Short-term, restricted funding
RFSU Stockholm is a local association within RFSU, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education. RFSU is a non-profit, membership-based organization that is independent of political parties and religions. Its mission is to promote a knowledge-based and open approach to sexuality and relationships.
RFSU’s work spans several areas, including sexuality education and public information; efforts to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); and advocacy and public policy. Related activities also include clinical services through the RFSU Clinic in Stockholm, as well as sales of sex- and pleasure-related products through the independent company RFSU AB.
As a non-profit association, RFSU Stockholm is largely funded through public grants, donations and fundraising, and membership fees. This results in uneven, and often restricted, funding. In practice, it makes it difficult to plan long term, test new services and target groups, and drive growth.
RFSU Stockholm therefore needed to explore new revenue opportunities based on its existing capabilities and mission, primarily through new services and new target audiences.
A creative, customer-informed process
To explore potential new revenue streams, RFSU Stockholm engaged CANEA. The work began with a review of prior related efforts, along with interviews with key stakeholders at RFSU Stockholm to establish an initial understanding of needs, challenges, and opportunities.
Next, CANEA facilitated a creative workshop using a product/service/market framework (the Ansoff Matrix) and a carefully selected group of participants to create the right conditions for ideation. After consolidating and analyzing insights from the interviews and workshop, the project team went through several refinement and prioritization rounds to identify and define the most promising new and modified revenue streams.
Finally, the highest-priority concepts were tested with external stakeholders, i.e. potential customers, to validate needs and willingness to pay. Based on these insights, a set of services was selected for RFSU Stockholm to develop further.
New services and target audiences
In total, six new or modified services were identified, each with potential target audiences. Of these, three were assessed as high priority and particularly promising. For all six, CANEA outlined relevant target groups as well as needs, challenges, and opportunities, along with recommendations for how to move each concept forward.
RFSU Stockholm was very pleased with CANEA’s contribution. The timeline was met, the collaboration worked extremely well, and the proposed new and refined services were seen as relevant and promising avenues for broadening the organization’s revenue base.
“The project was engaging and creative, and we see real opportunities. CANEA delivered on every expectation”, says Aurora Brännström, Chair of RFSU Stockholm.
”CANEA understood us, our situation and our needs. They brought new ideas and perspectives, which strengthened our ability to reach new target audiences. It was exactly what we needed.”
Aurora Brännström,
Chair RFSU Stockholm
