Fundraising Bright Spots

This time we’re exploring how charities can better develop relationships with supporters in their teens, twenties and early thirties. Younger supporters tend to see the world differently to older generations – as charities, how can we respond? Rob speaks to Victoria Roe, a Senior Philanthropy Manager at UNICEF UK about her charities’ ‘Next Gen’ approach. She shares the rationale for why this is an...

This time we are again exploring ways to thrive and make a difference when you’re in a new fundraising leadership role. Rob talks to Tess Nixon Spiller, who is very experienced at taking on interim leadership roles, and as such has become adept at spotting the opportunities and pre-empting many of the pitfalls when you’re new. In particular we explore ways you can create a culture of self-sufficie...

To help us survive, the human brain evolved to be very sensitive to threats in the environment. But if we’re not careful, this negativity bias also causes us to focus too much attention on our weaknesses, and at the expense of our strengths. This tendency to can reduce our energy levels and resourcefulness. Rob’s guest for this episode is an expert in helping fundraisers to identify and take advan...

How can you increase high value income for your charity? In this episode, Rob Woods talks to Tony Gaston about the strategies he feels contributed to the way EMMS International transformed its high value results so dramatically in five years. He talks about how he manages to pause and see the bigger picture and how this habit has helped him focus on solving the most valuable challenges; what he be...

This time we’re looking at how to thrive in the first few weeks and months of a new fundraising leadership role. Rob was thrilled to talk to a wise leader named Tess Nixon Spiller, who loves taking on interim leadership roles. In fact, she has done this repeatedly for a range of charities, across various sectors in recent years. By specialising in this way, where she is almost perpetually new, Tes...

Obviously well-known people who share the values of your charity have the potential to make a big difference to your fundraising and mission. But how do you find the influencers who care, and how do you manage these relationships effectively? And how do you maximise the impact? Paul Katz is an expert in this area, with more than 17 years’ experience of helping charities and social cause organisati...

If your charity is relatively small or less well known, how do you increase your chances of winning valuable partnerships and media appeals? This time Rob spoke to Beatrice Sayer, a smart corporate fundraiser at the UK charity Magic Breakfast, about the innovative approach she used when applying to the Times and Sunday Times Christmas Appeal 2022. She explains why she feels a ‘WOW moment’ was esse...

Most fundraisers agree that you won’t achieve serious growth without first investing in fundraising. But how do you actually persuade the board to invest? In this episode from the archive, originally released in December 2019, Rob Woods talks to Adam Heuman. In three separate charities, of varying sizes, Adam has asked the board to invest, and all three times his request has been successful. Rob a...

120. How to add Wow Factor to funding applications, with David Burgess by Rob Woods, Bright Spot

Clearly influencers can boost your charity’s effectiveness in various ways, including through more successful fundraising. But assuming you don’t already have amazing personal connections, how can you find and work with influential people who could further your cause? Rob was delighted to interview Paul Katz, who has been helping charities and non-profits do this for the last 18 years. Paul has fo...

If you’d like to hear some key ideas and stories from the podcast in 2022, or you’d like tips for what you or your team could listen to, to help with current challenges, here is the second of our special round-ups. Rob is joined by the brilliant Louise Morris to talk about a handful of ideas / episodes they’ve been finding most helpful in the last 12 months. They discuss inspiring stories from the...

If you’d like to hear some useful lessons and stories from the podcast in 2022, or you’d like tips for you or your team on what to listen to next, we recorded this special episode to help. Rob is joined by the always-inspiring Louise Morris of Summit Fundraising to talk about a handful of episodes they’ve been finding most helpful in the last year. They discuss inspiring stories from the show this...

In conducting thousands of fundraising experiments, Tim has found that the most reliable way any charity can grow digital income (and boost the other fundraising streams) is to develop what he calls an effective Value Proposition. Rob and Tim discuss what he has found to be the four key elements of effective propositions: Appeal, Exclusivity, Credibility and Clarity. They offer tips to help you te...

This time Rob talks to the brilliant Louisa Dodd about several ideas that have brought her success this year. This includes: getting super clear on who your ideal donors / partners / supporters are; adding genuine value to them; how to be outcome-focused; and story-telling. These themes sometimes get discussed in fundraising, but they’re not always easy to apply, so we hope you find these examples...

What can charities do to maintain and grow income at a time when the cost of living is making life so difficult? In this episode Rob talks to Tim Kachuriak, founder of the digital fundraising agency and research lab, Next After. They explore why a testing mentality is so valuable. And Tim shares three practical examples of things you can do now to increase digital / individual giving income for yo...

One tactic that can transform fundraising results is match funding. But how do you achieve the initial gifts from major donors, and how can you make effective use of the enticing offer? In this episode Rob talks to an innovative fundraiser named Ilana Jackman about how one university has made match funding work in exciting, new ways this year. She explains how the match has inspired more donors to...

If you’ve ever been inspired by a good fundraising idea or principle, but failed to put it into practice, I hope you’re going to find this a valuable listen. Grace Cannings is a smart fundraiser who has found a way to improve her chances of building proactive habits that generate improved fundraising results. In this episode she explains the technique and offers tips to help you try it yourself. I...

What can you do to build better, more long-term relationships with funders? In my second interview with trusts and foundations fundraising expert, Neela Jane Stansfield, we explore ideas for creating fabulous stewardship and stronger relationships with funders. Our conversation includes creativity, the personal touch, story-telling and the importance of nurturing relationships with colleagues. If...

This time we’re looking at successful fundraising with trusts and foundations, with an interview with Neela Jane Stansfield, author of Grants Fundraising, a new book published by the DSC. Central to Neela Jane’s philosophy is the importance of working hard to build relationships with funders. This is not always easy, so I was delighted to discuss various things that fundraisers can do in practice....

What can charities do to shift power to those with lived experience of the issues the charity addresses? And how can this approach improve fundraising? Lulu Smithwick is Senior Public Fundraising Manager at Refugee Action, and Shukry Adan is a former Expert by Experience Fundraising Advisor. In this, the second half of Rob’s recent interview, they talk about applying this approach to corporate par...

How do you shift power to those with experience of the issues your charity addresses? And what are the many benefits of this approach? This time, Rob talks to Lulu Smithwick, Senior Public Fundraising Manager, and Shukry Adan, a former Expert by Experience Fundraising Advisor, for Refugee Action. They explain the charities’ approach, which aims to make the process valuable to the group, as well as...

Dramatic rises in the cost of living continue to create challenges for charity fundraisers, and as we move towards autumn and winter, the challenges may well get tougher still. So in this episode, Rob shares an excerpt from the recent Breakfast Club for Fundraising Leaders, in which he shares three ideas that he believes will help many fundraisers to do well in spite of these tough times. In parti...

If you’ve ever wondered about ways to attract / receive donations from people interested in cryptocurrency, check out these two episodes with Nicola Gunn (episode 105 and 106). In this, the second half of our chat, Nicola explains how her charity has attracted and received valuable donations through NFTs (non-fungible tokens). We also discuss some risk factors to weigh up and potentially mitigate...

Nicola and Rob talk about her charity’s progress and learnings in raising funds through crypto-philanthropy. Nicola demystifies key concepts; talks about some fabulous successes so far, including a gift worth £87,000; and shares lots of tips to help other charities interested in exploring the opportunities. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, thank you! And we wo...

Phoebe and Rob talk about how she and her colleagues have helped supporters understand and see the value of claiming Gift Aid. The project has been worth around a quarter of a million pounds (and counting) to her charity, the RSPCA. And building from the example she shared in episode 100, Phoebe shares how they have been adding WOW moments to relationships with individual giving supporters at a cr...