Thank You, Thank You!

January 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Two little words that are probably the most important in the whole arsenal of tools, techniques and tips available to fundraisers.  If anyone gives you support – no matter how small – say thank you.  Don’t leave it months until you finally mail out a response to their gift, don’t add them to a mailing list for a future event as a thank you.  Get the gift, add their details to your database and send out a thank you letter as soon as possible.

Of course, you may not have the resources to write tailored, individual thank you letters to every donor you have – particularly if you have a large number – but you should at least endeavour to make it look like it’s a tailored response.  Use their name, spell it properly, get their address right, make sure you know how much they gave and to what.  Don’t write ‘Dear Friend’/’Dear Supporter’, don’t ask them for another gift in their thank you letter, don’t leave it too long to send it.

SOFII (Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration) runs a thank you letter clinic which is well worth a look if you need some ideas – and you can even submit your own letters to receive comments back and help you make sure you are thanking people in the best way possible.  It is, after all, the way that you will encourage people to continue to support you and perhaps give more – and it’s always easier to raise further gifts from existing or previous donors than it is to win a new donor in the first place.

Thank you, by the way, for reading this post!

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Christmas Countdown Giveaway: Day 4

December 21, 2010 Leave a comment

A few more free advent tips from Activate Fundraising:

5. Research your donors.  You need to identify who is likely to support your organisation – and being wealthy is not enough.  If I had £1 for every time I’ve been told to ask a certain businessman for money, I’d be rich!  Look at your projects, your beneficiaries and your organisational vision.  Who supports the work you are doing?  There are numerous resources out there to help with your research – too many to mention here – but start by reading local and national press; keeping up to date with sector developments; and using your networks.

6. Network.  Spread the word about your organisation.  Be known as leaders in your field.  Use networks available to you – through trustees, volunteers, professional groups and your donors.  Consider online networking – ask your Trustees and CEO if they’ll introduce your organisation to their Linked In contacts or send out occasional tweets on your behalf.

Is there anything from the list of tips so far that you think is missing?  What would you add and why?

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Free Fundraising Makeover

December 10, 2010 1 Comment

The economic situation has changed fundraising for a huge number of organisations – some who didn’t fundraise before are now considering it to help boost their funding as other sources have dwindled (or been dramatically cut).  Others with a history of fundraising are finding it increasingly difficult now that there is greater competition for funds and budgets of donors have become  more restricted.

Or at least that’s the anecdotal evidence – but what about your organisation?  Has fundraising become easier, more difficult or pretty much remained the same? 

We’re carrying out a survey (it’s very short and won’t take more than 5 minutes – honest) to find out how fundraising has changed in recent months – if at all.  As an incentive, all of those taking part will be entered into a prize draw to win a free fundraising audit for their organisation.  And, even if you don’t win, all respondents will receive a copy of the results which will help to establish whether you’re on track or need to do more compared to others.

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Fundraising – where do I start?

November 12, 2010 Leave a comment

For many organisations, fundraising is an area that they’ve either never exploited or only dabbled in but, particularly with the current squeeze on resources due to the recession, senior managers and trustees are starting to recognise the need to increase their funding from different areas.  However, a mistake that’s often made is simply to look at the shortfall in your income and assume that it can be filled by fundraising.  Sometimes it can but often, you need to think more creatively about your approach. 

Operational or core costs are difficult to raise through fundraising and sponsorship (although not impossible) so how can you incorporate them into an interesting, value adding project?  Or can you divert some project funds into core and raise funds for some of your activity instead?  You may suddenly need to find a £10,000 shortfall but you can’t assume that you can automatically change one type of funding for another. 

  • Look at all your programmes. 
  • Is there something in there that may appeal more to a donor? 
  • Is there an aspect of work that is entrepreneurial, will increase capacity for your organisation or help you to reach more people or meet a problem in a different way?

Perhaps it’s these areas that you should try to find funding for.  

What have you found to be effective when planning your fundraising?

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Fundraising as a Career

November 5, 2010 Leave a comment

Out of all the careers you could choose, why would you choose fundraising?  The hours can be long; donors can be demanding; targets can be tough to reach; and potential donors can often say no.

On the other hand, you will have the opportunity to work with people from across your organisation to develop and deliver projects; you can use your creativity to solve problems, craft proposals and ‘make the ask’; you will gain a vast amount of skills – from event management to proposal writing, negotiating to data management – and everything in between.  No two days are ever the same and you have the chance to meet some truly fascinating people – from those who work in different areas of your particular organisation, to your volunteers and donors who come from a range of backgrounds and experiences.

I originally set out to work in arts administration (after finally admitting to myself that I was never going to be an actress!).  My first ever experience of fundraising was being asked to write an application to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (or Charitable Trust as it was then) to help the touring theatre company I worked for equip their new accommodation.  It was 1994 and when they sent the cheque for £12,000 it was my first taste of fundraising success! 

I then had various arts administration jobs, where I also dealt with trust applications and sponsorship alongside everything else.  It wasn’t until 1996, when I landed a job in a post-1992 university Development Office, that fundraising became the main element of my work. 

It was a very different landscape to now.  While most of the older, more established universities had been fundraising for some time, the post ‘92’s were playing catch up.  And internally, we were very much seen as a novelty by many of our academic colleagues.  One of the offices I worked in was funded by top slicing all of the departmental budgets to be able to afford to set up our department.  Needless to say, we  had to work hard to get our colleagues on board and it wouldn’t be a lie to say that was a difficult task – although we did achieve it in the end (due in no small part to raising our campaign target two years ahead of schedule). 

Fast forward 14 years and it’s a very different situation with universities young and old having Development Offices focused on proactively engaging with a range of high net worth individuals, trusts and the corporate sector. 

On a personal level, I’ve moved from fundraising being one of a number of tasks, to it being the main focus of my career, as I now work as a fundraising consultant.  But I’m glad that I made the move into fundraising and that I followed my particular career path.  Working a variety of organisations, large and small, has meant that I understand where many clients, particularly those without fundraising staff, are coming from and how best they can resource their fundraising to sustain their future income generation.

Do you think you would like to become a fundraiser?  What’s stopping you?  Or have you been a fundraiser and decided to move into a different field?  If so, how has your experience helped you to do that?

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Think Big, Be Ambitious with your fundraising

November 3, 2010 Leave a comment

The best fundraising projects are often those that are viewed as the most challenging.  Perhaps they have an ambitious target or maybe they’re complicated in terms of delivery or diversity?  Whatever the reasons, I’ve found that it is usually the most ambitious projects that are the best – and most successful – to fundraise for. 

Often, people are scared to be too ambitious when developing their projects, worrying that they won’t be able to raise the income target, so they scale it down to the point where it has a small reach, no future sustainability and is unlikely to make much impact.  Rather than making it easier to fundraise for, by reducing the scope and scale of a project you can hamstring your fundraising efforts. 

The project that started off as a request for a new museum grade bookcase to house manuscripts had limited donor appeal but, by working with the archivist, we developed the project into an exhibition.  It was five times more expensive but had a far broader reach in terms of visitors, especially as it included a spin off education pack and a dedicated website, as well as an interactive exhibition.  This more ambitious and more costly project was far easier to fundraise for as donors could clearly see the benefits of bringing the exhibition to a broader audience, as opposed to simply storing the books and manuscripts more effectively.

Similarly, there was the exhibition sponsorship deal that included: a complementary fashion exhibition, a demonstration of ancient tapestry techniques and grand opening featuring Jodie Marsh, designer Scott Henshall and a few hundred thousand pounds worth of diamonds.  All of these aspects were added by the sponsor and, while they meant extra work to deliver the sponsorship, the added value led to a higher cash contribution by the sponsor, excellent press coverage and box office breaking attendance figures. 

I’m not suggesting that you run wild with your fundraising and grow your projects so large that you are unable to manage or sustain them but try taking an entrepreneurial approach – think more creatively and look at the many different aspects of your project and what they could bring in terms of new audiences, potential funding and new partnerships.  Doing this can help increase your appeal to donors and ultimately, raise the income you need to be successful.

If you need more advice on fundraising, please get in touch for an informal discussion.  Download my Top 10 Fundraising Tips to help kick start your fundraising.

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Freelance versus Employee

November 1, 2010 1 Comment

Museum of Scotland by Mama Pyjama under Creative Commons Licence

For 14 years I worked as an ‘in-house’ fundraiser and enjoyed working in a range of jobs and sectors – including a stint at RNIB Scotland; raising sponsorship for the National Museums of Scotland; and heading up the fundraising team at Edinburgh Napier University.  So why leave a secure job – with a pension – to the relatively unpredictable world of a freelancer?

Well, first of all, I’d gained a huge amount of experience during the preceding 14 years and wanted to have an opportunity to build upon those.  There were really only two options.  The first, was look for a Director’s position while the second, was work for myself and build a client base.  It was the second that had more appeal, not least because I’d always wanted to work for myself and I knew that if I didn’t make the move when I did, I’d probably lose my nerve or get too used to the regular pay cheque to ever do it.  I’ve always enjoyed the variety that fundraising brings to a job – different projects, donors and deadlines – and I knew that I’d enjoy working for multiple clients on a range of projects all at the same time.

Handing in my notice without having a job to go to was a strangely liberating (if not slightly terrifying) experience.  I’ve never resigned without having had a job to go to and usually when I’d resigned in the past I was going off to what was effectively a promotion.  What on earth was I facing?

Luckily, I hadn’t worked in a vacuum for the past 14 years and had built up a good network of former colleagues, board members from previous organisations and of course, donors that I’ve worked with in the past.  I made sure that everyone knew that I was now working for myself and was lucky enough to have secured my first contract within two months of resigning from my old job.  And I’ve never looked back.

What I enjoy most about working for myself is the opportunity to work with organisations whose work I have an affinity with – and whose work varies enormously from one client to the next.  I’ve worked with educational charities, heritage organisations, galleries and children’s arts organisations – and everything in between.  I’ve developed fundraising strategies; delivered training sessions to staff and board members on fundraising; run focus groups and interviews with stakeholders; developed feasibility studies and, of course, carried out fundraising for clients – from developing projects for the fundraising ‘market’ to raising the money they need to deliver their key goals.

However, not only have I had the chance to use my skills to help my clients but I’ve also had the opportunity to learn a huge amount about different organisations and their needs.

Yes, the hours are often long when I have deadlines to meet and I have missed the chance to bounce ideas off colleagues – as well as the banter.  But trading that off against office politics, commuting and missing out on family events has made it all worthwhile.  It’s quite liberating knowing that you have to rely on your own resources to land a piece of work and see it through – and I’ve been lucky enough to work with other freelance colleagues on various projects, which has helped increase my skills while also providing a good sounding board too.

Would you like to go freelance?  What’s stopping you?

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How Can You Fundraise with Limited Resources?

October 27, 2010 Leave a comment

Well, my first piece of advice would be to download my free Top 10 Tips on Fundraising!

The limited resources in the title of this post refer to staff and time as opposed to money, as fundraising on a small scale shouldn’t cost you a huge amount of money.  It will, however, cost something, even if it’s only factoring in the time of the person delivering your fundraising needs, postage and stationery.  However, if you are intending to raise a large portion of your annual income, you really need to consider making a proper investment in fundraising by either recruiting a fundraiser or paying a freelancer to fundraise for you.  Either way, if no-one has any experience of fundraising in your organisation and you want to make this a regular aspect of your income, you should consider getting professional advice to help with your planning and organisation.

However, many small organisations need to raise money to deliver a few key projects and need to use the resources available to them to achieve this.  Perhaps you have some resources to invest in a freelance fundraiser?  Or maybe recruit a part-time member of staff?  But what if neither option applies?  In that case, you need to consider who in your organisation has the skills and time to fundraise for you.  And fundraising for your organisation will include researching potential donors; identifying key projects that you need and, as important, that will appeal to potential donors; developing a case for support for your organisation – why should a donor give funding to you, what will you use it for, how much do you need and when do you need it by; writing fundraising bids and meeting with potential donors – and of course, writing thank you letters and follow up reports.  You may have a member of staff who can take on this role – or a few who can split the workload between them.  Or perhaps you have a volunteer or board member with experience (or the willingness and necessary skills) to develop this for you? 

Where do you go from there?

My top 3 tips would be:

  1. Decide who is responsible for fundraising in your organisation – and make sure they have the time available to achieve your fundraising aims
  2. Get Organised – look at your systems and determine how they will support your fundraising (and develop some new ones for fundraising, such as looking after your donors)
  3. Make sure your messages are clear and consistent – your fundraising should sit well with your overall vision and objectives or donors won’t understand who you are and what you are aiming to achieve.

Do you have any other tips – or questions – for organisations who really are starting from scratch with no previous experience in this area?

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First Post!

September 29, 2010 Leave a comment

Well, this is my first post onto Activate Fundraising’s new website and hopefully the first of many.  I’ll be keeping readers updated on general news that might affect the world of fundraising, as well as more specific updates on developments in the arts, charities and education.  So welcome to Activate Fundraising, if you’ve any questions related to fundraising, please post them here or if you’d like to have a more indepth discussion about the needs of your organisation, email me at heather@activatelimited.com.  Looking forward to hearing from you!  Best wishes, Heather

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