fundraising

Fundraising professionals everywhere have felt the immense impact of economic volatility, political uncertainty, and shifts in public perception. At a time when charities need support the most, 87% of donors claim that financial limitations prevent them from providing regular contributions, while 12% cite a lack of trust.

Amid the changes rocking the fundraising world, delivering a consistent, remarkable donor experience is more crucial than ever. Some donors might not be able to contribute monetarily or may just be looking for more meaningful ways to get involved and show their support. This guide will explore creative ways to involve donors in daily charity operations so you can provide enriching experiences and keep supporters around.

Budgeting for legacy income can feel like guesswork – but it doesn’t have to. Learn how strong legacy fundraising training can help you forecast with confidence, improve your tracking, and plan for the short, medium, and long term.

From booking venues to coordinating volunteers, planning community events takes time, energy, and a lot of moving parts. For many charities, it can sometimes feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to make a real difference.

AI-powered event management software is already helping charities save time, reach more supporters, and run smoother events. Whether you’re organising a local fun run, street fair, or neighbourhood clean-up, AI can help take some of the weight off your shoulders.

In this article, we’ll break down what AI really means for event planning, show you where it can offer the most value, and guide you through getting started in a way that feels manageable and mission-focused.

If you’re job-hunting in the charity sector right now, you’re not alone. It’s a busy market, with lots of brilliant roles, but not every recruitment process is as thoughtful, inclusive, or transparent as it should be. Whether you’re new to the sector or a seasoned fundraiser, it’s important to pay attention to how an organisation hires. Because how they treat candidates often says a lot about how they treat staff.

Grant opportunities from government bodies or corporate partners can be a goldmine for growing charities when it comes to securing funding. But managing those grants? That’s where the real work begins.

Between juggling deadlines, ensuring compliance, and coordinating stakeholders, the grant management process can feel overwhelming for even the most seasoned fundraiser.

The good news? Grant management doesn’t have to be a burden. With some intentional strategies, your charity can make the entire process more efficient and successful. Here, we’ll walk through five practical best practices to ease your grant admin load and keep your team on track for funding success.

Ever wish for an act of God to strike you down midday through a f*ck-up? Just me?

Back in the day, I probably wouldn’t have ever prayed for an act of God. But for the past four years or so, I’ve been moonlighting as an amateur stand-up comedian. (Reading between the lines: I’ve spent the last four years bombing spectacularly on stage in front of hundreds of witnesses )

I’ve failed, flopped and floundered, and it often leaves me praying for some sort of act of God to smite me down and save me from embarrassing myself.

But I’ve now learned the hard way: what’s the point of being a huge loser if we can’t laugh and learn about it?

Navigating the changes currently faced by most fundraisers is a bit like playing whack-a-mole. No sooner have you adapted to another budget cut than a supplier puts their prices up. You’re about to roll out a massive digital campaign on a well known social media platform when it gets taken over by an ethically questionable billionaire. Sound familiar?

The combined impact of economic pressures, political uncertainty, and shifting public expectations are leaving many fundraisers feeling stretched, under-resourced, and anxious about the future. Understandably, this can leave you feeling deeply concerned and at worst powerless. But whilst there are lots of things you cannot control, there is a way forward.

When it comes to fundraising, people trust people. That’s why peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising is such a powerful strategy—it transforms supporters into advocates, empowering them to raise money for your charity by engaging their own network of family and friends.

P2P fundraisers are extremely effective, but because they’re online, much of your success depends on the quality of participants’ online fundraising pages. These pages must be engaging enough to inspire action while remaining personal and easy to navigate in order to drive donations and grow your impact.

To make your design stand out, let’s explore the most crucial components of a user-friendly P2P fundraising page. With the right peer-to-peer platform, you can easily create pages with all of these features and more.

We can all agree that a good supporter experience is important. It’s no longer a concept spoken about by senior managers as an extraordinary new way to help retain supporters. Clearly – there’s a conference
dedicated to it this week.

Sure, there may sometimes still be discussions in some places about who ‘owns’ the supporter experience. But the truth is, we can all own it.

This year marks two anniversaries in my career. 25 years since my first fundraising job. 10 years since becoming a consultant. There’s been lots of shiny new things and ‘game-changing’ breakthroughs in that time. Few endure and prove their worth.

Here’s why I think AI is different and can help fundraisers provide better supporter experiences and raise more money.

My first AI epiphany came at the Ask Direct Summer School conference in Dublin last year. A talk by Cherian Koshy brought to life the possibilities AI brings. I started playing about with Chat GPT. Both for content creation and to help with data analysis. Learning about prompting and how to make it genuinely helpful and not just a gimmicky meme-machine. It was great for my own work, but I wasn’t sure how it could scale to make a difference for fundraisers.

Legacy giving is growing in popularity across charities of various sizes, missions, and nations. In the UK, 21% of donors aged 40 and up say they’ve included a charitable gift in their wills as of 2023, up from 14% of this demographic in 2010. Additionally, Giving USA reported that bequests (the most common type of planned gift) grew more than any other charitable revenue source in 2023.

While planned gifts can provide impactful funding for your charity, they also pose unique challenges. In particular, many years often pass between a donor committing a legacy gift to an organisation and the charity receiving that large contribution. So, it’s vital for your organisation to maintain strong relationships with legacy donors, starting by expressing your gratitude.

In this guide, we’ll share four strategies to help your charity meaningfully thank its legacy donors and retain their lifelong support. Let’s get started!