Most fundraisers know how crucial it is to build genuine relationships with people who care about your cause. But doing it in practice can be far from easy! 

Amy Swart is a very experienced relationship fundraiser and is Director of Fundraising and Communications at the suicide-prevention charity James’ Place. Building warm, two-way relationships with supporters, including major donors, trusts and foundations, is fundamental to the charity’s approach. This mindset has been a major factor in the wonderful growth they have achieved in recent years. 

In this conversation Amy shares her approach, with practical tips and encouragement for fundraisers and charity leaders determined to build excellent, long-term relationships with supporters.

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.

There are plenty of really good books specifically about fundraising. We’ve also found it invaluable for fundraisers to read well-written books on related subjects. But which ones are worth your time? If you’re on the lookout for a good read and some different perspectives, we’ve created a Books that Inspire Fundraisers – The Super Six, which you can access with this link.

And in this episode Bright Spot trainers Rob and Ben share the first three on our list. We explain why we love each book, and a bunch of ideas you can apply in your fundraising, even if you don’t have time to read the books.

Among other things, this conversation includes: a fascinating insight about how to improve valuable skills more quickly; two ideas for inspiring supporters; and a little-known technique that increases your confidence in important meetings.

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.

How to change what’s not working. Sometimes in fundraising, things aren’t working, you feel overwhelmed, and you don’t know where to start. 

The excellent book Reset by Dan Heath is all about how to turn things around when you feel stuck. In this podcast Rob talks to Craig about ways you can apply the Reset techniques to solve difficult fundraising problems. 

Heath suggests that in most difficult situations there is one crucial ‘leverage point’ – something that will potentially make the biggest difference. The key is to work out what this is and then stack far more of your resources on making progress here. As you make clear progress, your new momentum makes other things easier too.

Craig and Rob share examples of this approach helping fundraising teams to solve important problems, including how one charity reduced the time it takes to send out thank you letters, from 3 weeks to just 2 days.

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.

Growing your confidence to talk to supporters makes a big difference.

What’s the key to increasing High Value Fundraising Income for your charity? Build stronger relationships with people who care about your cause. 

There are many ways to do this, but even in this tech-savvy era, the most effective thing is to have actual conversations with those people! And a greatly under-used way to do that, is to call them on the phone. Obviously, it’s not always possible. But when it is, we’ve noticed that very successful fundraisers often call their supporters.

Many people know this in theory but talk themselves out of doing it! 

Bright Spot trainers Ben Swart and Rob Woods share some practical things you can do to overcome your (understandable) concerns. And they share examples to boost your confidence so you can connect with your charities’ donors and partners.

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

How do you beat tough odds in fundraising? For many fundraisers, the odds are now tougher than ever. Whether it's because your cause is less popular, or your charity is small or less well-known… There are many reasons you may feel like an underdog.

Interestingly, some charities do secure valuable gifts, partnerships and grants, in spite of big disadvantages. Clearly this fact does not make life fair or make fundraising easy.  But it means that if we seek them, we can find valuable insights.

Having studied dozens of examples, in this episode Rob reveals two strategies that successful ‘underdog charities’ use when they succeed against difficult odds. In discussion with fellow Bright Spot trainer Ben Swart, he uses examples to show how these techniques can help you slay your own fundraising dragons.

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

The power of your reason why can be immense.

Charities often focus too much attention on how they help. They act and speak as though what they do is the most important and interesting thing. 

When you clarify and reconnect to the reason why your charity exists, it can be a fabulous catalyst for growth. You get new creativity and energy. When the South African non-profit Feenix did this in 2017, it unlocked a period of extraordinary growth. During the next five years up to 2022, fundraising income grew by 630%! Their impact was transformed.

Cara Jean Peterson, CEO of Feenix, joins Rob on the podcast to tell the rollercoaster story of how they did it. She shares insights from this exciting journey. And she offers tips to help other charities that are determined to grow their impact.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing our podcast, so it can help as many good causes as possible. Cara Jean and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

How to attract younger donors is a valuable issue for a charity to solve. 

Younger supporters tend to see the world differently to older generations – as charities, how can we respond? For answers and encouragement Rob talks to philanthropist and best-selling author Lisa Greer.

As a so-called ‘major donor’ Lisa has a valuable perspective on charity relationships with High Net Worth individuals. And one of the fascinating themes in her latest book The Essential Fundraiser’s Handbook is how charities can effectively raise funds with younger supporters. 

In the interview Lisa explains why the traditional approach to high value fundraising does not suit most supporters who are Millennial, Generation Z and younger. And she offers practical suggestions for what charities can do differently to improve fundraising results.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing our podcast, so it can help as many good causes as possible. Lisa and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

‘We aced all three big pitches – here’s how.’ As most fundraisers are all too aware, pitching to funders is a complex and difficult process.

In recent months, the UK charity Refuge created the chance to pitch for three corporate partnerships. For all three, the stakes were high. In fact, one of them is worth millions of pounds and will make a massive difference to their services protecting women and children from domestic abuse.

All three pitches were successful. 

In this episode Rob Woods talks to Katie Hillitt, Head of Philanthropy at Refuge. She shares the approach that has proved so effective, with tips and encouragement to help other charities with their pitches.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it helps as many charities as possible. Katie and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

High performance culture is invaluable for charities seeking to make a bigger difference. What can we do to encourage an approach to fundraising that strengthens relationships and increases fundraising income?

The High Value and Legacies fundraising department at Alzheimer’s Society has achieved impressive growth over the last 5 years. Rob talks to Charlotte Matier, Associate Director at the department to hear about the culture, processes and priorities that have helped achieve these results. In particular, she shares the three pillars they use to guide decision-making and ways of working.

Using examples, Charlotte shares how her team strive to build firm foundations upon which successful fundraising can take place; to create exceptional experiences; and to maximise value for both supporters and the charity.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it can help as many charities as possible. Charlotte and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

What do Great Fundraising Organisations do, that is different to the rest? 

Relatively few charities and non-profits achieve impressive, sustained growth over several years. But a few do. And as a result, they are able to make a much bigger difference for the communities they serve.

For more than ten years, Alan Clayton has carried out detailed research into what makes the difference. In this episode he and Rob discuss the valuable distinctions he has discovered. And Alan brings these ideas to life with lots of recent examples and he offers guidance for other charities determined to grow long-term fundraising income, with less stress.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it can help as many charities as possible. Alan and Rob are both on LinkedIn.