Obviously great fundraising involves building great relationships with your supporters and donors. But how do you do that in practice?

One charity that has been making wonderful progress in recent years is Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. For instance, for their recent Big Give campaign they took on their biggest ever target… and they hit it in just over 24 hours. 

Laura Elliott, Head of Supporter Fundraising, talks about a range of effective strategies that have been inspired by listening to the Fundraising Bright Spots show. 

This conversation with Rob includes their approach to: stewardship; thanking; the 80/20 Principle; creating Wow Moments; and a culture of learning. She also describes a Gift Aid campaign that has so far inspired an extra 7% of supporters to opt in.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

If you'd like to make 2026 your best fundraising year ever, this episode is for you.

Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben share four powerful habits that transform your results - without adding more to your to-do list.

We explore how to: improve your results by getting laser-focused on what matters most; deepen relationships with your most valuable supporters through one simple shift; gain clarity about where to invest your precious time; and identify the leverage points that solve your biggest fundraising challenges.

These aren't about working harder - they're about working smarter. And the best part? You can start any of them today.

If you'd like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn

If you’d like handy tips and inspiring examples from our fundraising podcast in 2025, or ideas for what to listen to next, we recorded this special show for you. 

Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben pick four episodes to inspire you. These ones are a good listen in any season, but they’re even better if you’re listening in December / January. 

We pull out highlights including: the pitching strategy that one fundraising team used to win three massive Corporate Partnerships in a row; how to solve internal conflicts over messaging, and inspire far more support; techniques for transforming your success rate with Trusts and Foundations; and the strategies Debbie used to double her Major Gifts results. 

If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn.

In times of rapid change, all charities and social good organisations are having to adapt if we are to survive and continue to make an impact.

The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has faced plenty of challenges in the last five years, given the turmoil that the hospitality industry has faced since the COVID pandemic. In December 2024, income was so low that the organisations’ very survival was at risk. 

One year later, they have had their best year to date, passing £1m in revenue. In this interview, Juliane Caillouette Noble, Managing Director of the SRA, shares the strategies they’ve used to achieve this stunning comeback. It includes lessons about adapting your strategy, the huge benefits of getting clear about who your ideal partner is, storytelling and how to hang in there during the tough times. 

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

The biggest source of stress for most fundraisers is usually conflict with other teams in your organisation. What can you do to improve internal relationships and have your fundraising project succeed?

In this episode Max Newton (Cerebra) and Lindsay Tilston Jones (Shelter) discuss with Rob Woods an approach that has hugely helped the success of their fundraising.

They explain that the most important resource in any charity is not people, but relationships between people. With examples, they share why it has made such a difference and practical tools that will help you improve the relationships you have with your colleagues too.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

As the funding environment becomes ever more competitive, being ambitious, open to opportunities and willing to adapt is extremely valuable for charities. 

Inspire to Ignite is a small, fast-growing not for profit organisation based in Cambridgeshire in the UK. Rob was delighted to talk to the co-founder Sam Squire to understand how they’ve managed to quickly grow to serve so many young people in just three years. 

In this down-to-earth conversation, Sam shares examples and tactics that have helped on the journey so far. The conversation includes how to be open-minded, co-creation with funders, the Five Yard Rule for growing your impact and how to move swiftly and confidently when an opportunity presents itself.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Leading and raising funds for a small charity is demanding enough. The stakes get even higher when you need to raise a lot more money for a capital appeal.

The Berin Centre is a small community charity in rural Oxfordshire in the UK. To better serve their community, they decided to build a new cafe. Laura Harte is Director of the charity. In the podcast she shares why this project was so important for people, examples of how they raised the funds and practical tips. She also explains why properly involving the community was fundamental to the success of the whole project. 

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Major Donors can make a huge difference to fundraising income, but fundraising with High Net Worth people can also be really challenging. 

Debbie Johnson has been making wonderful progress in her fundraising. In the year she took part in Bright Spot’s Major Gifts Mastery programme, she increased major donor income for her wildlife charity by 200% compared to the previous year... and these wonderful results continue to flow.

In this podcast she and Rob discuss several powerful distinctions from the training that have helped achieve this success, including: a powerful strategy she uses every day to improve relationships with donors; a technique that improves results when she meets supporters; being yourself; listening skills; and an insight that transformed one major gift from five figures to an amazing six figure value.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Community fundraising is an invaluable income stream for many charities, both through income raised directly and all the value these relationships add in other fundraising areas.

Punyapriya Singh is Senior Head of Supporter Engagement at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, and was named Fundraiser of the Year in the CIOF National Fundraising Awards. In this conversation, she explains the approach which has helped her charity achieve fabulous growth in public fundraising income in recent years.

In particular, she explains the importance of caring about and adding value to relationships with your supporters (rather than focusing primarily on money). She brings her ideas to life with examples of the stunning growth this thoughtful, relationship-first strategy has helped achieve, including a wonderful event for families, a golf day worth £100,000 and the success of their £12m capital appeal.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Fundraising with trusts and foundations has become ever more competitive recently.

What can you do to increase your success rate with these funders? 

Atul is a curious and shrewd fundraiser who has spent many years exploring how to grow fundraising income in this area. In this conversation Atul and Rob discuss several of his most effective strategies. It includes ways to find more funders who definitely care about your cause; what to call your project (spoiler, it makes an astonishing difference to results!) and strategies to leverage game-changing bids by sequencing them with smaller, easier ones.  

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.