Fundraising Tips

But first do your research. You’ll have narrowed down your search by looking through a funding directory or a funding website and have identified the trust as one likely to consider your cause or project. You’ll know about their history, their patterns of grant-giving and the amounts they give. You’ll have looked at their website to learn even more.

Once you’re armed with all this knowledge – call them. Talk about your organisation and what you’re trying to achieve in terms of outcomes; ask them what types of project they would be most likely to support and what would be a reasonable amount to ask for. Pick up any little snippets or tips that will help you in completing the application form.

And now, having significantly increased your chances of application success, you’re ready to complete the application form.

Most fundraisers sourcing trusts from a book naturally start from the first page and work through the alphabetical listings.

You can increase your chances of fundraising success by opening the book towards the end and working backwards; or increase your chances further by using www.trustfunding.org.uk and let the search engine match the trusts to your criteria.

Want to double your chances of getting that grant? Read the eligibility criteria. Then read them again.

It may sound simple, but research carried out by the governmentfunding.org.uk team last year showed that over 50% of applications to central government departments were unsuccessful because they failed to meet the basic eligibility criteria. By making sure your organisation and the work you are proposing is absolutely 100% eligible for funding you are instantly doubling your chances of success.

In some cases that may be more difficult than it sounds, especially with statutory programmes using a language all of their own to describe their funding programmes. If you are not sure, or need clarification, get in touch with the funder and check - it's as much in their interests as yours that your application is relevant. A five minute phone call could save you hours, or even days of work on an application for funding that no matter how good it is, won't be successful.

Special offer: Organisations subscribing to governmentfunding.org.uk before 30 April 2008 get a free and updated 40 page “Government Funding” chapter from The Complete Fundraising Handbook. Find out more at http://www.governmentfunding.org.uk/Page.aspx?SP=316

by Amy Rosser, Project Manager for DSC's governmentfunding.org.uk

“My Granddad is divine compost because he has grown these good things in his children and grandchildren. It is because we teach these things to our children that they will in turn teach them to theirs; the impact is eternal.

How do you incorporate this within your fundraising message? By making sure that you show how generosity ripples outwards. Do not stop at saying a donation will take a homeless person off the streets. Talk about what they will do when they are off the streets. Who will they meet and what will they do? What acts of goodness will they now be able to do?”

This article is by Jonathan Farnhill and is an extract from his book, The Porcupine Principle. Download the full chapter below.

There are indeed ‘born’ fundraisers who simply go out and ask people for money, often with spectacular and continuing success – you have probably come across one or two of them. But they are few and far between and you do not have to be one of them in order to raise lots of money.

Fundraising programmes fail nearly always for the same reason – short term pressures have meant that fundraisers have simply not got around to putting in the fundraising time.

They are probably funded by short-term grants, or by unsatisfactory service agreements with statutory agencies. They knew that this was leaving them in a vulnerable position but the pressures of coping with day-to-day needs of their beneficiaries have overwhelmed their plans to change this situation.

And then, too often, they find they have left it too late and are facing an immediate crisis that funding, seldom a short-term activity, cannot resolve for them in the time available.

The good news is that those who have indeed formed a reasonable fundraising plan, and then put the necessary time and resources into implementing it, nearly always succeed. I hardly ever meet people who say that they have tried asking people for money, but they have said ‘No’.

Extract from Effective Fundraising: An informal guide to getting donations and grants (£12.95) by Luke Fitzherbert. Buy now
The text is the resource for DSC’s training course, Effective Fundraising I. Register now

‘Making the ask’ is, at its heart, nothing more than asking potential donor for funds. Done properly, it is an effective method of raising large funds for organisations. Done badly, it not only doesn’t raise funds but also wastes the good will of individuals and harms the potential of the organisation to do its work.

By far and away the greatest problem encountered in meetings between a fundraiser and potential donor is the reluctance of askers to actually ‘make the ask’! All too often, a pleasant conversation ensues – about the organisation and its merits, the project in question, the potential donor’s relationship to the organisation, the donor’s family and business life – but, tragically, an actual ask is often not made.

In preparing and rehearsing for the meeting, the key designated asker should have practiced saying and must now deliver the following (or similar) words:

“Would you be prepared to join us in supporting this project to the level of xxx,xxx?”

If askers fail to deliver on this key responsibility, all else is lost.

The response – “Silence”

After the ‘ask’ is made, the askers must await a response, in silence! All too often in key asking circumstances, askers deny themselves the prospect of obtaining a major gift by not waiting in silence for a response. They will continue to talk about the project, or worse, start to suggest reasons why it might be inopportune or inappropriate for the potential donor to give. In other words, they start talking the potential donor out of giving. Silence prevents this possibility.

Excerpt from Quick Guide: Making the Ask £5.00 by Frank Opray. Buy now

By John Baguley

1. The Pareto principal
80% of your income can come from 20% of your supporters. Learn who they are, develop the relationship, and approach them for more until the ratio comes true.

2. ‘My friend the fundraiser’
People tend to give to people, not organisations. They give to help end suffering, so in your fundraising bring them as close to the victims as possible but become their friend in the process, and build up the relationship for long-term giving.

3. ‘Thank you!’
Always say ‘thank you’ and say it promptly. It is common courtesy and shows respect for your donors and gratitude for their generosity. If you do not say ‘thank you’ you do not deserve another donation. Thanking people helps to cement your friendship. Do not try to get out of it.

4. How much?
Always let people know how much you would like them to give. It makes them feel comfortable and makes you look competent. If there is no indication of the amount you need people worry that they may be thought foolish for giving away a lot, or mean for giving just a little. Whilst they deliberate the immediacy goes out of your request, and you may lose the donation altogether.

5. Testing, testing, testing
Until you test, you do not know. You can have a hundred theories about your fundraising programme and your donors, but until you actually run one idea against another you do not really know which one works. It is easy to do in some cases, such as direct mail, and harder in others, such as advertising – but it is essential in all cases. Always try to learn something each time you carry out an idea, and always test ideas on the smallest statistically relevant sample possible.

Principles 6-10 appear in Successful Fundraising by John Baguley, £16.95 available from DSC. Buy Successful Fundraising

John Baguley is delivering the opening plenary at DSC’s Fundraising Conference on 27 October 2008. Register now

1: Be proud to be a fundraiser

Our efforts enable good works to happen. Everywhere throughout the world the voluntary sector is growing and increasing its contribution to improve the lot of the human species and to make the world a better place in which we live. Fundraisers play a significant role in this, for without us voluntary action wouldn’t happen. We provide the resources that fuel philanthropy. Without our contributions the great machine that is the voluntary or nonprofit sector would grind to an ultimate halt.

So we should defend and promote fundraising, but only when we can do so with hand on heart. We should be our own fiercest critics, to ensure that we constantly strive to refine and improve what we do.

2: Believe passionately in your cause

As a fundraiser you must believe passionately in your cause if you are to have any chance of communicating that passion and commitment to others. Never be ashamed or embarrassed by your passion or afraid to show it in public. On the contrary be proud of it. When backed by the actions it inspires, passion such as this is the only thing that has ever changed the world for the better.

3: Be honest, open, truthful

Shouldn’t need saying this, but it does. Donors expect fundraisers to be consistently and scrupulously honest; they have the right to do that. They will repay you harshly if they feel you have let them down. More than on most other professions(except perhaps the police or the clergy), donors expect to be able to rely on what fundraisers tell them. Other members of the public may be less trusting, and this is both a major problem and an opportunity for us.

4: Be faithful

Always stick to your promises. Let donors see that you are honorable and trustworthy. Stand by your organisations mission, and don’t compromise what it stands for.

5: Be prepared to take a (calculates) risk.

The cautious, heads-down culture of nonprofits these days doesn’t engender runaway fundraising success. We seem to think risk is bad and that playing safe is good, that being different is wrong and being the same as everyone else is right. To stand out is to draw attention to yourself. Perhaps people now prefer imitation to innovation. But it's only if we are prepared to take a few carefully weighed and well calculated risks that we are ever likely to see real breakthroughs.

6: Be respectful of donors, and show that respect even when they are not present.

The unwelcome but increasingly widespread use among non –profit supporters and even fundraisers  of that unflattering term 'chugger' should lead us inevitably to examination of the terms fundraisers often use to describe their donors. Respect from the organisations they support is something most donors automatically expect. But that respect doesn’t always follow, Fundraisers, I find, frequently refer to donors and other supporters in terms that might not be able to help their aspirations of building lasting, mutual beneficial relationships.

When we write our fundraising letters we should always imagine we are writing to our mother or someone equally close and vulnerable for whom we’d rather die than offend. And when we gather in our conference halls, seminars, and workshops, we should picture in our minds a group of our donors standing at the back of each room, listening intently to our proceedings.

Nothing we say or do should confuse or offend them or make them feel in any way uncomfortable. In the same way as we should respectfully regard our donors we should also picture our beneficiaries, the people our cause exists to help. Such images should not just influence how we behave, what we say, and what we do, they should also inspire us and remind us that when we talk about donors and others we should always show due respect.

This includes showing respect in the labels we stick on donors, the terminologies and titles we use to describe them, singly or in groups. I’ve always railed against the term lapsed donors, for example. It sounds almost biblical, like fallen women. How dare they lapse, these people? Worse still are the terms some fundraisers apply to various segments of their databases. I’ve heard otherwise nice, polite fundraisers refer to groups of their donors and former donors as the residue, the leftovers, the dead pool, and the sediment.

How would you like to be thus described? I rest my case.

• Respond to new needs as they emerge. You are at the front line of social provision. The needs you identify today will be met by the established services of tomorrow.
• Two heads are better that one. Get together with colleagues to bounce ideas around. Or just wallow in a warm bath!
• Start with your current work, your current projects. What are the next steps? How could things be done differently or better? What new needs are emerging from what you are doing and what can you do about them?
• Ask your current, previous and potential users. What do they think about the situation now and in the future? What would they do in your position?
• Also, keep as eye on the “marketplace” – see what others are doing. Get hold of other organisations’ annual reports. Look at the emerging social business sector. Keep in touch with social trends, emerging fashion and fads.
• Write down ideas as soon as you have thought of them, however half-baked or ill thought-out they appear. If you don’t, you’ll forget them. If you do, you can develop and refine them over time.
• Bring in outsiders who have no preconceptions. This can provide a degree of “lateral thinking” which will be useful. You know how the buses or the health services should be run, so it is a good bet that outsiders can teach you a thing or two. Stop thinking about what you can do and about “all the problems and difficulties”. Develop a positive can-do attitude to your work and your organisation.
• Go back to basics. Forget what you are doing now. What might you be doing in an ideal world to deal with the problem or need? Look at your organisation’s objects or purposes as enshrined in the founding documents and think about what you would do if you were starting from scratch.
• Somewhere, there is an idea which is just right for your organisation, which will be easy to raise money for, which will enhance your credibility and public image, and which (hopefully) will solve all your financial problems…for ever!

From Writing Better Fundraising Applications by Mike Eastwood & Michael Norton, available for £14.95 from www.dsc.org.uk/publications

If you don’t have all the skills listed above, don’t be disheartened. See below for some helpful tips to improve your fundraising performance:

• assess your strengths, so you concentrate on doing the things you are good at;
• learn what skills you need to acquire, and set about obtaining the necessary training or experience;
• find ways for compensating for your weakness by getting others to help.

Read about these fundraising skills in The Complete Fundraising Handbook for £22.95 by Nina Botting and Michael Norton.

Recession undoubtedly makes life for charities much harder. People and companies feel worse off and have less disposable income to give to charities. Previously reliable legacy income is certain to fall as the value of assets decreases.

Even grant making trusts, which exist to do good by giving money away to excellent causes, suffer from falling income and asset values and find themselves able to do less to help.

Fundraising in a recession is back-to-basics time. Remember, you are not asking for money for yourselves. You should feel proud, not embarrassed when asking people to support a good cause, recession or not.

Nonetheless, there are some key points to observe when fundraising during a recession. Work across each discipline in fundraising and develop a strategic approach for each.

Consider for example:

• How wealthy people may react to approaches at a time of recession
• How GMTs are affected by recession and how their giving patterns may change
• How the general public may change their reactions to direct response fundraising approaches through the mail, by phone, face-to-face and by the web during a recession
• How companies are likely to change their responses to charitable approaches for donations and sponsorship
• How charities should adjust their trading through shops, mail order and the web during times of recession
• How to protect your charity’s legacy income in the longer term, whilst recognizing shorter term downturns

Anthony Clay will present Fundraising in a Recession, a one-day workshop revealing how to successfully target these groups during recession. Register now

Companies continue to receive many unsolicited or inappropriate appeals for support and sponsorship proposals. Whilst many bring this upon themselves due to a lack of clear guidelines for potential applicants, this should not be seen as an excuse to conduct blanket mailings.

Sponsorship is a term that is widely misunderstood yet signifies a commercial exchange and so there must be clear benefit for both parties. Download this FREE Sponsorship resource which helps you to understand the basics and find all the information you need.

One of the findings of the report ‘An Evaluation of Corporate Community Investment in the UK’ [pdf document] published by the Charities Aid Foundation, was that companies support a relatively narrow set of causes and issues that have not particularly changed over time. Coupled with a survey which found the biggest frustration charities face in attempting to work with companies to be limited access to decision makers, means it is vitally important to do your research thoroughly.

Further information on how to successfully approach businesses for support is given in the ‘Applying to companies’ section of DSC’s Guide to UK Company Giving 2009/10, £50, published next week. Unless there is some clear link with a company, or your project is clearly within its defined areas of support, you should NOT be applying.

We would also recommend that you download a copy of ‘Charities Working with Business’, which gives a good overview of the issues involved in undertaking a relationship with a company and is published by the Institute of Fundraising.

Guide to UK Company Giving 2009/10 by John Smyth includes details of around 500 companies in the UK that give a combined total of £400 million in cash donations to voluntary and community organisations. Published next week, the guide is available from www.dsc.org.uk for £50.

Your first step is to identify companies and individuals who might have what you need. You can ask your colleagues or friends for suggestions or do some simple research, using business directories or going through business networks such as the local Chamber of Commerce. [DSC’s new Guide to UK Company Giving 2009/10 lists 490 of the biggest corporate givers and offers tips on securing in kind support.]

For things such as used office equipment, it’s best to approach larger companies, as they are more likely to replace their equipment on a regular basis. For donations of products you might approach the manufacturer, the wholesaler or a retail outlet. As a rule of thumb, the further back in the chain you go, the less it will cost them to donate it to you.

Usually, the higher up in the company the person is the better. But remember, there is also a ‘back door’. For example, if you are looking for wood offcuts from a timber supplier you could formally ask the Managing Director (front door); or you could ask the Yard Manager to let you take some wood away (back door). Either way, the point is to ask someone who is able to make the decision – whoever that person is.

Once you know whom you are going to ask, it is far better to contact them in person or by telephone (unsolicited letters are often ignored or thrown away). That way you are more likely to get an immediate decision. If you telephone and they ask you to write in, then do so, but remember to follow up with a phone call a few days later. You may need to be persistent to be successful. When you ask, remember to do the following:

• State your request, giving good reasons why you need the gift in question and explaining how important it is for your work. Tell them that you expect to get a lot of good publicity and that you will ensure that people get to hear about their generosity. You can also point out that a gift in kind is much cheaper than and easier option than a donation.
• Be positive and enthusiastic – a good telephone manner is really important, so if that’s not your strong point ask somebody else to do it.
• Have a fallback position in case your would-be donor says ‘No’. For example, you might say ‘…but if you have last season’s model, or damaged goods that would be fine for us.’ Or ‘…if you can’t donate it, would you consider giving us a discount – say fifty per cent?’ Or ‘I’m really sorry you can’t help us, but do you know anyone who could?’ You could then telephone that person saying you’re ringing at so-and-so’s suggestion.

Extract from Collins need to know? Fundraising (£9.99) by Michael Norton. Buy your copy now

1. Give details of any unforeseen circumstances
Where relevant, try and show how the circumstances you are now in could not have been foreseen (for example, illness, family difficulties, loss of job and so on).

2. Ask for a suitable amount
Ask for an amount that the trust is able to give. Most trust grants are under £300, and local charities often give much less.

3. Give clear, honest details about any savings, capital or compensation
Most trustees will consider the applicant’s savings when they are awarding a grant, although sometimes this does not need to affect trustees’ calculations.

4. Remember each charity has different deadlines for applications
Some charities can consider applications throughout the year; others may meet monthly, quarterly or just once a year. Very urgent applications can sometimes be considered between the main meetings.

5. Mention applications to other charities
Explain that other charities are being approached, when this is the case, and state that any surplus money raised will be returned.

6. Make sure the appropriate person submits the application
Some trusts specify that they wish the application to be made directly by the individual and others request that the application is submitted via a third party.

7. Offer to supply references

8. Complete the trust’s application form if there is one

9. Be honest and realistic, not moralising and emotional
Too many applicants try to morally bribe trustees into supporting the application, or launch tirades against the current political regime. It is best to confine your application to clear and simple statements of fact.

10. Be as concise as possible and provide sufficient detail
Give as much relevant information as possible, in the most precise way. For example, ‘place of birth’ is sometimes answered with Great Britain, but if the trust only gives grants in Liverpool, to answer ‘Great Britain’ is not detailed enough and the application will be delayed pending further information.

11. Write neatly and clearly; do not use jargon
Tips on how to make an application from the new edition of The Educational Grants Directory 2009/10, £50, by Alan French and Jessica Carver. Buy now.

Organising an event can be a wonderful way of raising money for a good cause. The following are the main decisions you will need to make:

• Do you want to organise and event? And why do you want to? Organising one event a year can bring the staff, board and volunteers together and create a sense of solidarity for the organisation. It can also raise money, bring in new supporters and get publicity for the work of the organisation. So if you are starting to fundraise, you might decide to organise one event, and to do something quite modest initially which you feel you are capable of doing. But decide what you want out of the event; set yourself clear objectives.
• What sort of event? This is an important decision. What you decide will be affected by your ambitions, your audience, your skills and any opportunities that present themselves.
• What do you need to do next? A first step might be to get together a small working group or committee under the leadership of one person, and give them the responsibility for running the event. They will need to produce a plan, a schedule, and a budget. Responsibilities will need to be shared by the group (planning the event, getting sponsorship, selling tickets, publicity, dealing with legal matters and permissions, finances, etc.). The chairperson will need to coordinate everything and make sure everyone does what they are responsible for satisfactorily and to schedule.

Extract from Getting Started in Fundraising, £7.40, by Michael Norton and Murray Culshaw available from www.dsc.org.uk

 I asked a group of fundraisers who were approaching charitable foundations to telephone them after they had received a letter of rejection to find out why they had been turned down, and to see whether there was any possibility of their application being reconsidered or whether there was anything else they might apply for.

What was interesting was how many eventually succeeded in getting a grant. If you are a donor receiving hundreds of applications, there is a tendency to say ‘no’ as an immediate response to any request. It is far harder to say ‘no’ to someone who feels that they have a good project which you really should be interested in and who has the courage to come back and try to enter into a discussion with you.

What to do if you are turned down

• Telephone to try and find out why they decided not to support you this time.
• Ask about the possibility of submitting another application.
• Discuss what you are doing and try to find out what aspect of your work they might be interested in supporting.
• Ask for a meeting, so that you can put your case in person.
• Suggest that they come and visit your project to see the excellent and exciting work you are doing.
• Tell them that you will keep in touch and that you will send them regular information on your work and news about progress.

Extract from the new edition of the Worldwide Fundraiser’s Handbook, £24.95, by Michael Norton.

1. Keep the facts at your fingertips
   Make sure that all the information you will need about your organisation and about the project is readily available. Back up your argument with facts and figures; don’t just make assertions.
2. Build your credibility
   Get yourself and your organisation known in the grants world, develop effective public relations, get (good) publicity for your work. Don’t underestimate the value of just meeting donors informally and chatting. This is often when the best fundraising is done.
3. Develop grant-winning ideas
   Some ideas and projects are so good that they have no difficulty in being funded. Think about your work and see if there are ideas or projects which will more easily win a grant.
4. Sort out your fundraising strategy
   Think about how your organisation is to be funded over the next few years, whether this is realistic and what you need to do to put your organisation’s funding on a secure basis. Think about how you intend to attract funds for the project immediately and on a continuing basis (if the project is to continue).
5. Research and identify likely grant prospects
   Avoid the scatter-gun approach. Make carefully targeted approaches at a few funders rather than writing a circular letter to anybody and everybody. Cross-reference your ideas and projects with likely funders, matching their interest to your needs. Also, be sure you know which budget the money is coming from. For example, if you are approaching a company, you could be looking for support from the donations budget, corporate PR, marketing or personnel department, or even its employee or voluntary committee. Your approach will need to be adapted accordingly.
6. Write a good proposal
   Write a clear and succinct application, making a really good case for support.
7. Manage the application process
   Decide how and who is to contact the funding source, whether a formal proposal should be put to them right away, whether a meeting or visit could usefully be arranged, and how you can bring more influence to bear on the decision-making process. Also, should you be the person making the approach? Would it be better if it came from someone else? A colleague might have more established contacts with the funders, or a prestige trustee or supporter may have more impact.
8. Say ‘thank you’
   If you succeed in getting a grant, note any restrictions or obligations on your part and make sure you comply with these. Say ‘thank you’ immediately.
9. Keep in touch
   Maintain contact with those who are supporting you (obviously), but also with those who are not (where you feel they are or should be interested in your work). Report on your successes and continue to build your credibility with them.
10. Go back
    Ask those who have supported you for further support next year or the year after – they have already demonstrated that they like you and what you are doing. Go back to those who have turned you down – if you feel that they should be interested. Persistence can really pay. Note any reasons given for rejection. It may be worth finding out whether there is a chance of reapplying and trying to fix up a meeting to discuss your proposals further.

Extract from A Practical Guide to Writing Better Funding Applications by Mike Eastwood and Michael Norton, £18.95, published by DSC.

A major grant-making trust suggests:

“A thoughtful and honest application always stands out in the crowd! Tell us clearly what the problem is, and how your project will do something about it. Give us relevant facts and figures, please don’t use jargon, and don’t be vague. You don’t need to promise the moon, just tell them what you can realistically achieve.

Your budget should show that you’ve done your homework and know what things cost.

A thoughtful and honest application isn’t a hurried and last minute dash to meet our deadlines with something dreamt up overnight. It is a serious and sincere attempt by your organisation to use its experience and skill to make a positive difference where it is needed.”

Extract from the Youth Funding Guide, £35, by Denise Lillya.  This guide is part of series offering specialist fundraising advice and funding sources for youth, sports, government and the environment.

By Lisa Parker, Chief Executive, The Nationwide Foundation.

When I first started work in grant making over 10 years ago, I found one of the hardest tasks was declining grant applications.  Rarely have I seen an application that was not for a deserving cause.  So saying no is not an easy decision and nor has it become much easier over the years.

The Nationwide Foundation, like many funders has limited precious resource, but seeks to deploy this for maximum benefit.  Before being able to set funding criteria, all funders need to be clear of their own strategies and know why they are choosing to support particular work.  To do this, we undertake research on social issues, identify gaps where support for people in need is lacking and look at how we can achieve long term benefits.  

As most charities will know, the usual reason for grant applications being declined is the limited budget available.  It is simply the case that funders receive grant requests far in excess of their budgets.  Over the years, I have seen applications become stronger than ever. 

So what can applicants do to maximise their chances of receiving a ‘yes’?:

• Try to understand the funders’ strategy objectively, to determine if your work falls in line with its aims.  If it does, the better chance your application has.
• If you are unclear about whether your work might fit the funding criteria, speak to the funder to determine if it is worth applying.  If they say no, follow this advice and bear in mind that the person who spoke to you could well be an assessor.  Your time would be better spent on an application to a different funder.
• Does the work you are requesting funding for meet your constitutional objects?  Will it achieve public benefit in the way your organisation is permitted to?
• Check the financial accounts you are submitting (or ask someone who knows about finance to do this for you).  Do your reserves appear unusually large or your accounts show any negativity which could appear risky?  If so, include a note to explain why.  Don’t hope these areas may be missed or not reviewed carefully.
• Consider that your answers to every question on the application form are likely to be scored to ensure fairness and objectivity.  Ask someone not familiar with your work to read the application for you to check it makes sense and that each answer is a strong one.

As a registered charity, The Nationwide Foundation aims to help other charities as best we can and limited budget is our most common reason for declination. There are only a small number of other reasons why we decline applications and these are provided within our funding guidelines and on our website, to help applicants avoid them before they submit their applications.

Unfortunately, like many funders, we simply do not have the resource to tell every unsuccessful applicant exactly why they were declined. However, this approach enables us instead, to turn around small grant applications in usually less than eight weeks, which we know charities greatly appreciate.  

Funders would love to be in a position whereby all worthy applications were accepted and their pot of money was endless, but sadly this isn’t the reality.  The best advice for fundraisers is to research which is the right funder for your work and then create a high calibre and clear application. Best of luck!

By Gill Jolly, Director, Achieve Consultants Ltd

When I was a child, on Boxing Day or shortly afterwards my mother used to make me write thank you letters for all the gifts I’d received even to the great aunt who yet again had sent another box of boring handkerchiefs.

Perhaps you’re like me and waiting for a thank you at the moment……….we’ve recently had Christmas and whilst I’ve had some thank you’s for presents I’m still waiting to hear back from two nephews and a God-daughter.  Part of me wonders. ‘did they get the gift?’ but in one instance I know definitely as it was a cheque and it’s been cashed!  What would they think if at next Birthday/Christmas they didn’t get something from Auntie Gill – would they realise it is because I’m sitting here in the middle of January feeling a little annoyed?

The same is with fundraising, how many times do people not support you again because they felt annoyed with the response or lack of it from the charity they donated to.  Whenever I’ve conducted any sort of follow-ups with ‘lapsed donors’ on behalf of clients I’ve been working with, one response I hear time and time again is:  “I was never thanked/I didn’t feel valued or appreciated/the response wasn’t appropriate that I received”.

Donor care or stewardship as it’s often referred to (plain good manners I tend to think!) is about making sure you say ‘thank you’ in an appropriate way.

A few things to think about are:

• Do it speedily
• Make sure the letter is not the same one as last time
• Use the same communication media the donor used to make the gift
• Who signs the letter?
• Read the letter/communication and try and personalise your response
• Can your letter be handwritten
• Give the donor an idea what you are doing at the moment and how their gift may help

Looking after your donors is vital and the thank you is the first part of securing your next gift.  Who knows what it will lead to….I received a very nice bequest when my great aunt of the boxed hanky fame died.  In her will she stated that I was the only great niece/nephew she was leaving anything to in recognition of the lovely chatty letters she always received from me!

By Gill Jolly, Director, Achieve Consultants Ltd

Are you good at telepathy?  Many people involved in fundraising think they are!  Unless you have these special brain abilities how do you know what your donors and supporters want?

There are lots of things that as fundraisers we need to know about our supporters to make us more effective and to enable the donor relationship to continue in the long-term:

• How do they want to be contacted?
• What is their preferred way of giving?
• How often do they want to be contacted/give?
• Why do they support you?
• What do they want in return?
• Would they like the opportunity to be more involved with your charity?
• Etc

These are just a few things we would love to find out.

Fine we can do research on our donors, both before they give and once we have them.  We can look for trends and commonalities.  However the real way to build a firm and lasting relationship is to talk to them whenever possible – either individually or as a group so that you can find out things from a donors perspective.

We all make assumptions but that tends to be based on our own personal perceptions and views of the world and our charities work.  However, is that much good if you are a single 25 year old who likes to go clubbing every weekend and is in a house-share with friends when your typical donor is of the opposite sex, has their own property, is 68 and worried about their old age?

It may not be that easy to talk to every donor (from a practical or financial perspective) but do think about how you can do this to get their views and feedback as well as to strengthen the relationship.

Aim to have a thank-you call to a range of supporters whatever the size of their gift – you’ll be surprised how much they appreciate it.  Many people think a phone call is cheaper that a letter – we all know that it’s not but let's make the most of the false perception.

Have a thank-you event for supporters and get chance to speak to some of them on an individual basis

Have a focus group made up of a number of supporters so they can get info from the ‘horses’ mouth’

Talk to your volunteers – they are donors and many will give you their thoughts and views freely

You’ll be surprised what you find out that will make your fundraising much more effective both in the short as well as the long-term.