A woman shaking hands with a man, both are wearing white. There is a window behind the woman

With budget constraints being one of the key challenges fundraisers face, many charities are expanding their revenue streams to sustain their missions. Chief among those are corporate sponsorships, which empower charities to attain additional funds and foster long-term relationships with businesses and corporations.

Whether you’re seeking additional funds to power a 5K fundraiser or gauging support for your upcoming capital campaign, corporate sponsorships are a great way to attain that support. Let’s take a quick look at the steps and best practices for securing a sponsorship for your charity.

Understand the Types of Corporate Sponsorships

When fundraisers think of corporate sponsorships, they often think of businesses providing financial support to help charities execute a fundraising event idea. While event sponsorships are a key example, they are just one of many ways businesses can collaborate with charities.

Here are a few other common types of sponsorships:

  • Financial: This is the most popular type of sponsorship, where a business offers monetary support to a charity.
  • In-kind: The business provides in-kind donations, usually goods or services.
  • Media: The business supports the charity through marketing or advertisements.
  • Product: The business offers its products to be used or distributed during a charity event or program.
  • Program: This is a longer-term partnership where the business sponsors an ongoing charity program or campaign, providing multiple types of support.

Now that you understand the different types of sponsorships, you can request the ones that make the most sense for your charity and potential partners. For example, if you plan on hosting a gala, request a product sponsorship from your local winery if you know they have overstocked vintages.

Identify the Best Corporate Sponsorship Prospects

Finding businesses to request sponsorships from can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, charities don’t need to contact every local business or big corporation they can think of to acquire partnerships. Start by narrowing your sponsorship prospects to the organisations most likely to support your charity.

Look for businesses that:

  • Have similar values to your charity
  • Operate in your local community
  • Work in a similar vertical or industry
  • Share target audiences with your charity
  • Have a history of corporate philanthropy, which 360MatchPro defines as “voluntary activities or investments in the betterment of society”

Especially if you are a small charity leader, reaching out to your network can prove invaluable in the search for sponsorship prospects. Connect with other fundraisers to discuss businesses they’ve successfully partnered with. Or, ask them to refer you to business owners or executives interested in working with charities.

Set Yourself Up as a Great Sponsorship Candidate

To establish yourself as a reliable sponsorship candidate, you must first understand what businesses get from these partnerships. Generally, their benefits include:

  • Access to new or bigger audiences. Businesses can tap into your charity’s audience to increase brand awareness and reach potential new customers.
  • Improved reputation. With 77% of consumers wanting to purchase from companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, sponsorships allow businesses to boost their reputations and differentiate themselves from competitors.
  • Networking opportunities. Sponsorships usually include networking opportunities with VIPs such as major donors and other key business individuals, which can lead to additional partnerships for your sponsor.
  • Heightened employee engagement. Paul Polman’s employee engagement report shows that 66% of U.K. workers and 76% of U.S. employees want to work for companies that positively impact the world. Sponsoring charities shows job applicants that the business is committed to improving the world.
  • Tax benefits. Sponsorships usually qualify as charitable donations, resulting in potentially significant tax deductions for the business.

Based on these benefits, make the necessary operational changes that position your charity as a great candidate for sponsorship. For example, you should:

  • Develop a strong mission statement that clearly defines your charity’s work.
  • Ensure your promotional materials are professional and up-to-date to show how your organisation might market your sponsor.
  • Prepare compelling stories about donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries to reinforce your mission’s value.
  • Organise your data to qualitatively show your charity’s impact, marketing capabilities, and more.

It’s good to do a baseline preparation that generally sets up your charity to secure sponsorships. However, you’ll likely come across a sponsor who may have different needs unmet by the activities above. In that case, you’ll need to do additional work to demonstrate your value as a partner.

Send Tailored Sponsorship Proposals

Just as you would personalise event experiences to your target audience, you must also personalise your sponsorship proposals to individual businesses. Thoroughly research each business, honing in on its needs and target audience.

Then, in your proposal, highlight:

  • Specific sponsorship opportunities. Lay out several specific sponsorship opportunities they’d be most interested in. For example, if your aquarium is trying to acquire a sponsor with a specific interest in ocean fish, highlight your research program on whale sharks or the recently discovered papillated redbait.
  • Discuss the value of their support for your charity. Beyond personal gain, many businesses genuinely want to impact their communities positively. Suppose you want to add excitement to your annual walkathon, which generates a significant portion of your charity’s annual income. You could explore creative ideas, such as organising a shoe drive fundraiser or selling t-shirts, as suggested in this Funds2Orgs walkathon guide. Then, convey to potential sponsors how their support will directly enable these innovations, emphasising their role in furthering your mission.
  • Highlight the benefits they’ll receive. Create sponsorship tiers that outline the perks a sponsor will receive in exchange for a set amount of funds. For example, $2,500 might get a sponsor a dedicated space on your charity’s sponsorship webpage, a social media announcement, and an email newsletter mention. On top of that, highlight the more specific benefits for the sponsor, such as access to your charity’s audience of over 10,000 email subscribers.

Incorporate compelling visuals, stories, data, and other relevant information that might pique the sponsor’s interest. For example, if the sponsor is interested in working with charities that aid students in need, bring up the results of your recent program aimed at delivering school supplies to underprivileged students.

Additionally, include your contact information and follow-up communication plan in your proposal. This makes it easy for sponsors to reach out to you and gives them an idea of what messages to expect from your charity in the upcoming days.

After a business indicates its interest in the sponsorship you’re offering, it’s time to negotiate the specifics of the partnership and execute the plan. Don’t forget that your relationship doesn’t end after you’ve received the business’s support. With the right approach to stewardship and engagement, you can build a mutually beneficial relationship that lasts for years.

If you’re after more top content like this to power-up your partnerships, check out our Corporate Partnerships Conference 2025 coming up on March 20th. 

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.

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.

A photograph showing three people sat at a table, there are two open laptops on the table - the people at the table are smiling
Photograph by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

In our latest research exploring how access to learning can help you thrive in your job, 62% of fundraisers said their biggest barrier to learning new things was finding the time to learn.

And I get it.

As an ex-fundraiser, I remember the packed diary with one eye on my target and another on the numerous tasks piled up to reach it.

Throw in personal lives with maintaining relationships, physical and mental health, and all of life’s little admin tasks, you have this (showing my age here by using a meme…)

KC Green - Gunshow Webcomics

But here’s the thing, you do have time to learn new things and in fact, I bet you’re already using it.

Here’s how…

Learning Isn’t Just About Formal Pathways

When sharing the insights from our research report, Sarah Crowhurst said, “At some point charities decided that learning and development meant going on an expensive in person training course. Getting accredited. Coming back with all the knowledge and insight to magically transform a project or process. But it’s so different to that”

And others agree.

In our results, online training, both live and on-demand, was the most popular format attended by 97%. We’re seeing evidence of this across the sector. As well as courses, workshops, and webinars provided by businesses and freelancers, Fundraising Everywhere supported 10,106 fundraisers with their professional development in 2024.

However, despite this, 50% of charities were offering funding for individual certification as their lead learning choice which is a huge time and brain energy commitment, not to mention inaccessible to many people’s learning styles. Most fundraisers stated their preference was conferences or adhoc training; mostly accessed online.

Statistics From Fundraising Everywhere's Learning And Development Report

‘Learning’ does not mean ‘classroom’, ‘qualifications’, or ‘courses’. Accessing a webinar, reading a blog, or attending a conference can help you learn something new.

Learning Can Happen In Minutes

I’m willing to bet you money you have either Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn on your phone.

And when you’re scrolling on those apps, you watch videos, read posts, and swipe carousels (and you probably end up in a scroll hole that you have to snap out of an hour later) 

I’m not here to berate you for that, it’s sometimes nice to let your brain mindlessly float off (especially when your feed is full of dog videos) – but I do want to highlight that every video you watch or post you read, you’re already learning something new.

Whether it’s news about the world, how to create airfryer recipes, or train your puppy; social media content is geared towards educational content to build brands, community, and businesses – so use that, and your time online, to your advantage.

Curate your feed so the things you’re learning are useful to the goals you’re trying to achieve and create a mindset that even minutes, not hours or days, you can learn something new.

Learning One New Thing Is Still Going To Help You Thrive

When investing time or effort into learning there’s a pressure to absorb everything and walk out away from the situation with your brain bursting out of your skull.

But that approach and mindset means your brain is focusing on keeping the information in, instead of absorbing what it means and how it can help you.

When approaching learning, accept that even learning just one thing is enough to improve your skills; and your ability to reach your targets.

Learning And Reflecting Keeps Your New Skills In Mind

There’s a tendency to rattle through our days when they’re so busy. And when we don’t make time to reflect, it’s easy for the things we do learn to disappear into the brain vault.

With your new mindset of being able to learn from multiple sources on a regular basis, be aware when those lightbulb moments are going off and make a note.

Share those learnings, and where you found them, on a regular basis with your team and discuss how they might be used.

Keep the habit of learning, noticing, sharing, and reflecting by creating spaces – conversational or digital – for you and your team to build healthier mindsets around what learning can look like.

In short (because that’s what we’re trying to highlight here) you are already learning something every day in the conversations you have, social media you engage with, and things you read – including this!

Be more mindful of those lightbulb moments where you have them and create more ways to seek them out.

And if you’d like to make it even easier to find hundreds of tiny lightbulb moments in one place, Fundraising Everywhere can help. Our on-demand microlearning resources mean you can learn any time, anywhere, and at your own pace. Then we have monthly live virtual and IRL moments where you can come together and share them with other people.

You can use promo code FREEMONTH here for you as a way of saying ‘well done for prioritising your learning by reading this article!’

Or if you’re a leader wanting access for your whole team like the folks at British Red Cross, WWF, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, and Young Lives vs Cancer, contact Cam St Omer Donaldson here about getting involved.

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.

Photo by PeopleImages.com on Depositphotos

Major giving is your charity’s ultimate tool to help manage challenges. Major gifts can help you work more effectively toward your mission, fund a critical need, or expand your services to a broader audience. 

All major donor prospects will have given to and interacted with your charity at some point. Beyond that qualification, what additional indicators should you look for that demonstrate a prospect’s willingness and ability to become a major donor?

In this guide, we’re going to review the three major donor indicators noted in Bloomerang’s major gift fundraising guide (otherwise known as the three C’s):

The three C’s of major prospects (explained in the list below)
  1. A deep connection to your organisation
  2. Demonstrated concern for your mission
  3. Capacity to give in larger amounts

Let’s explore exactly what to look for in each of these categories. 

1. A Deep Connection To Your Organisation

Convincing someone to make a significant gift to your charity requires them to have more than just a passing fancy for your organization. Donating is an emotional experience for most supporters, so you should seek prospects with a strong existing connection to your charity and its work. 

Use your nonprofit CRM to identify donors with characteristics that indicate a powerful affinity for your mission, including: 

  • History of event attendance and donations, such as large auction donations
  • Long-time participation as a volunteer, board member, or committee member
  • Participation in a peer-to-peer campaign, whether as a fundraiser or donor
  • Current status as a corporate sponsor or other community partner
  • Status as a former beneficiary of your services or a family member of a beneficiary

These traits demonstrate that an individual has taken steps to get to know your organisation better and become more personally involved with its mission. In addition to using your nonprofit’s CRM to identify this information, you can also directly ask supporters via surveys how they feel about your organisation and what motivates them to continue giving their support. 

2. Demonstrated Concern For Your Mission

Along with a loyal commitment to your organisation, major donor prospects must strongly believe in your mission itself. Your organisation may change over time as programs evolve, staff and board members change, and the scope of your work expands. However, your mission will stay consistent throughout all organisational changes. 

These statements will likely ring true for many of your prospective major donors: 

  • They learn about your mission regularly. They’re highly engaged with your organisation’s marketing materials, sharing social media posts, opening emails, responding to direct mail inquiries, and watching videos.
  • Your mission is related to their field of work or study. Many people pursue educational degrees or career paths that align with their interests and principles. For example, your environmental organisation may attract donors who are leading conservation researchers at local universities. 
  • Your mission is a personal value to them. Use surveys and conversations with potential prospects to understand their personal values and whether those contribute to a deep sense of duty to support your mission. For example, some supporters may have a firmly held religious belief or personal conviction to help people experiencing poverty in their community. 

Review your donor database to identify prospects who exhibit a strong commitment to your mission and goals. These indicators suggest that a supporter is not only prepared to make a larger donation but also willing to maintain that level of giving to help advance your mission.

3. Capacity To Give In Larger Amounts

Of course, every prospective major donor must be financially equipped to contribute at the highest level. Identifying which donors have the capacity to donate large sums allows you to focus your major gift cultivation efforts on realistic prospects. 

Prospects may be in the right financial situation to give a major gift if they: 

  • Exhibit multiple wealth indicators. These characteristics include stock and real estate ownership, large donations to other charities or political organizations, and business affiliations.
  • Make multiple gifts throughout the year. Major gift prospects may contribute multiple times a year in sums that add up over time. For example, the largest contributors to your monthly giving program could be potential major giving prospects. 
  • Are currently mid-level donors. Although mid-level donors typically maintain their giving level, they’re often among the most likely prospects for bequests and legacy giving, which are important forms of major giving. One study found that over half of mid-level donors surveyed either made a bequest to a charity or planned to do so.

Use a prospect research database to identify prospects who exhibit specific wealth indicators, like real estate holdings and stock ownership. This type of tool is especially useful if you’re a small charity without a prospect research specialist on your staff. 

Remember that the most promising major giving prospects will exhibit all three indicators discussed in this guide. If you focus solely on wealth indicators, you may find yourself reaching out to individuals who have the means to make significant contributions but lack the motivation to do so. On the other hand, if you only concentrate on affinity indicators and neglect wealth information, you might waste your time and resources on individuals who are unable to give at a higher level.

By considering every facet of what drives someone to become a major donor, you can more easily identify which supporters to prioritize in your cultivation efforts and drive a higher return on investment for your major gift program. 

Want to elevate your trusts, grants, or major donor fundraising?
Check out the Trusts and Major Donor Conference 2024
Happening on the 12th December

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.

A woman with dark hair creating a supporter journey on a whiteboard
Photo by MoreOnion - Claire Works On A Welcome Journey

Claire is a digital mobiliser, fundraiser, and campaigner. Having worked in engagement and mobilisation teams at Greenpeace, ActionAid, Cancer Research UK and Amnesty International, she joined more onion over eight years ago. Since then she has delivered dozens of engagement and supporter journeys projects with organisations of all sizes and has trained hundreds of charity professionals in the same.

Crafting Powerful Supporter Welcome Journeys

At More Onion, we’ve had the pleasure to work with charities of all sizes on welcome journeys to warm up, convert and retain brand new donors. Here are some insights from a decade of testing and learning: 

What Is A Supporter Journey?

Just to start off with a quick definition to make sure we’re on the same page. We’re talking about a connected series of communications that feel like an ongoing conversation, instead of a seemingly random series of communications that might jump around topics and asks. Within a journey each email is created to meet a specific supporter need at that moment in time, balancing different types of asks, and evolving the narrative as the journey progresses. 

Typically supporter journeys are primarily delivered via email, however most journeys also factor in other key channels such as post and phone. 

The Value Of Supporter Welcome Journeys

That may sound like a lot of work.  But here’s why it’s worth taking the time to invest in great welcome journeys.

  1. It’s much easier to keep attention than to acquire it in the first place. If you don’t engage people quickly – it could be too late.

  2. Recruiting supporters is expensive! A great supporter journey helps to make sure it’s money and time well spent.

  3. Optimise your recruitment work. A well designed journey creates lots of opportunities for engagement and conversion early in the relationship. This allows you to strategically assess the performance of your recruitment projects. You can pivot your recruitment work to prioritise sources that are turning into great supporters.

  4. Learn more about your supporters. There’s no better time to get to know a supporter than right at the beginning of your relationship. Learn what motivates them and what ways they’d like to support your work. By asking the right questions up front you can make sure you’re building great supporter experiences for years to come. 

  5. Test, learn and get better quickly! Unlike most communications, welcome journeys are often automated which means they are scheduled to send X days after signup. This creates a fantastic opportunity to constantly review and improve your journeys based on real performance data. 

Crafting Effective Welcome Journeys

When it comes to creating an effective welcome journey, there are a few key tips to keep in mind. 

  1. Start where your audience is. The first few emails you send should be the same topic as the signup action – you can evolve the narrative in later emails if you need to.

  2. One email, one ask. If you have more than one thing to ask – send another email. If the ask isn’t worth its own email, it probably wasn’t worth sending in the first place.

  3. Remember to meet your supporter’s needs, not just yours. This might include building knowledge, feeling connected, seeing the impact of their gift, or building empathy. You can find out more about these types of emails in our engagement action and supporter journeys reports linked below.

  4. Be active. Don’t just talk at your supporters – involve them. The welcome journey sets the tone for your whole relationship, so if you just send broadcast messages without anything interesting or useful to do, they may quickly learn that it doesn’t actually matter much if they open your emails or not.

  5. Constantly test to improve. You can use optimisation testing (more resources below) on individual emails or entire journeys. This allows you to answer smaller questions such as what messaging to use within individual emails, as well as long term performance questions such as how often and how early to ask for (more) money. 

Free Resources

You can learn more about journeys, engagement actions and optimisation testing on these free reports:

  1. Report: Great supporter journeys, and how to automate them
  2. Report: Deepen relationships with engagement actions
  3. Report: Optimisation testing

We hope you find these resources useful when it comes to creating your supporter welcome journeys. 

If you’d like any hands-on support with your supporter journeys, reach out to us: claire@more-onion.com

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.

Photo by Jakob Dalbjörn on Unsplash

Personalised event experiences can turn attendees into loyal supporters by making them feel individually valued and connected to your charity’s goals. When planning fundraising events, incorporating small personal touches—before, during, and after the event—can boost engagement and strengthen long-term commitment.

Let’s explore how you can create memorable, tailored experiences at each stage of your event to build deeper connections and lasting support for your cause.

Understanding Your Attendees

By gathering relevant data and segmenting your audience, you can plan experiences that resonate with the preferences and interests of each individual or group in your community.

Collecting Data for Personalisation

Start by identifying key data points that can help you understand your attendees, such as:

  • Past Participation: Have they attended previous events or donated before? Boost excitement among returning supporters by recalling highlights from events they previously participated in. Consider providing incentives, such as discounted tickets, to inspire new attendees.

  • Preferred Communication Channels: Some attendees may prefer emails, while others engage more through social media or text. Use the channels your supporters prefer most to increase their likelihood of reading and responding.

  • Interests and Motivations: Learn what drives supporters to attend your events, whether it’s supporting a specific project, staying active, or meeting new people. Leverage these insights to inform your marketing strategy and event activities.

  • Donation History: High-impact donors or participants who have raised significant funds may appreciate special recognition or exclusive event perks.

Use your event registration form and supporter surveys to collect more information about your attendees. As you do, be sure to maintain data hygiene by standardising formatting in your database and regularly auditing supporter profiles to identify any outdated or missing details.

Segmenting Attendees for Tailored Experiences

Categorise your attendees into distinct groups to target personalised elements more precisely. Consider segmenting them into categories such as:

  • Top Fundraisers and Major Donors: Recognise these attendees and encourage their continued support by giving them exclusive perks or “VIP” access to your event.

  • New Participants: Tailor a welcome experience for newcomers, such as a first-time attendee guide or designated support area, to help them feel more comfortable and included.

  • Returning Supporters: Strengthen connection and loyalty among returning attendees by including shout-outs at your event or sending them free, exclusive event merchandise before they attend.

By collecting key data points and segmenting your audience thoughtfully, you lay the groundwork for delivering a personalised experience that feels genuinely meaningful to each attendee. 

Pre-Event Personalisation Ideas

Explore these ideas to create personalised attendee journeys that begin from the first interaction:

  • Customised invitations: Personalise invitations by addressing attendees by their preferred name, referencing past participation, or connecting to their interests. For example, remind previous attendees of their positive impact, or highlight how this year’s event relates to their past involvement or a specific project they support.
  • Tailored registration options: Offer a flexible registration process that allows attendees to choose options that best suit their needs, such as registering individually, signing up with others, or participating virtually.
  • Flexible pre-event engagement: Build anticipation by sending pre-event updates tailored to attendee groups. Engage attendees on social media with sneak peeks and shout-outs for returning participants, and encourage them to share their excitement with a unique event hashtag. This strategy not only builds a stronger community but also increases awareness and involvement.

These personalised pre-event touchpoints enhance engagement, helping attendees feel more connected to your charity and committed to supporting its mission before event day even arrives.

On-the-Day Personalisation Ideas

Consider these thoughtful event-day touches to make a lasting impression on each attendee:

Branded Welcome Kits

Provide attendees with personalised welcome kits, which might include:

  • A name tag
  • Branded merchandise like water bottles, hats, or stickers
  • Samples or giveaways from event sponsors

These items create a sense of belonging for attendees during the event and serve as mementos they can continue to appreciate once the event concludes.

Technology for Real-Time Personalisation

Integrate event technology to add a personal touch in real time, such as:

  • Event Apps: Use an event app where attendees can access the event schedule and receive personalised notifications.

  • Interactive Leaderboards: Display real-time leaderboards for donations or other individual achievements to inspire engagement and friendly competition.

  • Special Check-In Experiences: To enhance the experience of top donors or VIP guests and show appreciation for their support, consider providing dedicated check-in areas or fast-track options.

These personalised on-the-day experiences make participants feel recognised, valued, and engaged in ways that strengthen their commitment to your charity’s mission. By focusing on personal touches throughout the event, you create a day to remember—one that attendees will look forward to each year.

Post-Event Personalisation Ideas

After the event, personalised follow-up is key to building lasting relationships. Start with sincere thank-you messages highlighting each attendee’s unique impact to make them feel appreciated and valued.

Follow up with tailored content, like event highlights and impact stories, to show the difference each attendee’s support made. Share a post-event survey to collect feedback and demonstrate that your organisation is committed to continually improving its event experiences.

Finally, maintain supporter relationships by sharing exclusive updates, inviting them to future events, or providing other involvement opportunities they may be interested in. For example, you can ask previous attendees to serve as volunteers at your next event or join a dedicated social media group to connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about your cause.

Personalised experiences turn your event into a memorable journey that strengthens support and deepens commitment to your charity’s mission. By incorporating personal touches before, during, and after your event, you turn supporters from passive participants into active champions of your cause.

As you plan, remember that personalisation doesn’t have to be complex. Even small charities with limited budgets can find ways to tailor event experiences for attendees. Start small, focusing on what resonates most with your audience, and watch as each personal touch builds a stronger, more engaged community ready to support your cause year after year.

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.

Trusts and Major Donors Conference December 12th 2024 12pm - 4pm GMT online Fundraising Everywhere

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.

If you’ve been wanting to register for Trusts and Major Donor Conference 2024, but haven’t been able to get budget sign-off from your manager, or you’re just not sure how to ask, Caroline Danks, conference co-curator, has written this brilliant letter. Copy, paste, and let’s get you there!

Dear Boss,

I’m writing to request a ticket to Trusts and Major Donors 2024.  

It’s happening online at midday GMT on Thursday 12 December.

Please find below my reasons below / a business case for attending this event.

1. The Content

As a fundraiser working in the philanthropy space, I am very excited by every single session happening at Trusts and Major Donors 2024.

This year’s conference will focus on practical skills (following feedback from last year’s shindig). 

The curators have been very intentional in matching speakers to topics.  Beth and Caroline have been doing this work for a long time.  They know the state of the sector and have both done major gifts and trust fundraising successfully in a number of different settings.

They know the topics we want to hear about (and the people who should be teaching them) – will you just look at those fabulous faces?!

18 pictures of speakers from Fundraising Everywhere's Trusts and Major Donors Conference 2024

I am especially excited to learn how:

Additionally, I want to hear:

  • Author and philanthropist Lisa Greer in conversation with Caroline about how donors and fundraisers can connect authentically

  • Lindsay Storie’s honest reflections on a career working with philanthropists (and how his thinking has changed)

  • A group of fundraisers talking about why they’ve remained in post for as long as they have – retention isn’t just for donors, it’s for staff too…

  • Matt Zeqiri sharing a fresh and creative approach to proposal writing.

The full programme is here with more details are being added all the time. 

2. The Community

Being a fundraiser is hard right now. 

I’m tired, you’re probably tired. 

An afternoon away from Raisers’ Edge to connect with colleagues would be a welcome and necessary intervention in my weary fundraiser life.

Chatting with others and exploring new ideas together is energising and motivating.  It’s exactly the boost I need right now.

Fundraising Everywhere’s recent research on Learning and Development in our sector revealed:

“a strong desire among fundraisers for opportunities that go beyond immediate work needs, especially in areas like well-being, networking, and career progression”.

So, before I slide into a vat of brandy butter and Michael Buble, I’d love some inspiration from fellow sector warriors so I can emerge from the fairy lights in January feeling fresh and excited for the coming year.

Buble Approves Gif

3. Ease Of Access

This is an online conference meaning it’s so much easier for me to go! 

As well as being able to attend from the comfort of my Oodie (Or we could do a watch party as a team? I promise to wear actual clothes), there will be no need for you to stump up the cost of travel, accommodation or dinner in Wahaca on the way home.

All we need to cover is the price of the ticket (which is £75).

Because it’s online, I get to watch back the sessions I missed and / or my favourite sessions. Amazing!

4. ROI

We’re in the high value market so I don’t need to tell you that most of the gifts we solicit are in the range of four figures +

I’m totally confident that if I were to pick up only 1 golden nugget of advice from this conference and apply it (as many times as needed), it will result in one more gift than had I not attended.

That’s at least £1,000 more for (insert charity name).

But with so many incredible sessions, plus the ability to watch it back afterwards, I’m going to get multiple nuggets which will undoubtedly contribute directly to our success overall.

Fundraising Everywhere’s recent research backs this up:

“There’s no doubt that Learning and Development drives success.

In our research, 91% of fundraisers from growing organisations have engaged in training in the past 12 months…

This shows how learning doesn’t just help you grow professionally – it also has a direct impact on the success of your charity”.

The cost of attending is just £75 – a steal really when you consider the difference it’s going to make.

5. The Opportunity To Support Some Wonderful People

The team at Fundraising Everywhere are completely fantastic people.  They’d never say so themselves of course, they’re far too modest. 

If I attend this conference, we as an organisation get to make a statement about the kinds of people we want leading our fundraising training in the future.

Fundraising Everywhere have solid policies regarding inclusion that they ACTUALLY live by. 

  • They pay every single one of their speakers, meaning that people who cannot afford to speak for free are not excluded from sharing their knowledge with others.

  • They actively seek out new voices and perspectives, prioritising experts from diverse backgrounds who have thus far been excluded from a traditionally very white / hetero / ableist sector.

  • They are conscious of the environmental impact of their work and take action to mitigate their carbon use.

  • They provide scholarships, training and free content for charities with limited budgets.

All of this not only results in better training for me (no one wants to hear the same old people repeatedly), but it encourages others to meet new basic standards of decency and humanity.

I would love to see (insert your org name here) committed to similar values.

To Recap

So all that being the case, will you buy me a ticket to Trusts and Major Donors 2024?

I would be forever grateful and promise not to leave to join (insert alternative charity name here) anytime soon.

With inestimable gratitude – thanks for being an awesome boss,

(insert your name here)

You can buy tickets to Trusts and Major Donors 2024 using this link.

Please note, this is an affiliate link meaning that LarkOwl gets 25% of all ticket sales bought through this link (which we will be spending on a barrel of the finest spiced rum).

Can’t wait to see you all there.

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 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.


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.


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.