model to optimize UNHCR effectiveness and efficiency 
  • For markets where UNHCR is currently present, but at a smaller scale, Bain consultants and BCN conducted assessments to prioritize different market segments for partnership. That was done through an outside-in segment assessment and benchmarked against UNHCR data and case studies 
  • For markets where UNHCR is currently present at scale, and following the Ukraine refugee crisis, the focus was on assessing potential for donor retention, following a surge of donations received for the Ukraine emergency. This was done by conducting primary research, translating it into pragmatic recommendations. Based on those recommendations, I&D teams worked together with UNHCR to redesign donor journeys – find practical changes that would enable better engagement and retained interest 

The support

Bain’s work helped UNHCR confirm priority markets and priority segments. In specific markets, Bain helped UNHCR redefine its donor segments, engagement models, and journeys. Bain’s support included: 

Locations

Bain teams from multiple offices around the world supported UNHCR:

Locations

Bain teams from multiple offices around the world supported UNHCR: