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Guest blogger Caroline Danks of LarkOwl talks foul-mouthed Christian rock bands and sleepouts…

Caroline is an expert in trusts and foundations and major gifts fundraising and has raised millions for good causes. She runs LarkOwl with her partner Tony which supports charities with income generation from fundraising and commercial sources. She writes the Nest Egg, a fun and irreverent reader supported publication for fundraisers looking to supercharge their income generation activities and drive better results. Caroline is a regular guest host for the Bright Spot Members’ Club and her writing has been featured in Fundraising Magazine. For the past three years, she has co-curated Fundraising Everywhere’s Trusts and Major Donors conference.

 

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In my first ever fundraising role, I was part of a team of four focused on trusts and statutory fundraising.  I loved it!  The research and writing elements felt like an easy segue from my degree coursework.  Phoning people felt like a big and scary (but do-able) challenge. My colleagues were generous in sharing their wisdom and my charity had invested in me and in my development.

At the same charity, there was also a corporate and major gifts team of four and an individual giving team, also of four. 

When looking back and comparing the personalities of those in each team, I think we all fitted the stereotypes relatively closely.

The trust fundraisers were quiet, studious and reserved.  We brought lots of money in, never shouted about it and occasionally went for a civilised lunch together of sausage, egg and chips at our favourite East End pub (so wild…).

The corporate team were a different breed.   They were warm, personable, fun and energetic (not that we weren’t but, you know…).   They were always the first to put the radio on and crank up the music (I can’t listen to Hey Ya by Outkast without thinking back to that magical time).

Their section of the office was colourful, there were always banners, balloons, mascots and t shirts hanging around.  Very different to the trust office with our neat files, well stocked pen pots and private ‘touch it and you die’ non-communal tea mugs.

They were always roping people into volunteer at evenings and weekends or take on ambitious running / sleepout challenges.

It was through them that I got out of my comfort zone and experienced some of the most enjoyable and memorable times representing my charity within my local community.

These included:

• A gig by a Christian rock band in a nasty upstairs room at a ropey pub on the Walworth Road.  The lyrics comprising bad language like I’d NEVER heard in my LIFE.  Not very Christian…
• A drinks reception at a large city bank.  I’d literally been in my job two weeks and knew NOTHING but there were free drinks!!!  Twenty-one year old Caroline was THERE.
• The opening of a swanky new bar in West London.  The celeb host was lovely, her assistant was not and my boyfriend and best mate who tagged along ended up getting terrible food poisoning from the canapes!
• The London Marathon.  Just wow.  Watching it is game-changing.  I ended up running it for the following three years.

Here were the best things that I learned from that corporate team and how those learnings influenced my trust fundraising practice.

 

1. Creativity in buckets

I was conscious early on about how much harder their work was compared with ours (and have become more so since having actually done corporate fundraising in subsequent roles). 

They couldn’t just write a letter and wait for the cheque.  They had to do presentations, meetings, organise team building activities etc.  The publicity and praise their donors were after was different to the requirements from trusts.  Alongside project visits, they were often found posing with giant cheques, writing content for our website and for the corporate supporters too.

They were building partnerships through multiple touchpoints.

Not just a one-off request for money with a yes / no response.

Because of this, they seemed to be more on more intimate terms with their donors.  Regular contact enabled them to build relationships in a way that we trust fundraisers never needed to.

Maybe charitable trusts don’t ask this of us but conversely, many will welcome it if we offer it.

Anything we can do to strengthen relationships in this competitive funding environment is a win.

 

2. Always on the phone

The corporate team ALWAYS seemed to be on the phone.  They were never off it.  And they chatted to their donors like they were friends.  They seemed to know each other really well.

This was one of many tools they used to build meaningful, long term partnerships.

I am a massive proponent of getting to know trusts over the phone before you write to them.  My top tips are:

• Do your research.  Ask questions which demonstrate this.
• Write a script before you start
• Find a quiet room and stand up to make the call!

 

3. Usually absent

Whilst the trust fundraisers sat dutifully at our desks squirrelling away (bar the occasional visit to a project with a trust representative of course – we weren’t total hermits), the corporate team were ALWAYS out and about.

To a new fundraiser, I was suddenly aware that there were so many more steps to developing a corporate partnership than there were to securing a gift from a trust.

Additionally, individual donors journeys appeared very different. Clearly each corporate was being taken on their own, very bespoke journey and it was one which they had engineered and concocted alongside my colleagues.

If the team didn’t rock up in the mornings like the rest of us, then it was an indicator that they’d been working the night before or hosting an event at the weekend.

Pandemic or not, I reckon trust fundraisers could all probably get out a bit more if push came to shove.

Ideas to get you out of the office a bit more:

• Go through your list of donors
• Who is local to you?  Have you met them?
• Phone them up to say thank you and invite them out for a coffee to show your gratitude and update them on the amazing difference their gift is making.

 

Thank you corporate colleagues!

THANK YOU corporate colleagues for showing me that there is SO much more to fundraising than researching like a boss and writing like a dream. 

You have inspired me to make my trust relationships into genuine partnerships and in doing so, have improved lives, protected special places and made my working day a hell of a lot more fun.

 

Caroline is an expert in trusts and foundations, major gifts and capital appeals and has raised millions for good causes and runs LarkOwl with her partner Tony which supports charities with income generation from fundraising and commercial sources.

She writes a weekly blog which she shares with over 2,000 fundraisers every week via LarkOwl’s Nest Egg newsletter.  Her writing has been featured in Fundraising Magazine.

For the past three years, LarkOwl have published research on the Return on Investment for different areas of fundraising.  Their recent report published in September 2021 can be downloaded for free from their website.

Want to learn more about corporate fundraising?

Join us at Corporate Partnerships Everywhere Conference 2025.

This article contains an affiliate link and LarkOwl will receive a small commission for any conference ticket bought via this link.

Written by Nikki Bell, Co-Founder of Fundraising Everywhere

Nikki is the co-founder of Fundraising Everywhere, featured in 2021’s Digital Womxn to Watch, and an international speaker about building innovative and inclusive teams.

Earlier this year we shared our 2024 highlights and I realised that for many, this would have been the first time hearing about any of it – which isn’t good for transparency, but it’s also not great for anyone who wanted to get involved in any of it.

So, if you’re a fundraiser changing the world, a charity leader making big decisions, or a sector professional looking to be part of something bigger – here’s what we’re aiming for in 2025. We’d love to have you as part of it!

Our mantra

After getting the team together to plot and plan, a vibe was becoming more obvious.

In 2023 due to a team bereavement, we maintained. In 2024, we grew the team slightly and built strong foundations. And now, with more talent, data, and direction, the vibe is all about LFG.

Let’s F****** Go.

We know what we’re doing well, we know what we need to make better, and we know how to improve it.

So let’s do the thing.

LFG.

Our strategy on a page

In 2024, we had a modest growth in income, which we have put straight back into Fundraising Everywhere’s platform and people.

We have added a new Head of Community Engagement and Relationships to our SLT team, and in early 2025 will be adding two more people to our management team to help us deliver the goals we’ve mentioned here.

A significant investment has been made into our website which you’ll start to see the benefits of in early 2025. Members will be especially excited about this part!

We’re a bootstrapped company meaning we have no investors and are 100% founder-owned. Every member, attendee, and sponsor allows us to pay our speakers, improve the events we host, and invest in the tech we host it on.

We’re hugely grateful to each and every one of you for making that possible.

Objective 1: Grow our community

This isn’t about just whacking more people onto our mailing list. It’s about growing community, belonging, wellbeing, and skills.

It’s about sharing content people find useful and want to see in a way that makes them feel uplifted. Sending fewer but better communications to the right people at the right time through our own mailing list or others.

It’s about being clear on what our channels are for and how to use them – and which ones we can do without.

We’re recruiting a new marketing manager who specialises in email to help us nail this and will be keeping an eye on engagement metrics throughout the year (not just the list number).

 

Objective 2: Improve event engagement

Again, this isn’t just about numbers.

Fundraising Everywhere is in its sixth year and has no signs of stopping. Every year we welcome thousands of new people into the community and whilst we receive consistently positive feedback, we don’t want to get comfortable and lose the focus on quality.

2025 is about improving the event experience for attendees.

We’re hiring a new Events Manager whose role is focussed on supporting speakers to deliver great content by implementing a speaker onboarding process that includes rehearsals and earlier submission of content (so you know what you’re signing up for) and supporting event curators to put together inclusive, exciting, and useful events.

We’ve also refined the conference topics we deliver to support the wider community, offering inspiration and networking opportunities that are relevant to fundraising strategy priorities. We’re also testing ‘Accelerators’, shorter masterclass style events that go into the detail of a specific topic.

You can find our 2025 events here. Future Accelerators will include acquisition, retention, lotteries, and data/CRM management.

A further goal for 2025 is to invest in improving the live virtual event experience to support better engagement and networking for members and attendees. This will obviously take more time and investment, but as our community grows it’s the first place that income will go!

Objective 3: Increase community impact

Through research and relationships, we’re seeing more of the FE community utilise our on-demand microlearning platform for adhoc training outside of events.

So to help you do that better, we’re investing in the on-demand experience.

In spring 2025, a new and improved members area will be available so members can search and find more relevant content, and be able to save their learning journeys so they don’t miss a learning opportunity.

You will find learning and development resources to support your personal objective setting and development plans, and there will be resources available for charities with an L&D team so we can complement their existing strategies.

We’re also investing in new, specially developed workshops to go into more depth in key topics. These masterclasses will be professionally created and recorded and available as part of your member onboarding journey.

More of the good stuff

Obviously there are some epic things we’re bringing back in 2025 like Picnics Everywhere, key conferences like the Supporter Experience Conference, Individual Giving Conference, and Legacy Fundraising Conference.

We’re also keeping our IRL networking running in the North East, Manchester, London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. Keep an eye on our list or socials for dates and speakers.

Members will continue to receive funded coaching and match-making opportunities, and will be the first people we go to when researching what we should be doing and how.

And of course there is continued collaboration with companies, professionals, and existing communities and groups in the charity sector so we can extend our reach, elevate their work, and offer more opportunities for people to contribute and learn.

The team that make it happen

We’re unable to deliver a great experience if our team aren’t invested in, too.

The team each receives €1,000 each to use on training and in 2025 we’ve improved our processes by bringing in personal objective planning – by reviewing our day-to-day against job descriptions, we’re able to see, and support, the gaps in skills or confidence. Some members of staff are on progression plans; working collaboratively on professional growth with a view to promote within FE in the future.

We’re also investing in increased headcount which will improve workloads and processes, and of course, bring new talents and insights to help us move in the right direction.

Existing staff have received a cost of living pay increase and new benefits including private health insurance alongside existing benefits like flexible hours, fully remote working, and a four day work week.

Want to join us?

We can’t do any of this alone, so if you want to join as a speaker, help with events (IRL or online – we give free membership or pay those that do!), partner with us, or become an affiliate we would absolutely love to talk to you.

And if you want to be part of a growing community that cares about what you learn and how you learn it, you should definitely be a member. Chat to Cam about getting your whole team involved or sign up here for just yourself.

We hope your 2025 is filled with existing and ambitious plans – LFG!

Voice Your Thoughts 🗣️

Our platform is open to anyone and everyone in the sector that has an opinion, idea, or resource they would like to share to help make our sector better. If you would like write and share something, pop an email over to hello@fundraisingeverywhere.com and we will support you every step of the way to share your voice.

Written by Alex Aggidis

Alex Aggidis is Head of Growth Marketing at Fundraising Everywhere. She leads on brand, creative development, marketing planning and strategy. Alex worked as a fundraiser for over 10 years in the UK charity sector, across Corporates, Major Gifts and Product Innovation, before specialising in Individual Giving. During her time at Scope, Alex and her team won 3 Gold and 1 Silver DMA awards across 4 separate categories. Alex won a place as a ‘rising star’ to speak at SOFII’s ‘I Wish I Though Of That’ and won 2nd place overall. Before joining Fundraising Everywhere Alex was Interim Head of Individual Giving at Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In the world of fundraising, Individual Giving remains a critical pillar of support for charities of all sizes. But as we move towards 2025, the landscape is shifting, presenting both challenges and opportunities for fundraisers.

As economic uncertainties linger, donor expectations evolve, and digital engagement grows, as fundraisers we must adapt and innovate to ensure our strategies remain effective.

But, as we know, this stuff isn’t easy. And fundraisers are tired. It feels a bit like we’re at the foot of the highest mountain, and, despite our efforts, the summit remains just beyond reach. 

The Current State of Individual Giving Fundraising

In recent years, Individual Giving has experienced a bit of a rollercoaster. Economic pressures, driven by factors such as inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, have placed strain on donors.

Many supporters are finding it harder to maintain the same level of giving they once did.

Fundraisers are now trying to manage fewer regular gifts, regulatory changes, increased donor fatigue, and a competitive environment in a context where the need for support is higher than ever.

The rise of digital engagement also means that fundraisers must navigate new tools and platforms, while donors expect seamless, personalised experiences.

In addition, transparency and accountability are at the forefront of donors’ minds. They want to know how their contributions are making a difference and increasingly seek a direct connection with the causes they support.

The Difficulties Facing Fundraisers Today

1. Donor Retention: Keeping donors engaged over the long term is a significant challenge. With more charities competing for attention, fundraisers are grappling with how to stand out and nurture meaningful relationships.

2. Shifting Donor Demographics: The older generations, historically the most reliable supporters of individual giving, are beginning to step back from active donation, while younger generations are emerging as potential donors. However, their giving habits are different—they prioritise impact, demand digital convenience, and expect deeper connections with the causes they support.

3. Budget Constraints: Many charities are operating on tighter budgets, with less capacity to invest in innovative campaigns or technology upgrades. This makes it harder to keep up with donor expectations and fundraising best practices.

4. Digital Transformation: While digital tools offer immense potential, they also pose a steep learning curve. Understanding how to harness the power of digital platforms to create a cohesive donor experience is a challenge that fundraisers are increasingly facing.

Preparing for 2025: What Fundraisers Should Be Thinking About

To succeed in 2025 and beyond, fundraisers need to think ahead, strategise, and invest in areas that will future-proof efforts. Here are a few areas to start:

• Deepening Donor Relationships: Fundraisers should focus on personalisation, using data-driven insights to offer tailored experiences. This could mean segmenting donor communications, offering exclusive updates, or providing more opportunities for feedback and involvement.
  
  
• Diversifying Channels: Fundraisers should explore multi-channel approaches, using email, direct mail, paid social, telephone, SMS, dialogue, and even emerging technologies like AI to reach different donor segments.
  
  
• Emphasising Transparency: Donors want to know exactly how their money is being used and the impact it’s having. Clear communication, frequent thanking and reporting are key to maintaining trust and ensuring long-term support.
  
  
• Focusing on Emerging Donors: Engaging millennials and Gen Z requires adapting to their preferences. This includes creating more interactive digital experiences and offering easy, mobile-first donation options.

The Solution

Fundraisers may feel overwhelmed by the current situation, but you don’t have to tackle challenges alone, help is at hand.

By joining a community of fellow fundraisers, you can tap into a wealth of shared knowledge, advice, and support. Platforms like Fundraising Everywhere offer access to a global network where you can connect with peers, share insights, and collaborate on solutions to common challenges.

Additionally, you can find free resources dotted all around the internet, webinars, guides, and forums. Linkedin, for instance, has a whole host of peers and experts ready and waiting to connect with you. We also have a weekly newsletter, that shares fundraising tips, insights and support. 

Here at Fundraising Everywhere, we also have the 5th edition of the Individual Giving Conference, coming up on October 17th 2024. Its been expertly curated to address the very pain points discussed in this blog, and equip fundraisers with the tools and strategies you need to thrive.

With 3 rooms; insights & people, acquisition and retention, there’s something for everyone across the whole Individual Giving space.

Including sessions like:

How To Raise £1 million In 6 Weeks

Speaker: Anna-Leigh Purland. Learn how Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex raised the £1M to buy a new lifesaving helicopter in just 6 weeks, via a multi channel campaign including warm mail, door drops and press ads.

Supporter Welcome Journeys: Top Tips to Build Strong Donor Relationships

Speaker: Claire Donner, More Onion. Learn how to design a welcome journey that turns new supporters into your biggest advocates. With over a decade of insights from More Onion, Claire will guide you through practical steps to refine your current approach or start fresh.

How Action Tutoring Saves Time And Energy With AI

Speaker: Molly Cottrill, Senior Fundraising Coordinator at Action Tutoring. In this session, discover Action Tutoring’s AI journey, learn how they are using generative AI, and their plans are for safely using AI going forward.

Growing Your Peer To Peer Campaigns – Engage More Donors And Raise More Money

Speaker: Muna Hussen, UK Country Lead at Raisely. This session will take the confusion out of exactly what you need to do, to deliver on great peer to peer campaigns!

Building Your Stewardship Programme From The Ground Up

Speaker: Paul Taylor, Senior CRM Specialist at JustGiving. In this session, JustGiving’s Head of CRM, Paul Taylor will take you through planning, building, crafting and sending the perfect email.

Individual Giving Conference will provide practical, actionable takeaways to help you navigate the unique challenges of 2024 and beyond.

Whether it’s learning how to deepen donor relationships or understanding the latest in digital innovation, this conference offers the insights fundraisers need to stay ahead.

As we look to 2025, it’s time to rethink traditional approaches, embrace innovation, and equip ourselves with the tools to succeed.

Register now for the Individual Giving Conference 2024 and get ready to unlock new opportunities in your fundraising strategy.

Voice Your Thoughts 🗣️

Our platform is open to anyone and everyone in the sector that has an opinion, idea, or resource they would like to share to help make our sector better. If you would like write and share something, pop an email over to hello@fundraisingeverywhere.com and we will support you every step of the way to share your voice.

Written by Jo McGuinness MInstF(Dip), Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships at Children 1st

A year ago, I was 2 months into my current role after almost a full year of redundancy, job hunting, interim work and a general feeling of being unsettled and unsafe. I had finally been fortunate to find a role that provided me with familiarity – working with people I had worked with previously so I could feel safe, whilst doing what I loved.

My experience of intensive and stressful job hunting has stuck with me, and in my current role I feel a responsibility and desire to improve the recruitment process as much as is within my power – because, why not?

At Children 1st, we hadn’t been able to successfully recruit for a few roles before I started, so took time to review the existing process and consider what improvements could be made. We then went out in April 2022 with seven roles and filled them all.

Six of the post holders are still in post, with one who left retraining as a teacher. Before Christmas we refilled that post, using much of the same improvements to the process which have become standard within the Fundraising team.

Deciding what to change

When reviewing the current process, I spent time reflecting on what had been the main points of frustration for me as a job seeker.

• Not knowing the people behind the process.
  Of 31 applications I had applied for, only 4 offered informal calls with recruiting managers. Whilst 13 did offer calls with recruiters, those conversations are never as insightful as they weren’t with the person you’d work with/under.
• Unclear expectations and grading.
  I was never sure how I would be graded against other candidates. Criteria was never shared (before or after interview), and some feedback received could be viewed as somewhat problematic.
• Lack of communication and feedback.
  Of the applications submitted that didn’t take me to interview, half didn’t let me know I was unsuccessful, I just got radio silence. One role took 12 weeks to let me know I was unsuccessful. As a job seeker this was both disheartening and felt like my time and effort wasn’t valued.
  What was especially frustrating was that each of these issues can be improved with a little bit of thought and effort.

Feeling safe

Being honest about the current external climate and how that might be affecting candidates was a huge consideration. When I was job hunting it was against the background of easing out of the pandemic and whilst we aren’t back there, the cost-of-living crisis and general bin-fire state of things around us does cause feelings of insecurity for job hunters.

There are simple things recruiting managers can do to help entice job seekers to take the leap, and mainly its by being a bit more human…

• Showcase the fact your organisation is made up of individuals with personalities by filming informal videos, offering friendly conversations to connect with candidates and provide as much info about the organisation and the role as possible via different methods.
• Detail six month expectations and how success is measured in the candidate pack – be upfront with expectations so candidates can make an informed decision.
• Be transparent and share relevant policies, for example your maternity, menopause, sickness, and annual leave policies. This way candidates can check if your organisation aligns with what matters to them.
• Be honest about what’s working and where challenges are. Candidates aren’t stupid, and no organisation is without challenge. Being open about what needs improving will convey authenticity to candidates and help them to understand what the risks are in making the move.
• Be clear about what the induction period looks like and include the induction plan if you can. (This is on our list for next time!) Candidates want to know they will be supported when starting something new.
• Explain your salary banding. If you have a £10k salary band, provide clear explanation as to someone be hired at the bottom vs the top so candidates know where they stand.

Embracing flexibility

One key factor when overhauling our recruitment process was really looking critically at what we could be flexible on. We have to appreciate that societies expectations have shifted since the pandemic, we aren’t returning to the old way of working, ever.

We must embrace flexibility such as remote-based working (and FYI, that isn’t new) and ensure we aren’t viewing pre-pandemic times with rose-tinted glasses. I feel concerned when I hear leaders make comments like ‘we were much more connected before 2020’ or ‘our culture has suffered because of remote working’.

Creating connection and culture are things you can do regardless of location – you just need to be intentional about it. Make time. Expend effort. We can’t rely on water cooler chats or shouting across desks to form culture – because that wasn’t good enough back then, and now a lot of fundraisers have woken up to the fact there’s another way. Organisations need to wake up too.

If you must have an office presence, be clear with candidates on:

• The why – how does being in an office together add value that isn’t delivered remotely?
• How you will make office working more enticing e.g. support with travel costs, allow travel time within work hours, allowing dogs in the office.

Understand that if hybrid working or being office based is essential, it will limit your pool of candidates and affect existing workers in terms of personal preference, accessibility, cost and more.

Influencing upwards

Suggesting change can be tricky, especially if the powers that be above you aren’t convinced things need changing in the first instance. We are hearing from across the sector that recruiting fundraisers is tough. Many organisations are having to go out to recruit more than once for the same role, so we may find leaders with even the firmest of views start to be open to tweaks if it might help secure candidates.

• Try offering trial periods. We seem to feel quite concerned about changing recruitment practise, possibly because it feels formal and as legally there are elements that need to happen in the correct and proper way. But there is so much that can be flexed too. I spoke to our HR team who were willing to trial some changes on the understanding that I gathered feedback from candidates. That’s how we managed to do away with the incredibly annoying and candidate-unfriendly application form!
• Ask why – politely! Ask from a place of curiosity and willingness to collaborate rather than challenge. Frame questions to understand their perspective and be clear that you want to achieve change that you are both comfortable with. Sometimes it can help to find great examples out there in sector and come armed with evidence. Childrens Society and SOFii are two recent ones that are really framing flexibility and kindness to candidates well in their ads.
• Figure out what’s important and comprise on what’s not so. Have your own ‘must achieve, love to achieve and like to achieve’ list of changes. Go in firm with your musts, and flex on the rest. Its ok for change to take time – every step in the right direction is an improvement.

Remember, sometimes you might need to undertake small acts of quiet rebellion and seek forgiveness not permission!

From our experience, if you only do three things to make your recruitment practise more candidate friendly, please make it these:

• Run a critical eye over your JDs before going to recruit – remove as many person spec criteria as you can, remove red-flag phrases such as ‘hit the ground running’ and ensure it says exactly what you mean.
• Send the interview questions out in advance – you will get better quality interviews, AND you will be making the process much more accessible.
• Provide and seek feedback – candidates invest time and effort, and emotions, in partaking in our recruitment process. The least we can do is provide clear and useful feedback. And lets be humble, they know exactly how our process made them feel – so lets ask them. Once we know better, we can do better.

As recruiting managers let's not forget that we are being interviewed, too, and candidates are clearer than ever on what they want and need. We have to change, or we will be left behind.

This blog was part of an exclusive Members Clinic that Jo ran for Fundraising Everywhere Members. We hold Members Clinics every month with sector experts.

Want access to exclusive content like this, plus all our conferences & webinars to watch Live or On Demand?

Join charities like WWF, Scope, Friends of the Earth, Alzheimer's Research UK & The Children's Society and become a Member.

 

The deadline for this role has passed and we are no longer accepting applications.

 

Role: Growth Marketing Exec (Fundraising Everywhere)

Salary: €30,000 /  £26,500

Hours: 30 per week, worked at any time through the week between 7am – 7pm UK/Ireland time

Direct reports: None

Working alongside: Head of Growth Marketing, Community Manager

Reporting to: Head of Growth Marketing

Location: Remote – Must live in UK/Ireland

 

About the role

This person will support the marketing of Fundraising Everywhere (FE) including social media (paid and organic), email (emails and journey), content creation, reporting and PR support.

The purpose of the role is to support the existing marketing function to increase brand awareness and participation numbers to Fundraising Everywhere events/Membership, and supporting Fundraising Everywhere’s mission to create a better sector for fundraisers.

Our long-term goal is to grow the marketing team and dedicate a team of people to Fundraising Everywhere. The Growth Marketing Exec is the start of this growth and the start of an exciting new chapter for the organisation.

Below you’ll find a list of responsibilities for the role. We understand that you might not have experience in every detail, so if this is you and you think this role is right for you, please still get in touch.

 

Organic & paid social:

 

• • Copywriting & graphic creation

• • Social media content generation and scheduling

• • Will work across platforms including Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram

• • Community management

• • Reporting & analysis, insight

 

Email

 

• • Copywriting & graphic creation

• • Email; promo & retention, journeys (welcome, conversion & reactivation)

• • Mailing list management

• • Reporting & analysis, insight

 

Website

 

• • Blog development (including guest blogs)

• • SEO

• • CMS

• • Conversion flow optimisation

• • Reporting & analysis, insight

 

Podcast

 

• • Project management

• • Asset creation

• • Marketing

 

Affiliates, sponsors and marketing partners

 

• • Content generation including generation of promo packs

• • Support affiliates with event content, collateral and communications

 

Creative development

 

• • Canva

• • Working closely with video editors

 

General

 

• • Identify leads and opportunities for Community Manager

• • Contributes to team meetings

• • Contributes to marketing planning

• • Contributes to event curation

 

Key relationships

 

• • Head of Growth Marketing

• • Community Manager

• • Everywhere+ Senior Account Manager

• • Everywhere+ team

• • Third-party agencies/freelancers

• • Online community via mailing list and social media

• • Co-Founders

• • External suppliers or freelancers for graphic design, editing etc.

• • Affiliates

 

What we offer

 

• • Flexible and remote working

• • Christmas close down

• • 28 days holiday plus UK Bank Holidays (includes Christmas close down)

• • Training budget (after six months successful probationary period)

• • One day a month offline for reflective development (after six months successful probationary period)

 

What we’re looking for

Someone who

 

• • Has experience with content, email, paid and organic social marketing

• • Is a great written communicator

• • Has experience with cultivating leads from digital marketing activity

• • Can regularly analyse activity and develop plans for continuous improvement

• • Can make graphics (Canva is fine) for online use

• • Has experience with WordPress/Elementor

• • Has great relationship-building skills

• • Is a team player and can work alongside others on shared goals

• • Has great attention to detail and can spot opportunities from leads and social listening

• • Is (very) organised and proactive in spotting opportunities and working towards them

• • Can keep Head of Growth Marketing up to date with what’s happening and what you require to make your job easier and more effective

Don’t worry if you haven’t worked with virtual events before, we will provide full training.

 

About us

Fundraising Everywhere was created out of a need for inclusive events in the charity sector and is a tech for good start-up working within the third sector.

Fundraising Everywhere: We care a lot about making professional and personal development accessible and affordable so all fundraisers have the skills and confidence to change the world. We do this through online events and Membership that puts the fundraiser at the heart of what we do.

You can find more about our values and how we work here.

 

For more information

If you have questions about us or the role, please contact alex@fundraisingeverywhere.com.

To find out what we’re like to work with, please get in touch with our references who will be happy to send some details:

Referee (Alex): Tori Arthurs tori.arthurs@foe.co.uk

Referee (Nikki): Andy King andy@firesidefundraising.com

Referee (Simon): Dana Segal danakohavasegal@gmail.com

 

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To apply

Fill in this short application form: Growth Marketing Exec (Fundraising Everywhere) before 5pm on January 26th 2023.

We encourage people from all communities to apply for jobs with us. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, disabled, male identifying, trans and young people because we want to improve representation of these groups in our workforce.

All applicants will be notified by email on the evening of January 27th 2023 and interviews will take place online (subtitled) the following week on January 31st 2023. 

 

Written by Caroline Danks, Author at LarkOwl.

Caroline is an expert in trusts and foundations and major gifts fundraising and has raised millions for good causes. She runs LarkOwl with her partner Tony which supports charities with income generation from fundraising and commercial sources. She writes the Nest Egg, a fun and irreverent reader supported publication for fundraisers looking to supercharge their income generation activities and drive better results. Caroline is a regular guest host for the Bright Spot Members’ Club and her writing has been featured in Fundraising Magazine. For the past two years, she has co-curated Fundraising Everywhere’s Trusts and Major Donors conference.

 

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2010

Early in May 2010, I remember staying up as late as I possibly could, watching the results of the general election. 

Being a morning Lark, I think I made it to about 10:10pm.  Nowadays my election watching tactics involve an early night and then setting the alarm for 5am…

Labour had been in power since 1997 and the prospect of them remaining in office was slim.  People blamed them for the global financial crisis and for the decisions they took thereafter to rescue our banks and to retain funding for public services.

The next morning, I remember Gordon Brown’s desperate efforts to negotiate with members of smaller parties, before giving up and making room for the Conservative / Lib Dem coalition.

Incidentally, the week prior to that night, I had become pregnant (although I didn’t know it yet).

I had a new life on the way, and a new government which would shape the world into which she would be born.

I couldn’t escape a sense of gloom about my new child’s life chances.

Austerity felt like a low point and showed up in many painful and irreversible ways across society.  I saw it in my own community too:

• The little independent shops which characterised our small Cornish town started to close. 
• The flat I bought in 2007 never regained its value. 
• The pastoral care lead at the primary school would routinely buy breakfast from her own money to feed kids coming to school hungry.

 

2016-2022

In 2016, Brexit happened.

A global pandemic followed (with different rules for MP’s and the general populous it turned out) and then war in Europe. Oh, and apparently there is ‘no credible path to preventing a global rise in temperature of 1.5 celsius.

We’re also on the cusp of an Autumn Statement which we’re told will include ‘tax rises for all and eye watering cuts’.  Austerity mark 2?

My daughter is 11 now and it’s hard not to feel despairing about the state of our country and the wider world. 

The slow descent of our political system into chaos and corruption and widening wealth inequalities have had a direct impact on the charitable sector – the place where those most in need come when there is no one else to turn to. 

I don’t need to tell you how things have been of late. 

Put simply, there is increasing need for the services which charities offer, combined with a reduction in the funding available to pay for them.

 

Charity: just a sticking plaster?

It is my personal belief that for the most part, the existence of charities represents a failure of the state (or course there are exceptions).  And although many charities treasure their independence (which I totally get), things like:

• proper, dignified care for older people
• high quality end-of-life provision for all
• schools with sufficient numbers of staff and basic equipment like stationary
• access to food (ideally nutritious, fresh stuff)
• and ensuring that disabled people have the means to power their lifesaving equipment,

really should be part of a modern and civilised society, not optional extras.

When there is less to go around and more people to help, it’s difficult not to feel like the work we do as fundraisers is nothing more than a sticking plaster.

And not even a good waterproof sticking plaster with a fun cartoon character on it.

I’m talking one of those useless sticking plasters which peels off at the first sign of a single bead of sweat.

And what happens when the plaster falls off?  It just doesn’t bear thinking about…

 

I think I’m in a bit of a rut – obsessing over the news and feeling more and more like I’m in a minority of people in this country who think that Boris Johnson looks like ‘he’d be a laugh down the pub’ and that David Cameron was a great Prime Minister because ‘looked good in a suit’.

 

When there is less to go around and more people to help, it’s difficult not to feel like the work we do as fundraisers is nothing more than a sticking plaster.

 

Looking to the future

It is not my intention to write a piece which focuses entirely on negativity and I promise not to leave you this way.  I’m not convinced I have any answers, but I routinely advise fundraisers that they focus their energies firmly on the things they can’t control (rather than things which sit outside of it) so maybe it’s time I took my own advice.

It’s important to remember that as individuals, we can’t throw all the starfish back into the water.

But those we can throw, will appreciate it.  Not only will they appreciate it.  They will survive and (with any luck) thrive.

And all the while the system degrades, we will just keep on keeping on, forging partnerships with those who have both the means and the inclination to reject the individualistic / capitalist / growth for growth’s sake and to strive for something fairer.

In the podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’ Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart were asked (a much more eloquent and better-worded version of) the following question:

How do you not despair when everything’s really depressing?

I stopped and really listened carefully to the answer because it was the question I’d been asking myself:

The answer was simple:

‘You have to find hope.’

It’s really simple isn’t it. 

You have to find hope.

Alongside the daily joys of seeing small differences made as a direct result of the fundraising I’ve done, I feel determined to see hope and inspiration (and to shift myself away from the sad sticking plaster metaphor I’d got, well stuck on).

Join me and other, less ranty humans for Fundraising Everywhere’s Grants and Major Donors conference on Thursday 15th December.

My session is a journey from anger to hope. It’s a (short) rant about the state of the world followed by some practical advice for continuing a successful fundraising practice, despite the challenges in the world around us.

It’s for tired fundraisers, who still have the spark of a flame inside them and want to do the best they can with what they have.

Key learnings

– Some practical tips for working with trusts and major donors in tough times

– An exercise in identifying what you can control (and what you can’t)

– Ideas for wellbeing and not getting caught up in the storm

 

How do you not despair when everything’s really depressing?
You have to find hope.

 

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Grants & Major Donors Conference 2022

When? Thursday 15 December, 12 – 3pm GMT

Where? Online, so your living room

What do I need? A journal and mince pies

Can I bring an Eggnog? Hell yeah.  Or Coquito if you prefer a Mexican variation.  Alcoholic and virgin options are both equally welcome.

You can buy your ticket here.*

 

* This post contains my affiliate link and when you purchase a ticket through my link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Written by Emily Collins-Ellis, CEO of I.G. Advisors.

"Fellowship seeks to bring together fundraisers to #FixTheFlow of resources for good"

Emily Collins-Ellis, CEO, I.G. Advisors

My journey as a resource activist

Recently, we at I.G. Advisors opened applications for our #FixTheFlow Fellowship, and I’m really grateful to Fundraising Everywhere for supporting what we’re doing, and inviting me to share a bit about why we’ve developed the programme.

To do that, I’d like to tell you a bit about my journey as a fundraiser, and as (what I call) a resource activist. 

Like many of us, I accidentally got into fundraising.

It was my way of getting into the nonprofit sector, where I felt I would have purpose, and I spent years in Officer, Manager and Trustee roles across small, medium and large charities.

I’ve really seen it all! Unfortunately, I had an immediate ‘in the deep end’ introduction to the major challenges in the profession: 

• My targets were always growing, and being set by budgeting and strategic processes that were completely disconnected from what I felt was possible in the market or my portfolio
  
• I felt immense pressure to meet those targets so as not to put our service users or organisation at risk, which felt really scary and heavy. 
  
• The skills required to fundraise seemed to be simultaneously so basic that Trustees would tell me ‘just read the Sunday Times Rich List’, and so complex that no one could provide me with clear training or guidance. 
  
• Sometimes, I would feel under pressure to compromise my values in the name of bringing in money. For example, by communicating about service users in undignified language to elicit bigger responses from donors; competing with peer organisations in aggressive ways; or rushing relationship building with donors to meet targets.  

Even though I did well, I still wasn’t feeling very sure about my role as a fundraiser - I got into nonprofit work to feel connected to a purpose, but I felt stuck churning through transactional relationship building in a silo. 

Then, the post-financial crisis austerity policies hit, and decimated the public funding for the work my charity was doing.

Suddenly, it wasn’t a matter of meeting targets for our work, but being part of a sector that was being actively deprioritised by government - it was a survival risk for us all.

And, the funding hole left by this couldn’t be filled by foundations alone - it was bigger than all their endowments put together.

This was the moment where I realised, this isn’t an ‘us and them’ sort of job - where I’m just trying to get money out of people on the other side of the table, and if I do that at enough tables, and do it better than everyone else, it will be fine. 

This is when I zoomed out and realised that I was part of a funding system: a big, complex one, where my individual work, and my organisation, were just a part of the picture. I could work harder and do better on my bit of the pipeline, but if the flow of resources from wealth holders, businesses or government wasn’t there, or I was getting those limited resources at the expense of another vital organisation, what good would that do? 

That is when I started to see myself as a resource activist. Someone whose job it was to organise giving, redistribute resources, and play a role within the funding system overall. I wanted to champion my causes and the practice of giving, as well as my organisation. And I knew I couldn’t do it alone. 

My move to create social & environmental change

And so, I joined I.G. Advisors. I.G. creates social and environmental change by working with the philanthropy, business and nonprofit sectors to develop impact and growth strategies.

We have worked with 170+ organisations and 2,000+ fundraising professionals in 60 different countries, and whilst we’d love to work with everyone on developing organisational strategies, we know not every fundraiser or organisation is in a place where they can access such comprehensive support. 

We’ve already responded to that challenge by developing lots of free resources, such as our What Donors Want podcast and Field Guide to Relationship Based Fundraising, but we were hearing from hundreds of fundraisers who want more hands-on support, more ideas, more chances to connect with peers, and more ways to address the challenges of the funding system. And, in the current climate, we know our approach is more vital than ever. 

#FixTheFlow

And so, we have developed, our #FixTheFlow Fellowship programme. This fellowship programme will focus on four levels of impact: 

1. Individual - where we’ll work with you on your personal development as a fundraiser. Enhancing your craft, your confidence, and your commitment, no matter where you’re working. 
   
2. Organisational - where we’ll help you to identify your pain points and goals, and set you up for success when driving fundraising within your workplace, no matter your job title. 
   
3. Sectoral - where we’ll bring together cohorts of fundraisers who face similar challenges with misconceptions of their causes, to do action learning together. 
   
4. Systemic - where we’ll collectively define the areas of the funding system where we want to #FixTheFlow, and develop collaborative action plans and special projects together. 

Like any movement, this fellowship will be what we make of it. We have designed an experience that is not just educational, but transformational.

We feel that people and institutions should be giving more, and giving better. Resources don’t always flow where they are needed most and there are leakages, blockages and cracks across the funding system that are hampering true, long-lasting change. 

If you agree, I really hope you will join us for the first cohort of this Fellowship. And I’m excited to meet you when you do. 

Let’s all #FixTheFlow of resources for good. 

Applications for the first cohort close 20th November 2022.

You can find out more here. 

Written by Leesa Harwood, Owner of By The Waves Charity Consulting.

Too much of a good thing

Data is great.  It underpins good decision-making.  It helps fundraisers to understand supporters, articulate impact, measure success and prioritise the deployment of finite resources.  But you can have too much of a good thing.  Today we have access to lots of data, but nowhere near enough insight.  Alexander Chancellor, former editor of The Spectator said:

“Excessive information creates its own form of blindness to what is actually going on.”

Now, charity professionals are faced with so much data, that they simply can’t see the wood for the trees.  They are data blind.

Good, Bad & Ugly

With so much data available, sorting the good from the bad can be challenging.  This summer I sifted through over 85 data sources, reports, and documents to compile After the Storm, a summary of key, socio-economic trends and their implications for charity leaders.  I am not a data scientist.  My background is charity leadership and fundraising, so it was hard going.  The more reports I read, the more I realised that data and research can be divided into three categories:

Good

Good data goes beyond a presentation of facts and figures.  It evolves into information and then insight.  In starts with a fact, then answers the question ‘so what?’ then articulates a clear implication.  Good data is based on viable samples, objectivity, and curiosity.  It closes the loop between asking a question, analysing facts to find an answer, then adding a big dose of common sense and context to draw a conclusion.  It doesn’t just provide information, it delivers enlightenment.  Researchers produce good data with one eye on the audience and the problem they’re trying to solve. They adapt their language to present their findings in a relevant and engaging way for their target audience.  They know where they can add value and they set out to do so from the start. 

Bad

Bad data is everywhere.  Vast quantities of facts, figures, graphs, and charts couched in impenetrable language that makes your eyes spin and your ears bleed.  Bad data is not necessarily incorrect or corrupt data.  It’s just not useful. It is often compiled and presented by incredibly clever people who know their subject matter but not their audience. You have to work hard to optimise bad data.  Finding it, translating it, processing it, then applying it to your world or problem.  Usually, the ‘so what?’ answer is buried in so much jargon that you give up and go home. 

Ugly

This is the worst data of all because can be misleading and fake.  It falls into three categories:

1. Clickbait

A headline loosely linked to some random statistics picked from a survey using questionable methodology.  Great at grabbing headlines, a data capture tool and a way of inflating click-through statistics.

2. Tiny sample

Survey results with tiny sample sizes are useless.  There are over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales, and yet some high profile, sector bodies persist in presenting conclusive trend data based on samples of less than 50 charities.  This is literally not big, and not clever.

3. Pre-determined answer

Usually companies or suppliers commission research or surveys with a specific result in mind.  Usually that result nudges you to buy their product.  It’s unfair to suggest that all supplier-commissioned research falls into this category.  But if a business produces a survey that aligns with its marketing content, it’s always sensible to cross check with an alternative data source just in case.

Torture the data and it will confess to anything

Data is fickle.  With enough manipulation, the right lens and selective bias you can make data say pretty much anything.  But as fundraisers, we rely on it to keep us current, efficient and honest so it is important that we know where to go to find good data and how to use it properly.  By learning to recognise the good, the bad and the ugly fundraisers will always use the right data to answer the right questions at the right time.

Join me in the Strategy Track at Fundraising Everywhere's Virtual Individual Giving Conference on 27^th October, to hear about my go-to good data sources, and a live chat about what today’s data is telling us about the next 12 months in fundraising.

 

Written by Claire Routley. Claire is Head of Gifts in Will Consultancy at Legacy Voice. She loves everything legacy giving.

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As many people reading this blog will already know, the value of legacy giving is predicted to increase dramatically over the next few decades, with legacy income set to increase by 35% over the next 10 years (Legacy Foresight).

However, whilst 40% of people say they would be happy to leave a small percentage of their estate to
charity, only 6% of people actually do, suggesting that, if we can engage supporters more effectively, there’s potential to grow the market even beyond these predictions.

 

What do we need to consider to encourage legacy giving over the next few years?

Firstly, we should consider how the world has changed since 2020.

We’re now living in a very different world from the one we inhabited just a few years ago. It’s probably fair to say that many of the certainties by which we lived our lives have been shattered by the Covid pandemic, the growing threat of climate change and the war in Ukraine, certainties about the way we live and work, the political order, or our own health and wellbeing. And, frighteningly, these are not trivial issues, but potential threats to our very existence.

Secondly, our supporters themselves are changing as new generations begin to think about what they will leave behind them.

As many people will be aware, the Boomer generation are becoming an increasingly important audience for legacy giving, and, research shows, they’re likely to demand higher levels of tangibility, transparency and control than the generations who came before them.

What fewer people might be aware of is that with first legacies being added to wills at 49, Generation X (currently aged between 42 and 57) are also becoming an important legacy audience. Although we know less about their likely attitudes to legacy giving, wider writing suggests that they’re likely to be sceptical of authority, independent and extremely media savvy.

 

What does all this mean for legacy fundraising?

When we’re living through a challenging present, we often look to the past: nostalgia (or a sentimental longing for the past) is one of the coping mechanisms we turn to in difficult times. Encouraging people to reflect on the past is also likely to be positive in terms of legacy giving, with research showing a strong link between one’s life experience and choosing charities to support with a legacy gift.

Legacy income is set to increase by 35% over the next 10 years.

In a world of existential terror, we’re all looking for some hope. As charities encouraging legacy giving, we can share a vision for a better future – and indeed, research suggests that showing people a positive future vision (as opposed to focusing on the detail of day-to-day work) is likely to be particularly effective in legacy messaging.

Similarly, in a world where mortality suddenly seems more real to us all, we may strive to develop a sense of symbolic immortality – a sense that whilst we might no longer be here physically, some part of us will live on. Showing our supporters how they will continue to have an impact on the world through their legacy gift is likely to be of increasing importance over the next few years and help to offset some of the worry people may feel.

In a world where mortality suddenly seems more real to us all, we may strive to develop a sense of symbolic immortality.

However, with a generation coming through who care deeply about tangibility, transparency and control, and the generation who follow them being even more sceptical, it will be vital that we focus not only on positive, visionary messaging but on showing that our organisations can be trusted and that people can have some choice in how and where their money is spent.

 

A positive note for the future

Having focused on the challenging circumstances that we and our supporters are facing, I wanted to finish on a note of positivity. It’s amazing to consider how, through legacy fundraising, we can help people to focus on what’s been meaningful in their own lives, and, even in the most challenging of times, help them to create a sense of hope for the future. As well as providing the funds to deliver the good work of our organisations, we can give this amazing, positive gift to the people that are kind enough to support us in this wonderful way.

Want to learn more about legacy fundraising?

Join us at Legacy Fundraising Virtual Conference 2023.

Written by Emma Rolinson

My name is Emma and I’ve worked as an Area Fundraising Officer for Acorns Children’s Hospice for the past six months.

A parent never imagines their child will be diagnosed with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition. But when the unimaginable happens, Acorns steps in, helping families cope at every stage of their child’s life and beyond, wherever and whenever they need it.

The need for children’s hospice care never stops which is why we are here to provide specialist palliative care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

My role is within the community, encouraging fundraising and raising awareness across local businesses, schools, faith groups, community groups and individuals.

Finding 'Fresh to the Sector' made me feel immediately welcomed into a community  

With only a few months of experience in charity work prior to Acorns, I was nervous but excited to begin a professional career within fundraising.

When I came across the 'Fresh to the Sector' programme advertised on Twitter, I was blown away by the offer of a free course AND six-month Fundraising Everywhere membership!

With the knowledge that my learning was being funded by fellow members of Fundraising Everywhere, I felt valued in my position as a new fundraiser. I was already being made to feel welcome within Acorns, but through seeing this course, I felt immediately welcomed into the wider charity world too. 

The opportunity to learn independently allowed me to structure the course around my own workload

With 14 mandatory webinars to watch to complete the course and over 300 hours of additional On Demand content, the opportunity to learn at my own pace was perfect.

Whilst completing my induction at Acorns and getting stuck into my new role, the flexibility of the course allowed me to fit the course into my schedule and workload.

Not only did this remove any overwhelming pressure, but it also gave me the chance to utilise the webinars alongside my Acorns journey. If I was learning about GDPR in my own induction, I could find webinars on Fundraising Everywhere to help me independently.

Widening my knowledge of the fundraising sector

Coming from co-ordinating a Christmas project in a smaller charity into a Fundraising Officer role in a larger charity was a big jump.

I quickly learnt that Acorns, like many charities, was split into multiple departments with specific income focuses. Whilst covering this in my induction, the course echoed it with an all-encompassing view of the fundraising sector, covering topics such as Individual Giving, Legacies, Grants and Major Donors. Again, I was able to focus my learning as required within my own role, allowing me to absorb information, when necessary, rather than being overwhelmed all at once.

Make the most of all the content on offer

My confidence has grown exceedingly over the past six months in my role, and I’m so grateful to Fundraising Everywhere for providing such incredible content to encourage me along the way.

To anyone considering signing up to Fundraising Everywhere's 'Fresh to the Sector' programme, I would recommend it without a doubt!

My biggest tip would be to make the most of all the content available. Attend live Member's Clincis where you can take advantage of the workshops and most of all, watch On Demand as much as possible across your six months.

Going forward, I will continue to use everything I’ve learnt within my role and the course in my journey as a fundraiser. My main priority is to engage with supporters, provide bespoke stewardship and continue finding new opportunities for fundraising and awareness.

If you want to chat to me about my journey on the course or about Acorns Children’s Hospice and what we do, don’t hesitate to contact me at emma.rolinson@acorns.org.uk.

Are you a new starter to the charity sector? Join our ‘Fresh to the Sector’ training programme to boost your sector skills and grow your network.

To apply for free, sign up here.

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