Fundraising Bright Spots: Recent Episodes
Rob Woods, Bright Spot
Want to grow your fundraising income? You're in the right place. Bright Spot provides training, coaching and inspiration to help professional fundraisers raise more money.
What do wealthy donors most prize when they weigh up whether to make a major investment in a charity? In 10 years as a philanthropy advisor at UBS bank, Tom Hall has had conversations about philanthropy with more than 4000 wealthy people, and he has witnessed a vast number of major gifts. This opportunity has given him precious insight into their psychology and the factors that have the biggest impact on their decisions.In this conversation Tom and Rob share which one element of your charities’ proposition is more important than all the rest, if you want to attract major donations at a transformational level. And Tom shares his tips for how charities can make use of this insight to increase income.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
One of the best ways to grow fundraising income is to find ways to add value to relationships with supporters and partners. This makes sense in theory, but how do you do it in practice, and with consistency, especially if your resources are limited?Events can be very effective! Though many charities use them to raise funds directly, it is less common to regularly use events for stewardship and to inspire subsequent support or partnerships.In this episode Chris Salt describes the event strategy that his relatively small charity uses to inspire existing and potential corporate partners. The approach has helped fuel his charity’s best ever year of corporate fundraising results. To help you weigh up whether something similar could help your own fundraising, Chris shares how they do it and what they’ve learned. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
There are many ways to deepen relationships with people who care about your good cause. At Bright Spot, one of our favourites is to create Wow Moments - something that makes them feel great or helps them connect with your charity at a deeper level compared to what most would expect.Sometimes this involves a creative, ambitious approach that other charities wouldn’t even think of. But just as often, the ‘wow’ is experienced by your supporter because you do something thoughtful and bespoke, rather than something especially surprising. What’s great about this is that these ideas are very do-able! And what’s difficult about it is that they are also easy to not do, (or manage to do regularly). They often take a little extra effort.To give you new ideas, and maybe a nudge of inspiration to make time for your existing good idea, Ben and Rob share various Wow Moments that have inspired them recently. They share examples of smart fundraisers taking part in Bright Spot’s recent Corporate Mastery and Major Gifts Mastery Programmes.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
When you concentrate more effort developing relationships with a relatively small number of supporters or corporate partners with high potential, it becomes much easier to grow high value income.We’ve also found that although this idea makes sense to many people in theory, it can be hard to apply in practice. So what can you do to overcome the various barriers to more focused and effective relationship-building with partners / supporters / funders?Using examples of successful partnerships and major gift fundraising growth from people on Bright Spot’s recent mastery programmes, in this episode Rob and Ben share techniques to help you harness the power of highly focused effort.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
An effective way to grow fundraising income is to add value to relationships with high value supporters. But how do find ways to do it? One approach is to start looking at your existing resources differently.When you ask yourself what potential assets you could make use of, rather than what is difficult for your charity; and what you can give (to relationships with supporters) rather than what you can get from them… amazing things become possible. To help you look again at opportunities (that might be under your nose), Rob and Ben share stories of creative, determined fundraisers doing things a bit differently and creating WOW moments for their donors / supporters.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
What can fundraisers do to increase our chances of securing large, multi-year donations from trusts and charitable foundations? Rob was delighted to talk to Caroline Danks, a wise fundraiser with 20 years’ experience of working with Trusts and Foundations. In the last two years, three different charities she’s worked with have received six-figure, multi-year grants. Caroline noticed a clear pattern across all three examples. Caroline and Rob discuss the four factors common to all three successes and explore ideas and tips to help you make use of them in your own fundraising with trusts and foundations.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for instance by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Caroline is @LarkOwlUK and Rob is @woods_rob.
One greatly under-estimated tool for building relationships with potential funders, corporate partners and major donors, is LinkedIn. But what’s the most effective approach? Rob was delighted to talk to fundraising and LinkedIn expert Michelle Benson. After many years as a fundraiser and grant giver, Michelle has found that most fundraisers are failing to make the most of this potent tool for success in major donor / trusts / corporate partnerships fundraising. Michelle and Rob discuss an approach which is different to what most people usually do. Rather than you chase them, a better way is to attract your ideal funders and partners to seek you out and want to develop relationships with you! She explains exactly why it’s so effective to do things differently, as well as a few simple habits that will help you get conversations with the right partners and funders for your charity.We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for instance by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn (!) and on X / twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
There are plenty of factors that make fundraising difficult at the moment. Whether it’s the cost of living crisis, the pace of change, the sense of political chaos, shorter attention spans etc…it’s true that connecting with people who care about your cause can feel harder than ever.So what can we do to defy the odds and achieve great fundraising results, in spite of the challenges? For clear answers and encouragement, Rob was delighted to talk to best-selling author and marketing expert, Grant Leboff. He explains why taking steps to increase genuine human connection is so powerful and offers a range of things you can do to achieve this in practice.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter Grant is @grantleboff and I am @woods_rob.
Is silo working inevitable in charities? Or is it possible to create a culture where it’s the norm for the different teams to proactively help each other, so that efforts combine to make a bigger difference? This is the second part of Rob’s interview about integrated working with the brilliant Joe Jenkins. They build on the Team of Teams concept from Part 1, and the amazing difference it makes to both results and trust between teams. Joe shares how one charity applied these ideas in three important projects, improving results and working relationships with each iteration.Finally he shares practical tips to help anyone ‘be the change they want to see’ in their day to day work, whether or not they currently hold a formal leadership position.Let us know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for instance by sharing it! We are both on Linked In, and on X / twitter we are @MrJoeJenkins and @woods_rob.
One of the biggest sources of stress for people working in charities is conflict between teams. Many find that however committed they are, and however hard they work, the default structure and culture often hamper genuine cooperation and progress toward a common goal.Given how difficult this problem can be, Rob was thrilled to talk to Joe Jenkins, who has given more thought and energy to solving it than anyone he has interviewed. Joe shares what happened when he worked for Friends of the Earth over a decade ago, when the leadership team did certain things to reduce silo-thinking and nurture conditions for success. Joe explains it was this effort, especially in terms of structure, culture and a shared vision, that enabled the charity to later create the hugely successful and award-winning Bee Campaign. If you’d like ideas and encouragement for how to build a co-operative, empowered and effective culture, we hope this episode will help.Let us know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, for instance by sharing it! We are both on Linked In, and on X / twitter we are @MrJoeJenkins and @woods_rob.
Rob is again joined by Bright Spot colleague and fellow fundraising trainer Ben Swart to talk about some of the episodes that most inspired us in 2023. Our discussion of fundraising ideas and examples includes: how to ace your event or media appeal (ie what content makes all the difference to results); ways to beat the Curse of Knowledge – and how one charity did this to raise five times more than the average through their appeal; ideas to help you succeed in spite of very competitive trust application processes; and how to create a culture where people genuinely value failure / learning as a way to grow fundraising results. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU! You can find us both on Linked In and on X / twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
If you’d like practical lessons and a bunch of encouraging stories from our fundraising podcast in 2023, or you’d like tips on what to listen to next, we recorded this special episode for you!Rob is joined by Bright Spot colleague and fellow fundraising trainer Ben Swart for this round up of our podcasting year. They pull out key insights from some episodes they’ve found most inspiring to listen to, including: tactics for corporate fundraisers to win multiple partnerships; ideas to further your mission through partnerships; how to use the Top 20 Rule to grow income with any group of supporters or donors; how to be more bold and innovative in your fundraising… and lots more.If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU! You can find us both on Linked In and on X / twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
This time we’re looking at capital campaigns and appeals, and in particular how to make them work if the charity you work for is relatively small.Successful appeals are not an easy undertaking for any charity, but there are at least examples of various famous appeals by well-known charities in books about fundraising. Given how many smaller charities need to raise an extra injection of funding for an important new project, I wanted to share a story from a fundraiser who has managed a successful capital campaign in an organisation with fewer resources.I was delighted talk to Steph Pisharody, an experienced fundraiser who worked for many years as Head of Development at St Albans Cathedral. She was there throughout their campaign to raise a seven figure sum for a new heritage and community project. I loved hearing Steph’s reflections on how they did it! Whether or not you’re embarking on your own campaign, I hope you find her insights and examples as helpful as I did.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter I am @woods_rob.
Just occasionally we (hopefully) have a bigger opportunity to reach more people and raise money. Whether it’s being chosen for a media appeal that reaches thousands or millions; or the chance to tell your charity story at an event in front of hundreds of people…there are a few moments when the fundraising rewards can be HUGE…if we get it right.So what can you do to maximise the potential of these valuable opportunities? For shrewd insights and examples, Rob was thrilled to interview Sally Flatman. In her many years as producer of BBC Radio 4 appeal, Sally worked with hundreds of charities on their appeals. Their results varied widely! In fact, a few of them raised more than five times the average! What did the ones that truly smashed it, do differently or better?Whether you plan to do your own media appeal one day, or simply want some examples to apply to your upcoming event / pitch / proposal / Christmas appeal, Sally’s examples can help.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter Sally is @flatmansally and I am @woods_rob.
Changes in technology over the last three decades mean our supporters’ now have less time, and more demands on their attention, than at any point in history.This makes it tougher than ever to deepen relationships with people who care about our cause. In this environment, what can we do to create effective marketing and communications?To better understand the issues, Rob was delighted to talk to best-selling author and marketing expert, Grant Leboff. Grant routinely advises both companies and charities on effective marketing and communications strategies in the fast-changing world we live in. In the interview, he explains why your supporter’s attention is more precious than ever, and what your charity can do to get and keep it.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter Grant is @grantleboff and I am @woods_rob.
Many charities see the advantages of creating strategic, long-term partnerships with companies, rather than applying for those intensely competitive Charity of the Year partnerships. But how do you initially approach companies where there is a good fit? Even after you get that first meeting, how do you inspire them to want to partner? And how do you solve the challenges in bringing your two organisations together to achieve something that works really well for both parties?It’s not easy, but its less daunting if you can hear insights from someone who has already done these things.So I was delighted to be able to talk to Pippa Hind-Walsh, a smart fundraiser in a fairly small charity called Family Fund. She talks us through the process of approaching and building a fabulous, strategic partnership with McCain Foods, which has been worth well over £1m to the charity.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
Some types of cause are less popular than others. If your charity is relatively less attractive to many people, what can you do to raise funds successfully?Rob talks to the experienced major gift fundraiser, Sarah Jane O’Neill, about things you can do to raise funds in spite of the challenges, whatever cause you serve. They share tips, practical tactics and examples of how fundraisers have overcome the difficulties of being less popular.And Sarah Jane shares top line findings from her new thesis exploring factors that can make it harder to secure high value donations for female domestic abuse charities. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter, where Sarah Jane is @s_joneill and I am @woods_rob.
What can you do to build warm, generous relationships with High Net Worth individuals who care about your cause?Rob talks to Paul Davies, who at the time worked for an orchestra and charity named Manchester Camerata. Paul explains a range of ideas from the Major Gifts Mastery Programme that he used to transform his results, including: what he focuses on to feel so confident when meeting supporters; how he quadrupled the number of supporters he speaks to each month, to 20 per month; and the amazing results this created for his charities’ appeal.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help colleagues or other good causes – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on Twitter / X we are @paulj_davies and @woods_rob.
In just four years, the small UK charity Talk Club has grown rapidly, making an ever bigger difference to the community it serves. There are now 78 talk clubs where men can talk, listen and improve their mental fitness. In this episode Ben Akers (Joint CEO) and Rob Woods discuss the innovative approach that has helped achieve this growth. An important theme is the power of being crystal clear of your outcome and working back from there to decide your tactics. They explore how this increases your confidence to do things differently and resist more orthodox strategies.They also talk about knowing your reason why; keeping things simple; understanding your target audience and speaking their language; and strategic partnerships that intrinsically help achieve your mission, ie as well as generating income. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on X / twitter, where Ben is @BenAkers and I am @woods_rob.
One of the most difficult challenges for many fundraisers is encouraging colleagues see things from the supporter or partners’ point of view, and to want to do things that would deepen relationships with those supporters and help grow income.And in corporate partnerships fundraising, excellent partnerships are never possible if they’re solely driven by the fundraisers’ hard work. They can only happen if they are genuinely a partnership between two organisations.But with many competing priorities in a charity, its not always easy to get colleagues to understand / want to do things that would serve the partnership or fundraising project. They’re very busy handling other issues. In this episode, Rob Woods talks to corporate partnerships expert and Bright Spot trainer, Ben Swart. They talk about practical things you can do to find common ground and positive outcomes with other teams in your charity.If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Ben is @benswart and I am @woods_rob.
Artificial intelligence / AI is here to stay and it’s transforming the way many sectors do business. In this episode we explore what difference AI is already making to fundraising, and what do we need to be aware of?The very experienced digital fundraiser, Emily Casson gave a fascinating talk at Bright Spot’s summer Breakfast Club for Fundraising Leaders event, and we’re pleased to share her talk here. She spoke about why charities cannot afford to ignore AI. She demonstrated how it can help fundraisers be more effective, including in terms of saving time, generating ideas and improving analysis. For example, Emily and her colleagues have already used it to make big improvements in how they tailor individual supporter journeys, so that supporters are asked to give amounts appropriate to them.Emily also talked about several important ethical issues charities need to consider with this rapidly changing technology.If you want to get in touch, Emily and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on X / twitter Emily is @EmilyCasson and I’m @woods_rob.
In this episode we look at failure, and why embracing it has a powerful effect on your results. To understand this in the context of fundraising and a charity’s effectiveness, I was delighted to talk to Richard Turner, Director of Fundraising at the international development charity, Solar Aid. For many years Richard and his colleagues have been deliberate about the importance of searching for and using the insights that come when things don’t go according to plan. He shares examples of how the approach has helped the charity ongoingly adapt, improve and make a bigger difference. We explore why the approach is so important; tips for applying it to fundraising; and ideas for creating a culture that’s open to and likely to learn from failure.
If your charity aims to win and grow corporate partnerships, then one important asset is a proposition or first step that’s both easy to understand and genuinely enticing to companies. This isn’t easy, so I was really interested to hear how Laura Webb approached it for Leeds Hospitals Charity. In mid-September 2020, she got inspired by the brilliant Snowflake Appeal at Sheffield Children’s Hospital charity, and with an incredibly short time, she and her colleagues created their own campaign, inviting businesses to Sponsor the Sparkle in December 2020. In just four weeks, the campaign attracted 20 companies to donate, generating over £35,000. One important part of the story is that more than half of these companies started supporting the charity for the first time. In this episode, Laura explains how they did it, practical tips and various lessons learned. If you want to share this episode with colleagues or on social media because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, I am @woods_rob.
The 80/20 Principle states that results will never be evenly distributed. A minority of your donors have the potential to give much more than the majority. Of course, many charities treat major donors differently, but we’ve found that within a file of individual donors giving at lower levels (or event participants), The 80/20 Principle still holds true. If we look for it, this is a wonderful opportunity to better serve your most valuable supporter relationships and grow income. Craig Linton is an author, trainer and individual giving specialist with 20 years’ fundraising experience. In this episode, Craig and Rob explore ways to escape the common pitfall of ‘one size fits all’ stewardship and share ideas to help you grow income by finding and serving the top 20% with the highest potential.
Corporate partnerships can make a huge impact on not only your fundraising, but also your mission directly. One of the valuable things they often bring is far greater reach to key audiences than a charity would achieve on its own. Clearly this effect is multiplied if you build not one, but many partnerships, and especially if they are all in a category that is relevant to your cause. In this episode Cara Hoofe and Sabrina Nixon talk about Bowel Cancer UK’s #GetOnARoll Campaign, in which most of the leading companies that sell toilet roll in the UK joined the campaign to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer, though their packaging. The campaign let people know what symptoms to look for and helped increase awareness of bowel cancer as an issue to an all-time high of 73%. They share why they took this approach, how they did it, and tips for other charities who want to emulate this strategy for winning multiple partners.
We spend so much of our life at work, it clearly makes sense that we should aim to make this time rewarding and enjoyable. But how do you deliberately build a happy, successful career? In this episode Rob Woods talks to Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital Charity. Liz explains some of the ideas and activities she’s used in developing her career over the last two decades, and which she has found are helpful to share with colleagues. They discuss practical tactics to help you work out your next steps, even if you feel stuck; ways you can increase your motivation to take action; and advice to help you go after your dream job.
This episode with Dr Claire Routley, an expert in expert legacy fundraising, was recorded in early March 2020, when the world felt very different. Nevertheless, in a time of increased home-working, our subjects of culture change and breaking down inter-team barriers now feel more relevant than ever. So I’m really pleased to share the episode again.We talk about a piece of research Claire carried out on behalf of the National Trust, all about how to increase interest in promoting legacies across the various teams within a charity. Though we talk largely about the cross promotion of legacy giving, in truth these ideas can be applied to any concept that should be understood by various teams, rather than just the so-called specialists. Claire explains the three key themes she discovered and brings these to life with examples of specific tactics that various charities have used in their change management programmes.If you want to hear my first interview with Claire, which is all about ways to make it easier to have conversations about legacies with your supporters, do check out Episode 28 of this podcast.If you want to share this episode – thank you!! – or get in touch, Claire and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Claire is @claireyJaneR and I’m @woods_rob.
What can charities do to better attract younger philanthropists to their cause? Many believe this is now an especially important challenge and opportunity. They cite research suggesting that in the next ten years, millennials and generations X and Z are likely to be in a position to make an especially valuable contribution to causes they care about. In Part 2 of Rob’s recent interview with Victoria Roe, she shares more lessons she’s learned in managing UNICEF UK’s approach. The ‘Next Gen’ concept they use is a more proactive approach to the needs and interests of younger supporters than many charities currently take. In the interview they explore a range of insights, including the value of the creating an identity or ‘home’ for younger supporters; effective stewardship and involvement; and ideas for balancing short-term pressures with the value of these relationships in the medium and long-term.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU SO MUCH! We’d love to hear what you think. Victoria and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 especially valuable opportunity for charities to look at now; examples of success so far; and various insights to help other fundraisers who want to develop good relationships with younger philanthropists.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We’d love to hear what you think. Victoria and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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-sufficiency in your team, so that everyone grows more confident in solving problems, and without necessarily needing to involve you. We also look at ways to deliberately focus your energy on the parts of your job that are the most strategically important.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We would love to hear what you think. Tess and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 advantage of their strengths. Having worked with dozens of fundraising teams, she has found this approach helps you be more effective and happier in your work.In the interview Jo shares a tool to help you identify your strengths, as well as lots of practical tips to help you make use of them in your work.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We would love to hear what you think. Jo and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 believes is the most important thing to get right when you meet supporters; and plenty more tips. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! We would love to hear what you think. Tony and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
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, Tess has gained valuable insights about how to be at your best and make a difference when you’re new. Tess and Rob discuss a range of tactics and beliefs that she has found helpful. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU SO MUCH! We would love to hear what you think. Tess and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 organisations to work with celebrities and other influencers. He loves to de-mystify the process.Building on the ideas covered in Episode 119, this is Rob’s second recent interview with Paul. This time they focus on tactics and examples in terms of Research; Activations – as in, what you ask people to do – and Measurement.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Paul and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Paul is @PaulKatzNYC and Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 essential to lift their chances of winning, and how she followed through on her good ideas. Rob and Beatrice agree that you can’t do this every time, but for when it is worth the risk, they share various tips to help you execute your own WOW factor idea.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU SO MUCH! We would love to hear what you think. Beatrice and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob, or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 and Adam talk about what holds many fundraising directors back from even exploring the issue, and why Adam feels it’s so important to address it. He explains the particular things he does when he prepares.Using stories from across his career, Adam explains the crucial question he always asks the board; the mistake he once made which wasted time and why it’s usually right to start the process even if you don’t yet know all the answers.
- 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 found that regardless of the size of your charity, if you do certain things in a certain order, you can achieve valuable results. He explains this process and shares practical things that any charity / non-profit can do to work effectively with celebrities and other influencers. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Paul and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Paul is @PaulKatzNYC and Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 last 30 episodes, including: thankathons – how (and why are they so effective!); major and mid-value donor strategies; how to transform gift aid sign up results; and effective (staff) retention strategies. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU SO MUCH - we really appreciate your help! (Or please let us know your own favourite episode.) You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Louise is @summitfundraise and Rob is @woods_rob.
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 year, including: a really effective habit that helps you look after yourself in spite of tough times; how to win more pitches; working with ‘experts by experience’ to improve fundraising; and how to proactively create your own match fund to inspire spectacular individual giving results, even now.If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Louise is @summitfundraise and Rob is @woods_rob.
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 test and improve your own charity’s messaging in this way and they share the example of a charity which used this idea to increase website donations by 147.5%.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Tim and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Tim is @DigitalDonor and Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 helpful.If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU SO MUCH! And we would love to hear what you think. Louisa and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 your charity. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Tim and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 set up regular gifts and encouraged many existing donors to upgrade their giving per month. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Ilana and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
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. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Grace and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Neela Jane and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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. We share a range of ideas to help you grow fundraising income through better insight and connection with funders. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Neela Jane and Rob are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 partnerships, major donor fundraising and what Shukry did as guest editor of the supporters’ magazine. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Lulu and Rob are on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
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 Shukri 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 good for fundraising. And they describe some of the creative ideas and insights that contributed to, among other things, a 25% increase in results for their individual giving appeal and a very successful Radio 4 Appeal. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. Lulu and Rob are on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 particular, he shares tactics and examples to help with: messaging during tough times, sharpening focus and managing your state / mindset. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, thank you! I’d love to hear what you think, eg through Linked In – Rob Woods - or on twitter at @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising. Key words
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 if you decide to explore crypto-philanthropy for your charity. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, THANK YOU! And we would love to hear what you think. On twitter we are @NicolaGunn_ and @woods_rob, we are both on Linked In or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 would love to hear what you think. On twitter we are @NicolaGunn_ and @woods_rob, we are both on Linked In or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
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 crucial time. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, thank you! We would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
Settling on a specific day or week to proactively reach out to appreciate donors can be very powerful. And it’s especially valuable during tough economic times. In this episode, Rob talks to Alice Barley of Chance for Childhood about the positive results that have flowed (for supporters, fundraising and culture) from their recent thankathons. And she shares practical tips to help you do the same. If you want to share this episode with others you think it would help, thank you! Alice and Rob would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
Recruitment and retention of fundraisers is as challenging as it’s ever been, so this time we share more ideas and examples to help you attract and keep great fundraisers. This is the second half of Rob’s recent interview with retention expert, Paul Nott. They discuss effective ways that some charities have long been bucking the trend and retaining talented fundraisers for longer. The themes include: ways to create a culture of ongoing learning; supervision meetings; inductions; and helping colleagues feel appreciated. If you want to share this episode to help other good causes, thank you very much! And Paul and Rob would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Paul is @paulconsulting and I am @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
As recruitment and retention of fundraisers become ever more important, in this episode we share ideas to help you keep good people thriving at your charity for longer. Paul Nott and Rob share examples and various things that some charities do to buck the trend and retain talented fundraisers. This includes mindset, powerful ways to build trust, help people feel appreciated as well as connected to the mission. Paul has many years’ experience in fundraising and in recruitment, and now his primary focus is on helping charities to attract and keep great people. If you want to share this episode because you think it will be help other good causes, thank you very much! And Paul and I would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Paul is @paulconsulting and I am @woods_rob; or you can follow Bright Spot on Instagram at @brightspotfundraising.
To celebrate our 100th episode, Rob spoke to two regular listeners, both with great fundraising stories to tell. Rachel Ketola shares how being proactive to create a series of small ‘WOW’ moments inspired one donor to increase his regular gift to the hospice from £50, to £1000 / month! And Phoebe Cooper explains some things she and her colleagues have done to make it easier for donors to keep supporting as the cost-of-living crisis affects many people’s ability to give as much as they’d like. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find all three of us on Linked In and on twitter Rachel is @r_ketola and Rob is @woods_rob.
After studying fundraising success for nearly two decades, Rob has found that great results rarely come from one stroke of brilliance. Rather, it usually comes from doing helpful (very do-able!) things consistently. In this episode, Rob shares examples of fundraisers who have used habits to create fabulous momentum, as well as an approach he has learned from BJ Fogg’s fascinating book Tiny Habits. And he uses examples to show you how to apply this technique in your own fundraising. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with anyone else you think would benefit, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I’m on Linked In, Rob Woods, and on twitter at @woods_rob.
When you hear real examples of your charities’ work, that connection to an important ‘why’ has a powerful effect on your fundraising mojo. But in most charities this doesn’t come naturally. It takes a deliberate decision to search out and share these stories. In this episode Rob is joined by Bright Spot trainer Ben Swart, to share ways that some fundraisers and leaders have improved the way they consistently find and share stories, and enjoyed improved results. And they include practical tips you can try. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
Ciaran Biggins is an experienced fundraiser and the founder of MindFood, a small London charity which uses gardening to help people improve their mental health. In this episode Ciaran shares tactics that have helped him raise funds for his small charity, including a tool he used to increase their success rate with trusts and foundations – last year 100% of their approaches were successful - and several tips and shortcuts for finding funders. If you want to share this episode – THANK YOU!! – or get in touch, Ciaran and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
Ciaran Biggins is an experienced corporate fundraiser who over a decade ago decided to set up a social enterprise to help people with their mental health, called MindFood. It later became a charity. In this episode Ciaran tells the story so far, and shares ideas and examples of how he has raised funds for this small organisation, including ways he has adapted techniques from his corporate partnerships background. If you want to share this episode – THANK YOU!! – or get in touch, Ciaran and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
This time Rob interviews Martha Awojobi, who two years ago changed the focus of her career from fundraising to anti-racism consultancy for the charity sector. One of Martha’s many achievements is leading the ground-breaking BAME Online fundraising conference. This wide-ranging discussion includes the extra energy you get from becoming clear on your values; tips on how to be brave; and reasons why progress with anti-racism work in our sector has so far been so hard. Martha also shares a sneak peak at some of the exciting sessions coming up in the next BAME Online Conference. If you want to share this episode or get in touch, Martha and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Martha is @MarthaAwojobi and I’m @woods_rob.
Clearly digital approaches can help your fundraising success, but digital also feels daunting to many charities. So how do make it work in practice? In this episode, the brilliant Emily Casson, Digital Marketing and Fundraising Manager at the Salvation Army, shares her powerful, succinct recipe for digital fundraising success, as well as four powerful principles. At the time of recording, she was one week into a record-breaking (over £1m) appeal for her charity. She shows these techniques work for small charities as well as large, and shares plenty of examples to help you believe! If you want to share this episode – thank you!! – or get in touch, Emily and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Emily is @EmilyCasson and I’m @woods_rob.
The first story I share in this episode is of a charity’s appeal raising SIX TIMES more than its (already ambitious) target. How did they do it? I believe the major factor is that they found a way to add consistent value to supporter relationships for months before the appeal. To show you what I mean, I share half a dozen examples of charities inspiring income growth through regular stewardship and engagement. This includes blogs; Facebook lives; phone calls, hand-written cards, pitches and regular events. And I share FIVE TIPS to help you improve your own results using this approach. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode, THANK YOU! You can find me on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
Sometimes you can build partnerships informally, without needing to pitch, but sooner or later most corporate fundraisers will be asked to pitch formally to a company. When this happens, clearly the stakes are high. So what can you do to increase your chances of winning? This time, Rob talks to Laura Matthews, who recently delivered a pitch that won a ground-breaking partnership worth over £200,000 for her charity. In the interview, Laura explains her approach and then Rob shares five pitching principles from Bright Spot’s Corporate Mastery Programme. Hopefully some of these will help you prepare for your own pitch opportunities. If you’d like to share this episode to help other fundraisers, thank you very much! And do let us know what you think. Laura and Rob are both on Linked in, and on twitter Rob is @woods_rob.
Most fundraisers are aware that improving relationships with supporters helps grow high value results. But what can fundraisers do to achieve this in practice? In this episode Rob is delighted to again to talk to Lynda Harwood-Compton, Head of Philanthropy, UK, at Animals Asia. This is the second half of their recent conversation in which Lynda shares things she has done to grow high value results over the last three years. The conversation includes ways to treat donors as individuals, while remaining efficient; simple films; ways to tell inspiring stories and donor testimonials. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other fundraisers – THANK YOU SO MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter Lynda is @LatchLynda and Rob is @woods_rob.
When you get the chance to explain your charity’s work, we’ve found that what you choose to say or write makes a big difference to fundraising results. In this episode Rob is joined by long-standing Bright Spot trainer, Ben Swart. Together they share a technique for finding inspiring ideas and messages about your cause. Using examples, they share why including more contrast and stories is usually more persuasive than what happens in many conversations / proposals. And they share a system you can use to structure persuasive things to say about your own charity. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
The partnerships and philanthropy team at Shelterbox have achieved fabulous growth in the last 18 months. In Episode 88 Clio Gressani shared their unusual approach, two very practical KPIs and examples of her team’s creativity. In this, the second part of Rob’s conversation with Clio, they explore how the team have improved the way they manage data, focus on conversations and a truly innovative way of bringing their cause to life. They created an escape-room type experience for supporters so they could step into the charities’ stories, solve realistic challenges and feel more involved. If you’d like to share this episode to help other fundraisers, thank you very much! And please let us know what you think. Clio and Rob are both on Linked in, and on twitter we are @cliogressani and @woods_rob.
What you decide to focus your energy on every day makes a big difference to your results. The fabulous growth in high value income achieved by Shelterbox over the last 18 months has been achieved in large part by a deliberate focus on two result areas: creating WOW moments and setting up ‘virtual teas / coffees’ with supporters. In this episode, Clio Gressani, who leads the Partnerships and Philanthropy team at the charity, explains the unusual way she helped everyone understand what great relationship fundraising looks like. And she shares inspiring examples of how her team have followed through on the idea, made supporters feel special and grown income. If you’d like to share this episode to help other fundraisers, thank you very much! And do let us know what you think. Clio and Rob are both on Linked in, and on twitter we are @cliogressani and @woods_rob.
When you better understand and improve relationships with supporters, it often follows that people give even more generously. But what can fundraisers do to better understand, engage and inspire? This time Rob welcomes back Lynda Harwood-Compton, Head of Philanthropy, UK, at Animals Asia. Since their last conversation for Episode 20, Lynda’s results have continued to grow. This time she shares her approach to engagement, which she feels is key. Lynda and Rob explore: ideas for using WhatsApp; cross-team working; story-telling; and ways to promote a charity culture that values fundraising. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other fundraisers – THANK YOU SO MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter Lynda is @LatchLynda and Rob is @woods_rob.
One crucial element of successful IG programmes is growing income with existing donors. So being organised in asking supporters if they’d like to give more, and to give again once they’ve stopped, is key. In Episode 82 of this show, individual giving expert Jenny Crabtree shared a range of ideas to help fundraisers with successful upgrade and reactivation campaigns. This included mind-set, story-telling and how to find opportunities in your data. In today’s episode, Jenny shares more advice, including: timing; effective stewardship long before you ask again; and ways to be curious and disciplined in testing / improving your approach. If you want to get in touch or share this episode, THANK YOU! We’d love to hear from you. We’re both on linked in, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
If you’d like to hear some useful lessons and stories from the podcast in 2021, or you’d like tips on what to listen to next, we hope this one will help. Rob is joined by the excellent Louise Morris of Summit Fundraising to talk about some episodes she most often recommends to fundraisers she works with. They discuss helpful themes and stories from the show this year, including the power of kindness in leadership and fundraising; fundraising with gamers; how to make it easier to ‘ask’ for a major gift; finding match givers; influencing colleagues; Facebook and Instagram Lives; going the extra mile and more. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Louise is @summitfundraise and Rob is @woods_rob.
As the environment we raise funds in will continue to bring plenty of challenges in 2022, how can we nevertheless find opportunities for growth? In this episode, which carries on from themes in Episode 83, Bright Spot fundraising trainers Rob and Ben share encouraging examples of fundraisers who have been especially bold and creative in spite of the difficulties they have faced…with fabulous RESULTS. And they share a recipe of four things you can do to emulate their approach, to help you find and maximise opportunities in your own fundraising. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with your colleagues or other charities, THANK YOU for spreading the word! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
Even major difficulties sometimes bring opportunities. This is the central theme of The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday, a book Rob read in March 2020, and which he has found very helpful during the chaos since. As fundraisers continue to face yet more challenges brought on by the pandemic, Rob and Ben explore ideas to help you succeed in your fundraising, in spite of your challenges. They share examples of charities that have raised funds very successfully during the COVID crisis, precisely because they were able to search for and find opportunities, and they explain two practical things you can do to apply this concept in your own fundraising. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find us both on Linked In and on twitter Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.
An important element of successful individual giving programmes is growing income from those who currently support. To achieve this, being organised about asking people to give more, and re-start once they’ve stopped, is key. Rob recently worked with the very experienced individual giving expert, Jenny Crabtree, to create a new video learning bundle for the Bright Spot Members Club, on How to Improve Upgrade and Reactivation Results. Today’s episode is an excerpt from that session. Jenny explores a range of ideas that she has found grow results, including: mind-set; cross-selling; finding opportunities for growth in your data; testing; and the importance of engaging supporters long before you come to ask again. To find out more about accessing all the resources and live workshops to inspire fundraisers in the Bright Spot Members Club, including the special offer available till 6th December 2021, follow this link www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join/ And if you want to get in touch or share this episode, we’d love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
It’s one thing to help your supporters / donors understand important issues intellectually, but some fundraisers find creative ways to help their audience connect at a deeper level too. On his courses and Bright Spot Members Club, Rob describes various ways you can create inspiring WOW moments. Within these, one type of special moment is where you help them gain deeper insight. In this episode Rob explores ways charities can create experiential moments for their supporters and offers advice to help you do this in practice. He covers using props; how to prevent your bold idea feeling like a gimmick; and tips to help you find your equivalent to the successful examples he shares. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with your colleagues and other charities, THANK YOU! You can find Rob on Linked In or on twitter he is @woods_rob. And you can find lots more free resources, training courses and our training and inspiration club, the Bright Spot Members Club on our website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
In Programme 8 of the current series of Strictly Come Dancing, Rose Ayling-Ellis, the programme’s first deaf contestant, did something very powerful. Midway through the routine, the music fell silent… and Rose and Giovanni continued dancing as though along to the music. In this beautiful moment, Rose gave her audience an insight into what she experiences when she dances. In this episode Rob explores ways charities can create their own powerful ‘aha’ moments. When you meet donors and potential partners, or when you organise events, how can you (appropriately) create these moments? To give you some ideas, Rob shares examples of three different charities doing this successfully, as well as some fascinating research into how story-telling enhances results. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find Rob on Linked In or on twitter I am @woods_rob. And you can find lots more free resources, training courses and the Bright Spot Members Club, on our website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
In his fascinating book The Captain Class, Sam Walker found that not one of the 16 most successful captains in the history of sport, was the teams’ star player, scoring the goals. In fact, all of them shared a less showy style of captaincy. They led from the back. This finding is in contrast to the enticing ‘Roy of the Rovers’ image of what great leaders are like. In this episode Rob explores why leading from the back is so effective and he shares examples of very successful fundraising leadership in this style. And he explains three practical things that leaders of fundraising teams can do to improve their ability to lead in this way, including a technique that empowers others to be at their best. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You can find me on Linked In or on twitter I am @woods_rob. And you can find lots more free resources, training courses and the Bright Spot Members Club, on our website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
What behaviours and traits from the leader, help your team raise their game and perform at their very best? To answer this question, leadership expert Sam Walker sought out 16 leaders whose results were outstanding in the highly competitive field of professional sport and studied the traits they shared. He reveals his findings in the fascinating book The Captain Class. Inspired by what Walker found, in this episode Rob explores two traits found in the 16 most successful captains in the history of all team sport, and shares examples from very successful fundraising leaders who share these characteristics. The traits were a) consistent, low key, practical communication (NOT inspiring Churchillian speeches!) and b) extreme relentlessness. I hope you find these stories and principles helpful in relation to your own leadership / fundraising roles. If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode, thank you! You can find me on Linked In or on twitter I am @woods_rob. You can find lots more free resources, as well as details of our training courses, on our website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
Long before the era of lockdowns, gaming was growing steadily more popular and across all demographics. Tantalisingly, its highly likely that some of the people who care about your cause also play games regularly. Many larger charities have created strategies for fundraising with gamers. If you’ve not thought about this option before, or you want to get some ideas, we hope you find this episode (and Episode 66) illuminating. I’m very pleased to share the second part of my interview with an accomplished fundraiser named Will Robinson, who works for the charity Become. During the first lock-down of 2020, they piloted a sponsored game-a-thon event called Become Players. It went so well they’ve repeated the event twice more, building a loyal group of new supporters. In this excerpt from a new learning bundle we’ve created for the Bright Spot Members Club, Will explains lots of valuable insights to help charities succeed. This includes advice on working with influencers, ethical and safeguarding considerations, incentives, and the advantages of using a specialist instant messaging platform called Discord. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! – we’re both on Linked In and on twitter Will is @Will_R0binson and I am @woods_rob. http://www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join
Under pressure, its all too easy to put most of your energy into the search for new supporters. But if you want to grow fundraising income, a great place to start is to take a careful look at how well you thank and look after people who have already donated. Interestingly, we’ve found that if you go above and beyond what most people would expect, it not only helps your donors feel great, it also often leads to increased fundraising income. One fundraiser who loves this philosophy is Laura Croudace. In this episode, Laura talks to Rob about why ‘the extra mile is rarely crowded’ and why this approach is so powerful (and fun to do). She shares lots of examples, (including one gift of £1.7 million!) and shares tips and encouragement to help you go the extra mile in your own fundraising. If you’d like to share this episode because you think it will help charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
This time we’re exploring ways to gather insight and test fundraising ideas. Whether it’s a new event, campaign or product, following a clear path helps you focus your creative efforts productively. There are plenty of tools you could use, but to explore one effective approach, I am joined by the ever-practical Craig Linton of the Supporter Experience Collective. Craig uses examples to explain a model and various helpful tactics he uses for taking fundraising ideas to market. To bring it to life, he explains how it helped in the development of a very successful virtual event delivered by the Natural History Museum in the UK, which raised double its income target. If you want to share this episode with your colleagues or on social media, thank you for spreading the word. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Craig is @FRdetective and I am @woods_rob.
One of the factors most likely to affect fundraising results is the extent to which your colleagues understand and care about fundraising. So the fact that the Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) now raise over 15 times more per year than they did 5 years ago is in part thanks to how hard the leadership and development team have worked to create a culture that cares about funding bursaries. You may have heard Episode 71 in which Mel Bushell, Development Director of PGS, shared tips from their hugely successful Giving Day. In today’s episode Mel shares things she has done to build internal relationships and create a culture that supports development in other ways too. She shares a range of tips and examples to show the difference this has made to results. If you’d like to share this episode because you think it will help other schools, universities and charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter Mel is @MelanieBowran and I am @woods_rob.
Major donor income is now very important for many charities that need to make up for the COVID-induced shortfall in other areas. So to help, I’m excited to share this excerpt from my interview with the always-inspiring Louise Morris, Director at Summit Fundraising. Together we created a new learning bundle on major donor fundraising for members of my learning platform for fundraisers, the Bright Spot Members Club. It’s all about how to develop strong and rewarding relationships with major donors. In this section, we explore some mindsets, beliefs and tactics that help when you’re inviting major donors to make a large donation to your charity. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities, thank you very much! We are both on Linked In and on twitter, Louise is @summitfundraise and I am @woods_rob.
All charities have needed to adapt during the pandemic and one powerful technique for engaging and inspiring your audience continues to be the Facebook Live. For examples of how charities continue to transform their results in this way, I was excited to interview Laura Croudace. In addition to her job at Cirrico, Laura has mentored hundreds of fundraisers in the last decade, and has helped lots of charities successfully adapt their fundraising during the pandemic. In this episode she shares several examples of charities using Facebook Lives with fabulous results, as well as advice to help if you’ve not yet tried this tactic. If you’d like to share this episode because you think it will help charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
In schools and higher education development we are starting to see more fundraising through Giving Days. There are clear benefits to creating a focal point for donations to a particular need, at one moment in time, and to do so digitally. To help fundraisers who are weighing up the idea of organising a Giving Day, I’m excited to share my recent interview with Mel Bushell, Director of Development at the Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS). In March 2021, PGS organised what was at the time the most successful giving day ever achieved by a UK school, raising £280,000 to pay for bursaries. It included match funding from a major donor, and it was a huge team effort. Indeed, the 653 donations were from a broad range of supporters, and more than half of them gave for the first time. Here, Mel shares how they did it, her advice and reflects on what she learned. If you’d like to share this episode because you think it will help other schools, universities and charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter Mel is @MelanieBowran and I am @woods_rob.
We strive to do our best with every fundraising opportunity, but inevitably some have greater potential than others. An invaluable skill is being able to spot these chances. And crucially, once you have identified one, what can you do to really make the most of it? Today’s episode explores these themes as we talk to Dan McNally and hear the story of a young, heroic supporter of his charity, Muscular Dystrophy UK. He relates how a six year old girl named Carmella set out to raise £5000 for the charity, and ended up smashing this target, raising more than £50,000. Dan explains what she did, and what he and his colleagues did to help add value and WOW factor, leading to dramatically increased income, national media coverage and the admiration of a Hollywood star. Whatever kind of fundraising you do, I think you’re going to enjoy this story of triumph over adversity as well as our exploration of how to make the most of an opportunity.
Caroline is an experienced voice-coach who helps actors, leaders and fundraisers to grow their confidence and impact. She is the author of several best-selling books including Gravitas and Find Your Voice and has worked with Rob Woods to create two learning bundles for the Bright Spot Members Club, of which this episode is an excerpt. Relationships within charities and non-profits are sometimes difficult. In Episode 68 of this podcast Caroline shared a model from Virginia Satir that she has found to be powerful for understanding the dynamics of these relationships. Having explained three unhelpful coping mechanisms last time – The Blamer; The Placator and The Computer – here she shares how we can bring the poise and positive energy of what Satir calls The Leveller to these and other challenging situations. If you’d like to share this episode (THANK YOU!), or get in touch, we are both on Linked In, and on twitter Caroline is @CarolineGoyder and I am @woods_rob. To join the Bright Spot Member's Club visit www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join.
As in all complex organisations, relationships within charities are sometimes difficult. And negotiating with supporters can be far from easy. Clearly these challenges can affect our stress levels and our ability to work positively with others to raise funds and further your charities’ goals. In this episode I’m delighted to share an interview from within our Bright Spot Members Club, with the best-selling author, Caroline Goyder, who is a gravitas, confidence and voice coach. I was keen to get Caroline’s advice on how fundraisers can better understand the unhelpful dynamics that can occur, and to explore ways we can increase our poise and skill in handling them. This interview happened long before the pandemic began, at a time when most important conversations within charities happened face to face. Nevertheless, I think you’ll find the kinds of challenging relationships that Caroline describes remain common, and her advice is as powerful as ever now. If you like this episode, do check out Episode 12, in which we shared Caroline’s advice on how to win the hearts and minds of your supporters and colleagues.
Many charities see the advantages of creating strategic, long-term partnerships with companies, as an anti-dote to the many intense challenges of applying for those intensely competitive Charity of the Year partnerships. But how do you go about approaching companies where there is a good fit with your charity? And even after you get that first meeting, and they’re interested, how do you solve the challenges in bringing your two organisations on a journey that is genuinely win/win? These things are not easy, but as with most fundraising challenges, they feel less daunting if you can hear from someone who has already done it. So I was delighted to be able to talk to Pippa Hind-Walsh, a smart and resilient fundraiser in a fairly small charity called Family Fund. In this interview she talks us through the process of approaching and building a fabulous, strategic partnership with McCain Foods, which is worth over one million pounds to the charity. This interview is part of a filmed interview Pippa conducted for the Corporate Fundraising track in our training and inspiration site the Bright Spot Members Club. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
Even before the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, gaming was growing ever more popular and across all demographics. This hobby is now so popular that some of the people who care about your cause almost certainly enjoy gaming on a regular basis. In recent years many larger charities have developed strategies for fundraising with gamers. If you’ve not considered this before, or you’re interested in the opportunity, we hope you find this episode helpful. I’m excited to share part of an interview with a very smart fundraiser named Will Robinson, who works for the charity, Become. During the first lock-down of 2020, they piloted a sponsored game-a-thon event called Become Players. It went so well they’ve repeated the event twice more, building a loyal group of new supporters, some of whom have now raised money in all three events. In this excerpt from a new learning bundle we’ve created for the Bright Spot Members Club, Will explains lots of valuable insights to help charities succeed in this area. This includes advice on recruiting participants, tactics to add value and building loyalty. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter Will is @Will_R0binson and I am @woods_rob.
An important ingredient in fundraising success is engaging your community. An effective communications strategy makes a big difference. In this episode I talk to Henrietta Carter-Mayers, Director of Development at Godolphin and Latymer school. In recent years the school has implemented communications strategies that have helped engage its audience, with increased numbers and greater involvement. This progress has set the platform for impressive fundraising growth, delivering a fantastic increase in bursary support. In this conversation, Henrietta shares principles and examples that bring to life this approach to communication. If you find this interview helpful, we recommend you also check out our new free set of training films for schools, Ways to grow schools fundraising income which you can get hold of from Episode Notes 65 on the Podcast page of my website which is www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/podcasts/ . This set of five short films is designed to give you a more in depth recipe for how to raise funds effectively for a school during and after the pandemic. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other schools and charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
As some income streams have been hit so hard, attracting major gifts has been more important than ever for many charities. But how do you do this, in spite of all the other pressures during the crisis? In this episode, Rob is excited to share his recent interview with a wise, experienced fundraiser named Angie Turner. A fundraiser for 30 years, Angie has learned a great deal about effective fundraising. This year, The Children’s Trust, where Angie is Head of Philanthropy, exceeded an already ambitious (pre-COVID) target for major gift income by a fabulous 28%. In the interview, Angie explains why she is so committed to the sector, before going on to share a range of principles and tactics she has found to be more crucial than ever this year. This includes: ways to encourage donors to match fund; organising your pipeline; building effective relationships within your charity; and lots of ideas to engage and inspire your supporters. If you want to share this episode with colleagues or on social media because you think it will help other fundraisers – THANK YOU SO MUCH! -
During the pandemic, the leaders of the small music charity, Ensemble Reza have been determined that their organisation should continue to make a difference for their community. In fact, by continually trying new tactics to solve their many challenges this year, the charity has grown its audience, doubled its fundraising income and transformed its impact. In this, the second half of my recent interview with Hannah Carter, the Managing Director, we explore several ways they’ve managed to add value to the community, including a bold way to create wow factor and a joyful stewardship project delivered in record time. If you want to share this episode with colleagues or on social media because you think it will help other fundraisers – THANK YOU SO MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
In a crisis, its more tempting than ever to keep rushing to get things done. Sometimes, taking the time to make decisions about how you’re going to operate is immensely powerful. In this episode, I talk to the brilliant Davinia Batley, about the decisions she made in March 2020, as the pandemic took hold. She explains the conclusions she came to and the key values she decided to embed in her leadership style and team culture. She goes on to explain the various ways these decisions continue to pay off, as well as sharing some fundraising tactics that have delivered fabulous results. Davinia’s small charity, Become, which supports children in care and young care leavers, has raised significantly more in the year of the pandemic than they did the previous year. For instance, this includes their most successful appeal ever and the successful launch of a new gaming initiative. If you want to share this episode with colleagues or on social media because you think it will help other fundraisers – THANK YOU SO MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, Davinia is @daviniab311 and I am @woods_rob.
If your charity works wants to win and grow corporate partnerships, then one really valuable asset is a proposition or first step that is both easy to understand and enticing to those companies. This is by no means easy, so I was fascinated to hear the way Laura Webb approached it for Leeds Hospitals Charity. In mid-September 2020, she got inspired by the brilliant Snowflake Appeal at Sheffield Children’s Hospital charity, and in hardly any time, she and her colleagues created their own campaign, inviting businesses to Sponsor the Sparkle in December 2020. In just four weeks, the campaign attracted 20 companies to donate, generating over £35,000. One invaluable element is that more than half these companies were supporting the charity for the first time. In this episode, Laura explains how they did it and various they lessons learned. If you want to share this episode with colleagues or on social media because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, I am @woods_rob.
Clearly fundraising has been immensely challenging for many hospices and small charities this year. It’s also true that the public still care about deeply about their favourite causes, so high value and individual giving fundraising have become especially important. So I was excited to have the chance to talk to Paul Courtney, Director of Fundraising at Children’s Hospice South West, to hear about how his colleagues have adapted their approach during the pandemic, not least because they’ve achieved record-breaking results in both areas this year. This includes the charities’ most successful Christmas appeal ever, using a new, unusual approach, and major donor results which were up 150% compared to the year before the pandemic. If you find this interview helpful, regardless of what kind of charity you work for, we recommend you also check out our new free set of training films Hospice Fundraising Success Strategies – Now and After the Pandemic which you can get hold of from Episode Notes 60 on the Podcast page of my website which is www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/podcasts/. This set of five short films is designed to give you a more thorough recipe for how to increase income in a range of areas, including corporate partnerships, events, individual giving, leadership and culture. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Paul is @paulkairos and I am @woods_rob.
Fundraising has been especially hard for many hospices and small charities this year because community and events fundraising has been so disrupted during the pandemic. Similarly, as so many companies have had their own problems to deal with, generating corporate partnerships income has also been a massive struggle. So I was intrigued to hear about the remarkable results that have been achieved by Children’s Hospice South West this year. Not only have the overall results achieved by the fundraising team been impressive, but they’ve even done well in events and corporate partnerships income. In fact, the flagship sponsored events, Santas On the Run and Rainbow Run generated more in 2020 than they did in the previous year. In this interview Paul Courtney, who is Director of Fundraising at the hospice explains some of the tactics his team have used. If you find this interview helpful, regardless of what kind of charity you work for, we recommend you also check out our new free set of training films Hospice Fundraising Success Strategies – Now and After the Pandemic which you can get hold of from Episode Notes 59 on the Podcast page of my website which is www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/podcasts/. This set of five short films is designed to give you a more in depth recipe for how to increase income in a range of areas, including individual giving and fundraising culture as well as the two topics touched on here. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Paul is @paulkairos and I am @woods_rob.
One of the biggest headaches for many fundraisers is encouraging colleagues see things from the donor or partners’ point of view, and to want to take actions that would be good for relationships with those supporters (and therefore good for fundraising growth). And in corporate partnership fundraising, we know that great partnerships are never possible if they’re solely driven by your own desire and hard work. They can only happen if they are genuinely a partnership between two organisations. But with many competing priorities in a charity, its clearly not always easy to get colleagues to see the value in wanting to do things that you believe would serve the partnership or fundraising project. They have plenty of other important issues competing for their attention. In this episode, Bright Spot founder Rob Woods talks to corporate partnerships and fundraising expert Ben Swart, who is a co-trainer and a coach to many fundraisers on our long-standing Corporate Partnerships Mastery Programme. In the interview, Ben and Rob talk about practical things you can do that increase your chances of finding common ground and positive outcomes with colleagues from other teams in your charity, so you can make more progress with less stress. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Ben is @benswart and I am @woods_rob.
Raising funds has been hard for so many charities this year, but its been especially hard in the arts and for small charities. Ensemble Reza is both these things and yet they’ve found ways to not only keep serving their audience (and grow it significantly), they’ve even done remarkably well in fundraising terms too. Responding to the challenges, they’ve actually DOUBLED fundraising income compared to the previous year. In this episode Rob asked Hannah to share some of the tactics they’ve used to adapt and grow during the pandemic. This includes starting a You Tube channel from scratch; growing a loyal and broader audience; and using powerful feedback stories in applications for funding. One thing Hannah mentions is how helpful she’s found it to be a member of the Bright Spot Members Club since the start of the pandemic. If you’d like to find out more about the training bundles and live weekly coaching sessions that Hannah and the rest of the club get access to, or to try for just a month, go to www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join/ And if you want to get in touch or share this episode, Hannah and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
For the last five years, the pace of change (including in the fundraising environment) has been greater than ever. And since the pandemic began, it’s felt turbo-charged. Since change seems unlikely to slow down any time soon, it is now more important than ever that we embrace learning as a key value. Unless we make time to keep learning, as individuals, fundraising teams and organisations, we will fail to adapt to all the new opportunities and challenges. In this episode Rob explores four powerful reasons why learners get rewarded for the effort they put in, and then shares 8 ways you can do it in practice. Most of these ideas are relatively small shifts and tactics that anyone can apply, regardless of resources. They are mostly about what you give importance to and how you choose to approach life and work. If you want to get in touch or share this episode – thank you very much! - I would love to hear from you, either via our website www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk; on Linked in or on twitter, where I’m @woods_rob. If you’d like to find out more about the Bright Spot Members Club, our on-line training and inspiration club, follow this link www.brightspotmembersclub/join/ or info about our upcoming Mastery Programmes in Corporate Partnerships or Major Gifts, go to www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/services
The pressure to handle more urgent fundraising challenges mean that strategies to promote legacy giving often gets put to one side. Dr Claire Routley is one of the UK’s experts on legacy fundraising. In this clip, we explore ideas to help you find and bring to life your legacy proposition; and ideas to help you promote those ideas consistently, so that both colleagues and supporters feel this is a normal way of donating. This is an excerpt from a new course we made recently, and it’s one of more than 40 fundraising courses available to fundraisers within the Bright Spot Members Club https://www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join/ . As always, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Claire’s advice, and I hope you find it helpful too.
Major donor income is so important to many charities looking to make up for the continuing COVID-induced shortfall in other areas. So in this episode we are looking at a crucial element of high value fundraising, that is, ideas to help you deepen relationships with supporters. This is the second part of my interview with the brilliant Louise Morris, Director at Summit Fundraising. Together we’ve created a new learning bundle on major donor fundraising for members of our training and inspiration membership, the Bright Spot Members Club. In fact, we’ve had such great feedback on the content that I decided to share this section with my podcast listeners too. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We are both on Linked In and on twitter, Louise is @summitfundraise and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, check out the many strategies in my free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power/
All charities have had to pivot their fundraising strategy to some extent during the pandemic. And there are some determined, creative fundraisers who have found canny ways to defy the difficulties and get great results. I love studying these examples because they reinforce the helpful belief that perseverance pays off. So in this episode, I was delighted to talk to Paula Radley, Head of Face to Face Supporter Recruitment at Greenpeace UK. She explains the challenges her team has faced, and some innovative ways they adapted. In fact, their campaign in the summer of 2020 raised 20% more than in pre-COVID door to door campaigns. No matter what kind of fundraising you do, I hope you feel as encouraged by Paula’s examples as I did. Thank you SO much to everyone who has been sharing this podcast with colleagues and other charities on social media. I really appreciate your help, so that we can get these ideas to as many charities as possible during the pandemic. And if you want to get in touch or share this episode, Paula and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter I’m @woods_rob.
Do want to increase regular or one-off donations? Perhaps the effects of COVID on other income streams mean you need to improve how your charity approaches Individual Giving. If so, or if you’d just like ideas to help solve your current challenges, then we hope you’ll find this episode really helpful, because this time I got the chance to pick the brains of an experienced and very practical fundraiser Jenny Crabtree. We discussed five key areas that fundraisers need to solve to get an individual giving programme set up and working. Thank you SO much to everyone who has been sharing this podcast with colleagues and other charities! I really appreciate your help spreading the word, so we can help as many charities as possible with this free content during this challenging time. And if you want to get in touch or share this episode, we’d love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on Twitter I’m @woods_rob.
As other income streams have been hit, high value fundraising has become more important than ever for many charities. But amidst all the challenges of the pandemic, how do you deepen relationships and inspire people to donate? One charity that has tried a range of tactics in high value fundraising this year, with great success, is St John’s Ambulance. In this episode, I share an interview with Julide Troedson, who heads up the team that looks after philanthropy, partnerships and special events. Our conversation includes Julide’s to story-telling, stewardship and conversations with supporters. And we explore how the charity created an unusually successful on-line fundraising event that inspired generous donations as well as stronger relationships. If you want to get in touch or share this episode, we’d love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter Julide is @JulideTroedson and I’m @woods_rob. If you find this episode helpful, please subscribe to the podcast today, so you don’t miss out on all the other episodes we have planned to help charities raise funds successfully during the pandemic. To find out more about our training courses, coaching and Bright Spot Members Club for fundraisers, go to www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
If you’d like tangible examples and wise principles to help deliver successful fundraising during the pandemic, I hope you’re going to find this episode really helpful. It’s the second part of an interview with a brilliant fundraiser named Richard Turner, who shares highlights from a new piece of research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Supporter Experience group. Over recent months, Richard and his colleagues in the group, Giles Pegram and Angela Cluff have studied charities that have been achieving fundraising success this year by giving their supporters a great experience. They’ve just published an inspiring report entitled Fundraising in the time of COVID-19 and have created a webinar to share their findings. In the episode we explore some powerful principles, as well as lots of examples of how charities have been looking after their colleagues and inspiring their supporters during the pandemic. If you want to get in touch or share this episode, we’d love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter Richard is @ifundraiser and I’m @woods_rob.
I’ve now been making this podcast for just over year, and now that there are nearly 50 episodes, I wanted to reflect on five episodes that I think are especially relevant to the challenges fundraisers are facing as we start another difficult year. To help me reflect, and pull out the juiciest insights from these conversations, I’m joined by Ben Swart, my long-standing associate at Bright Spot. Our discussion includes ideas for fundraisers around STORY-TELLING; TENACITY; LEADERSHIP DURING LOCKDOWNS; COLLABORATING WITH OTHER CHARITIES; MAJOR GIFTS MOMENTUM; INCREASED CONFIDENCE WHEN TALKING TO SUPPORTERS, and plenty more… Thank you SO much to everyone who has supported this show in our first year! Thank you for listening, for sharing on social media or with colleagues, or for leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts. I’m incredibly grateful for your help in spreading the word so that the ideas reach more charities during these troubled times. If you’d like to get in touch, or share this episode, we’re both on Linked In and on twitter, Ben is @benswart and I am @woods_rob. You can find lots more free resources, as well as details of our training courses, on my website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
If you’d like ideas to help you be resilient; or ideas to improve the way you inspire your supporters through stories…then this episode is for you. This time I talk again to Max Newton, Head of community fundraising at Shelter. Earlier this year, Max completed the Tunnel Ultra, running for 200 miles non-stop, back and forth through a dark tunnel in a single weekend. As I write this, Max is ‘Running Home for Christmas’ (inspired by Chris Rea!) that is, 410 miles up the A1 in December, to raise funds for Shelter. Through his hobby Max has learned a great deal about resilience. Most interestingly, he applies these lessons to his fundraising and leadership and this approach has paid dividends, especially this year. As well as tips for being gritty, Max and I also explore story telling tactics that generate results. If you want to help share / spread the word about this or other episodes… THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And Max and I would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Max is @MaximoNewton – if you’re listening in December, please do check out how he’s doing in his mammoth Running Home For Christmas challenge - and I am @woods_rob. This episode is part of a full film Max and I recorded for the training and inspiration site for fundraisers, Bright Spot Members Club. If you’d like to find out more about all the training films, downloads and live sessions available each week, go to www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join/.
I’ve now been making this podcast for just over year. Not least because 2020 has created so many new fundraising challenges for charities, I’m so grateful to have got the show started well before the pandemic hit, so that I could keep creating content to help fundraisers as the crisis has unfolded. To celebrate the amazing way the show has grown in its first 12 months, I wanted to reflect on four or five of the guest interviews, especially from the early days, that I’ve found especially fascinating and helpful. To help me reflect and pull out the juiciest ideas from these conversations, I’m joined by Ben Swart, my long-standing associate at Bright Spot. We hope you find these ideas useful, as well as a helpful sign post to some episodes that you may not have caught the first time round. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this show this year! Thank you for listening, for sharing on social media or with colleagues, or for leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts. I’m incredibly grateful for your help in spreading the word so that the ideas reach and hopefully help more charities during these troubled times. If you’d like to get in touch, or share this episode, we’re both on Linked In and on twitter, Ben is @benswart and I am @woods_rob. You can find lots more free resources, as well as details of our training courses, on my website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
Its human nature to get tempted to focus too much attention on the big shiny prize, such as the game-changing major gift. But after interviewing very successful fundraisers for nearly two decades, I’ve found these wonderful results rarely come from one extraordinary move or piece of good fortune. Rather, they are the result of the discipline to do lots of relatively ordinary things (that most people don’t do), day in, day out. Beware, these activities rarely get attention at conferences as they don’t seem exciting. But how do you stop yourself getting distracted by the shiny prize? In this episode I talk to a fabulous fundraiser named Lucy Read from International Animal Rescue, who has made it her habit every day for the last 12 months to focus on the small things she can do each day to achieve incremental gains. Here she shares her simple, powerful system. I found it hugely encouraging to hear the difference this change in focus has made to Lucy’s results and morale, and I hope you do too. If you enjoy it, remember to subscribe to the podcast today. If you want to get in touch or share this episode – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we’d love to hear from you. We’re both on linked in, on twitter I’m @woods_rob and you can find lots more free resources, as well as details of our training courses, on my website, www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk.
If you’re looking for sound principles and real examples to help you deliver successful fundraising during the pandemic, I hope you’re going to find this episode really helpful. Because this time I’m sharing the first part of an interview with a hugely experienced fundraiser named Richard Turner, who shares his highlights from an inspiring new piece of research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Supporter Experience group. Over recent months, Richard and his colleagues in the group, Angela Cluff and Giles Pegram have searched out charities that have been achieving fundraising success this year by finding ways to give their supporters a great experience. They’ve just published an excellent report entitled Fundraising in the time of COVID-19 and have created a webinar to share their findings. In the episode we explore several crucial principles, as well as lots of examples of how charities have been inspiring their supporters during the pandemic. If you want to get in touch or share this episode, we’d love to hear from you – we’re both on linked in, and on twitter Richard is @ifundraiser and I’m @woods_rob.
If you’d like ideas to help you more confidently embrace very difficult, or even impossible-seeming challenges in this gruelling year, I hope you’re going to love this episode! Because this time I talk to Max Newton, who is Head of community fundraising at Shelter. Earlier this year, Max completed the Tunnel Ultra, running for 200 miles non-stop (yes, you read that right!), back and forth through a dark tunnel. It took around 50 hours. I was determined to get Max on the podcast to share some of the things his running hobby has taught him, that can help any of us when facing daunting challenges in life and, particularly, as fundraisers / leaders. This year Max and his colleagues have been making practical use of these ideas to help deal so positively with the challenges of fundraising during the chaos of the pandemic. If you want to share this episode with your friends and social media contacts because you think it will help other charities at this difficult time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And Max and I would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Max is @MaximoNewton and I am @woods_rob. This episode is part of a full film Max and I recorded for the training and inspiration site for fundraisers, Bright Spot Members Club. If you’d like to find out more about all the training films, downloads and live sessions available each week, go to www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join/.
As more charities are struggling financially, you may find yourself having to look for a new job when you really hadn’t planned to. And you may feel under more pressure at interview than normal. How do you succeed in the job market in these turbulent times? So I recently organised a live Group Coaching for the Bright Spot Members Club to help members win in today’s (and tomorrow’s) job market. Our guest expert was the always-inspiring Paul Nott, who is among other things, an excellent career coach to the fundraising sector. Our members found his advice so helpful that I was determined to share some of it with you through the podcast. The session includes tips for doing well at interview over Zoom; making your CV work for you and practical tips to help you build your dream career, in a way that was not possible for previous generations. If you want to share this episode with your friends and contacts because you think it will be helpful at this difficult time, I’d be very grateful. And Paul and I would love to hear what you think. We are both on Linked In and on twitter Paul is @paulconsulting and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like to find out more about all the live coaching and other resources we provide through our training and inspiration site for fundraisers, the Bright Spot Members Club, go to www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join.
Major donor income is incredibly important to most charities looking to make up for the continuing COVID-induced shortfall in other areas in 2020 and 2021. So today we’re looking at an approach to major gift fundraising that solves some all too common pitfalls that frequently hamper success. This is the first part of my recent interview with a brilliant fundraiser named Louise Morris, Director at Summit Fundraising. Together we’ve just created a new learning bundle on major donor fundraising for fundraiser members of our training and inspiration membership, the Bright Spot Club. In fact, we were so excited about the content that we were determined to share this first section with you through my podcast. It’s all about how to develop better and deeper relationships. In this section, we explore challenges with the most common model – The Seven Steps of Donor Solicitation – and the language used in most charities to manage major donor fundraising and we share Louise’s philosophy and tactics which overcome these problems. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We are both on Linked In and on twitter, Louise is @summitfundraise and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches in my free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power
If you work in development in the Higher Education sector, or in major donor fundraising in any charity, I hope you will find this episode helpful. It’s the second half of my recent interview with a very successful fundraiser named Jamal Iqbal. Jamal is Head of Development at the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London, and his team have been getting consistently great fundraising results in the last couple of years. So I was keen to ask Jamal what he has found makes the difference in generating high value income for your charity, school or university. In this discussion, we particularly explore Jamal’s approach to gathering interesting, valuable content, to story-telling and building internal relationships with which to improve your ability to inspire potential supporters. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, why not check out the many strategies in my free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other non-profits, charities, universities and schools at this difficult time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We are both on Linked In and on twitter my name is @woods_rob.
As other income streams are decimated by the effects of the pandemic and varying levels of lockdown, fundraising income from individual donors is more important than ever for many charities. And clearly there are both pitfalls to beware and opportunities to make the most of. So in this episode, I was delighted to talk to the wise and ever-practical Craig Linton (aka The Fundraising Detective). In his excellent book, Donors for Life, Craig shared many means by which charities can ongoingly build better relationships with supporters. And in the Autumn of this turbulent year, I particularly wanted Craig’s advice for things charities can be doing now with and for individual supporters. We explore several important approaches that Craig has been applying recently on behalf of his charity clients including: ways to acknowledge how challenging these times are for our supporters; the importance of continuing to ask for donations, albeit with an appropriate tone – they still care - ; things you can do now to increase the results of future (eg Christmas) appeals; ideas to help you engage in more real conversations with supporters; and ideas to increase the average size of gifts by tweaking the offer of what their gift could achieve. If you want to share this episode with your colleagues or social media contacts because you think it will help other charities and non-profit organisations at this difficult time, I’d be very grateful! We are both on Linked In and on twitter Craig is @frdetective and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like to find out more about all the powerful strategies and helpful support that Craig and I deliver through the virtual Individual Giving Mastery Programme, at the time of publishing this episode there are TWO PLACES LEFT. You can find out more at www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/services
Aristotle observed that excellence is less about one-off events and more about habits. If you broadly agree with this idea, then what are the habits that move the needle for improved RESULTS in your field of fundraising? If you work in development in the Higher Education sector, or in major donor fundraising in any charity, I hope you will find this episode instructive, because I share the first half of a really interesting interview with an experienced high value fundraiser named Jamal Iqbal. Jamal is Head of Development at the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London, and his team have been getting consistently great fundraising results in the last couple of years. So I was keen to ask Jamal what habits and principles he believes are making the difference. In this discussion, we explore ideas around focus and tenacity, how Jamal approaches conversations with potential supporters, the top three books he recommends to everyone in his team, and lots more. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities, universities and schools at this difficult time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! We are both on Linked In and on twitter my name is @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, I cover lots of helpful tactics in my free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power
For many years, the orthodox way to secure a charitable partnership has been to apply through a formal process to the biggest companies. It usually involves several stages, is time-consuming, and only has one winner. Though there are upsides to this model, (especially for the lucky few charities whose brand is popular enough to win the staff vote that is often the final hurdle), there are many downsides, especially if your charity is less well known. Another option is to proactively seek partnerships with companies where there can be a strategic fit, and which far fewer charities are pursuing. In this episode, I explore with corporate fundraising expert Ben Swart, the reasons why the trend for strategic partnerships is growing. He explains this is in part influenced by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. And though there are clear benefits to strategic partnerships, they usually require a greater level of proactivity on the part of the fundraiser. In this discussion, we explore the issues as well as four of the tactics from Bright Spot’s Corporate Mastery Programme that we find help you to find and create these valuable partnerships in practice. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Ben is @benswart and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, I cover lots of helpful tactics in my free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power
I recorded this interview with Dr Claire Routley, an expert in expert legacy fundraising, in early March 2020, when the world felt very different. Nevertheless, our subjects of culture change and breaking down barriers within your charity, are as relevant as ever. We talk about a piece of research Claire carried out on behalf of the National Trust, all about how to increase interest in promoting legacies across the various teams within a charity. Though we talk largely about the cross promotion of legacy giving, in truth these ideas can be applied to any concept that should be understood by various teams, rather than just the so-called specialists. Claire explains the three key themes she discovered and brings these to life with examples of specific tactics that various charities have used in their change management programmes. If you want to hear my first interview with Claire, which is all about ways to make it easier to have conversations about legacies with your supporters, do check out episode 28 of this podcast. And if you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode – thank you!! – or get in touch, Claire and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Claire is @claireyJaneR and I’m @woods_rob. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Claire, and I hope you find this conversation helpful too.
In this episode we’re looking at ways to overcome some key challenges if you’re responsible for fundraising in a small charity. I first met Mark, who is Head of Communications and Fundraising at the social welfare charity, Wimbledon Guild, when he joined our training and inspiration site, the Bright Spot Members Club (www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join) about six months ago. Since then I’ve enjoyed several fascinating conversations with him. In particular he’s given me lots of insight about tactics and strategies that help you boost fundraising in a small charity. In this conversation Mark outlines the areas which he has found deserve particular attention if you are responsible for fundraising. The conversation includes tips to help you maximise limited resources; ideas for successful PR and communications; and tips for harnessing the ideas and enthusiasm of the whole organisation. If you want to share this episode with your colleagues or on social media, because you think it will help other charities in this especially challenging year, thank you very much for your help spreading the word. We are both on Linked In and on twitter I am @woods_rob.
Though some funders keep relationships with charities very formal, many of them really appreciate it when charities go the extra mile to create a deeper relationship. But how do you go about building these relationships, both with existing funders, and indeed, with ones that are not yet supporting you? This is the second half of my recent interview with Andy Watts, Head of Trusts and Foundations Fundraising at Sue Ryder. In his first year at the charity, trusts income increased by 349%, largely thanks to the strategy of proactively building more inspiring, personal relationships with funders. And during the chaos of 2020, this approach has helped generate valuable donations that have been helping to fund the charity’s work during the crisis. In this episode, we discuss a range of things Andy and his team have been doing; and are planning to do over the coming months, including ways to steward and re-inspire existing supporters, as well as a way of increasing your chances when approaching prospective supporters. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Andy is @andywatts27 and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches, including some of Andy’s tactics, in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power
Many charities have had to change their strategy or focus since the pandemic began, in order to adapt to the new challenges the world is facing. These changes have many implications for how you measure the difference your charity is making. In this episode, I was delighted to talk to The Queen of Impact, Emma Insley, an experienced fundraiser who has spent many years developing tools and strategies for improving charities’ ability to measure and demonstrate impact. In the interview, Emma shares six things you can do now, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, to not only ensure your charity is as effective as it could be, but also to help demonstrate to funders the difference their donations are making. Clearly doing this second element well can only help you inspire further generous funding. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode because you think it will help colleagues or other good causes – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Emma is @EmmaInsley and I am @woods_rob. If you find this episode helpful, please remember to subscribe today, so that you don’t miss out on all the other episodes we have planned
What can you do to build relationships, warm, generous relationships with major donor supporters, even during the pandemic? If you are a high value fundraiser, or you manage one, I hope you will find this episode helpful and encouraging as I talk to someone whose fundraising practice, confidence and RESULTS have soared over the last six months. Paul is Head of Communications and Development for the orchestra and charity Manchester Camerata. Paul attended Bright Spot’s Major Gifts Mastery Programme between January and June 2020, meaning that he has been trying out the ideas and improving his strategies as the pandemic has unfolded. In this conversation, Paul explains a range of ideas that he has used to transform his results, including: what he focuses on to feel so confident and excited when meeting supporters; how he has dramatically increased the number of donors he talks to, from four or five per month, to twenty per month and the amazing momentum this activity has created for their new appeal; and how one donor was recently inspired to give the largest donation the charity has ever received. If you’d like to find out more about our Major Gifts Mastery Programme that Paul found so helpful, you can find out all about it through our website - https://www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/service/mastery-programme/ or feel free to get in touch if you have questions. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help colleagues or other good causes – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Paul is @paulj_davies and I am @woods_rob.
Charities sometimes treat trusts in a more distant, formal way compared to the way they treat other donors. This is often a missed opportunity, given that every trust is run by people who care and would enjoy a warmer relationship. In this episode I share an interview with Andy Watts, a very successful fundraiser who is Head of Trusts and Foundations Fundraising at Sue Ryder. In his first year at the charity, trusts income increased by 349%, in large part thanks to the strategy of proactively building more personal relationships with funders. And during the pandemic, this strategy has helped generate many valuable donations that have been helping to fund the charity during the crisis. In this conversation Andy explains how he has applied principles of relationship fundraising during the pandemic, including how his team has managed to achieve so many real conversations (instead of sending emails); how they’ve ensured high quality, personal communication to thank funders, in spite of the complexity of his charity; and a strategy for finding creative ways to reach new potential funders for the first time. If you’d like to find out more about our Major Gifts Mastery Programme which helps you increase trust and major donor income during the pandemic, you can find out all about it through our website - www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/services, or feel free to get in touch if you have questions. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches, including some of Andy’s tactics, in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode because you think it will help others – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Andy is @andywatts27 and I am @woods_rob.
What do you do to succeed when your charity is in a very clear niche that is not universally popular? Many charities get demoralised or waste energy trying to appeal to everybody. The best strategy is to embrace the situation and find a way to turn it to your advantage. In this episode I talk to Damian Chapman, a very experienced fundraiser who has been fundraising director at several small charities and is currently at the Charity for Civil Servants. In addition to getting his views on some implications of the pandemic, I particularly wanted to find out about the very successful corporate partnerships strategy he and his colleagues implemented when he was working for Police Care UK. He explains what he calls the SW3 principle; the power of very clear targeting and insight; as well as hugely effective tactics they used for building valuable relationships and partnerships from scratch with exactly the right companies. If you’d like to find out more about our Corporate Partnerships Mastery Programme you can find out all about it through our website - www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/services, or feel free to get in touch if you have questions. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode because you think it will help others – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Damian is @damianchapmanuk and I am @woods_rob. Thank you very much for listening – I’m thrilled to say that at the time of publishing this episode, the podcast has now been listened to more than 10,000 times. I really appreciate your support to get to this milestone, so that we can help as many charities as possible.
Given the events of 2020, most charities are now thinking more radically about their strategies than ever before. And one option to consider for certain projects is partnering with another charity. In this episode I share an interview I conducted in the summer of 2019 with Lucy Squance, Director of supporter-led fundraising at Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). The subject of our discussion is Dementia Revolution, a collaboration between ARUK and the Alzheimer’s Society, and in particular the record-breaking partnership they achieved with Virgin Money for the London Marathon 2019. Lucy explains that through this collaboration they were able to smash their targets (including, £3.6 million was raised) and achieve other goals they would not have been able to do on their own, so the hard work and risk in working together clearly paid off. In case you are now considering a collaboration, or realise that sooner or later, joining forces with another charity might be the right strategic choice for you, I hope you find value in Lucy’s exploration of the journey and the key lessons she and her colleagues learned. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share your ideas about collaborations, or share this episode because you think it will help others – THANK YOU VERY MUCH! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Lucy is @lucysquance and I am @woods_rob. Or do drop me a message via my website - www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk - I’d love to hear from you.
Too often, charities encourage their fundraisers to focus primarily on money, rather than building great relationships with the kinds of people who care about their cause. But even if you agree that relationship-focus rather than money-focus makes sense in theory, how do you do it in practice? In major donor, trust and corporate fundraising, a great way is to deliberately spend more energy in seeking conversations with people who care, as a valuable end in itself. We have found that achieving more informal chats or attendance at your (on-line) events builds relationships and leads to gifts and partnerships. In this episode, Rob explores why focussing on conversations ahead of money (the power of oblique goals) makes such a stunning difference to your high value fundraising results. Luckily, there are many different ways to crack a nut. To help you find ways to increase your own results in this area, he shares seven examples of how shrewd fundraisers on Bright Spot’s Major Gifts Mastery and Corporate Partnerships Mastery Programmes have achieved fabulous results in this area, using both courage and creativity. Which of these ideas could you borrow to deepen relationships with your corporate and major donors? If you want to share your ideas or share this episode because you think it will help others – THANK YOU! - do get in touch through Linked In or twitter, where my handle is @woods_rob. And if you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power
I recorded this interview with Dr Claire Routley, an expert in expert legacy fundraising, in early March 2020. The subject of our conversation was legacies. In particular, we explored some of the reasons people choose to leave a gift in their will; why many charities fail to talk about this subject to their closest supporters; and tips to help you talk to your own supporters about this fantastic way of supporting. Since early March, during the pandemic, inquiries to will-writing services have gone dramatically up. For this, among other reasons, Claire recently told me that the subject of having more conversations, in an appropriate way with your closest supporters, is as relevant as ever. That said, clearly, charities are also right to have been cautious and sensitive in making decisions about whether to promote legacy appeals during this crisis. If you’re interested in understanding and weighing up the ethics of legacy fundraising in an emergency, I’m pleased that Claire and her colleagues at Rogare, the excellent fundraising thinktank, are soon to publish a report on this very subject. To request a free copy, you can contact Claire via her website – www.legacyfundraising.co.uk or via twitter. And if you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you want to share this episode – thank you!! – or get in touch, Claire and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Claire is @claireyJaneR and I’m @woods_rob. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Claire, and I hope you find this conversation helpful too.
If you’ve realised how crucial digital fundraising is during the pandemic, and you’re searching for ideas or just reassurance about what to do, I hope you will find this episode really helpful. In it, you will hear the second half of my recent interview with the brilliant (and award-winning) Emily Casson, digital marketing manager at Cats Protection. In today’s episode Emily talks about practical tactics to increase donations through your website; working with streamers and on-line influencers and ideas to help you to successfully innovate during these turbulent times. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you found Episode 27 helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other episodes we’re making. Note, if you enjoyed this one, I highly recommend you also listen to episodes 25, 15 and 16, also with Emily. If you want to share this on social media, THANK YOU SO MUCH for spreading the word, which helps us help more charities to survive this difficult year. And Emily and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Emily is @EmilyCasson and I’m @woods_rob.
There are many factors that make it hard for your team to keep positive and proactive at the moment. In many charities, being separated geographically from colleagues for such a long time is having a serious effect on morale, confidence and problem solving. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, I was delighted to talk to Stevie Nicholson, an Area Fundraising Manager at Diabetes UK. Stevie and her colleagues saw how crucial it was to regularly connect with and help colleagues across her fundraising department throughout the UK at the moment, and they’ve found a way to help them stay inspired by good ideas in spite of the lockdown. In this interview Stevie explains how the initiative came about, why she feels it has picked up such momentum, and for anyone who is thinking of implementing something similar, four tips to help you make it work in practice. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise high value income, even now. You can download it for FREE here: brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you found Episode 26 helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other episodes we’ve got lined up; and also, I’d be really grateful if you could take a moment to leave a review or share it on with your colleagues or on social media. Thank you very much. If you want to get in touch, Stevie and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and I’m on twitter at @woods_rob.
As most people have spent more time looking at their phones and tablets than ever before in recent months, digital fundraising has become more important than ever. If you’re a regular listener to this podcast, you’re probably already aware of the phenomenal track record achieved by Cats Protection in digital fundraising over the last few years, and Emily Casson’s down to earth approach which has helped achieve it. Emily is the charities’ Digital Marketing Manager and in episodes 15 and 16, she explained the strategies that have helped continue to grow, winning awards along the way. Her over-arching approach is ‘think big, start small, scale quickly or fail fast.’ This philosophy has continued to generate results during the last few months. So in this episode, I sought Emily’s advice on what charities of any size can be doing in terms of digital fundraising during the pandemic. Emily shared her advice on a range of topics, including Facebook advertising – in April her charity saw total donations quadruple in this area – as well as email and Facebook Lives. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then do check out my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise high value income, even now. You can download it for FREE here: brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you found Episode 25 helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other episodes we’ve got lined up; and also, I’d be really grateful if you could take a moment to share it on with your colleagues or on social media. Thank you! If you want to get in touch, Emily and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Emily is @EmilyCasson and I’m @woods_rob.
In spite of all the pressures on your team, and even when you’re separated physically, is it still possible to nurture and achieve a positive team culture? If you are the leader of a fundraising team, I think you’re going to find this episode really interesting. It’s the second half of my interview with Paul McKenzie, a fabulous fundraiser and an experienced fundraising leader, and the Executive Director of Fundraising and Communications from Depaul UK. Paul’s team are doing really well right now, and I wanted to understand his approach to leadership and how that might contribute to the culture where they’re operating at this high level. In Episode 23 we discussed what leaders can do, practically, in the crucial areas of wellbeing, trust and communication. And in Episode 24, the second half of my conversation with Paul, we explore two more things that he believes are disproportionately important for a leader to give their attention to during this crisis. In particular, we look at what Paul does to create a positive, fun energy, even in difficult times, and where we believe many charities go wrong in their attempts to celebrate success. We also explore the Power of Focus, and how he goes about deciding what to focus on strategically, when everything is moving so fast. We also touch on what to say to funders at a time when you just don’t have all the detail on your charities’ evolving strategy. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the crisis – including one chapter on ‘Leadership During the Pandemic’, then do check out my new free E-book : Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise high value income, even now. You can download it for FREE here: brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you found Episode 24 of this podcast helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other pandemic-challenging episodes we’ve got lined up; and also, I’d be really grateful if you could take a moment to share it on with your colleagues or on social media. Thank you! If you want to get in touch, Paul and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Paul is @scotttallpaul and I’m @woods_rob. Thank you for listening and stay safe.
The pressure on fundraising leaders is greater than ever at the moment, not least, to secure funding to help our charities continue to serve our communities. If you are the leader of a fundraising team, I think you’re going to find this episode insightful and encouraging. It’s an interview with Paul McKenzie, an experienced fundraising leader, and the Executive Director of Fundraising and Communications from Depaul UK. In this, the first half of my conversation with Paul, we explore three things that he believes are disproportionately important for a leader to give their attention to during this crisis. Clearly there are dozens of problems leaders could do to at the moment and that’s precisely why I found it so helpful to hear what Paul prioritises ahead of everything else. In particular, we explore the importance of well-being, trust and a pragmatic approach to communication. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the crisis – including one chapter on ‘Leadership During the Pandemic’, then I’d love for you to make use of my new free E-book : Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise high value income, even now. You can download it for FREE here: brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power If you found Episode 23 of this podcast helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other pandemic-challenging episodes we’ve got lined up; and also, I’d be really grateful if you could take a moment to share it on with your colleagues or on social media. If you want to get in touch, Paul and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Paul is @scotttallpaul and I’m @woods_rob. Thank you for listening and stay safe.
As I’m sure you’re all too aware, events have been postponed and cancelled as the UK and many other countries have gone into lockdown. This is a huge threat to charity fundraising income, given how much some organisations rely on sponsored events. If you’re a professional event fundraiser for a charity and you wrestling with how to approach your various challenges at the moment, I hope you’re going to find today’s episode interesting and even helpful. Because in this episode I share an interview with Andy Sallnow of Prostate Cancer UK. Andy has been the head of sporting events at the charity for more than 8 years, and during that time, his team has achieved phenomenal income growth. Having worked with Andy for many years, though of course we’re all facing this extraordinary pandemic for the first time, I knew Andy would have practical answers to some of the pressing strategic challenges. In this interview, we cover a range of questions, including advice for increasing the success of virtual challenge events; how to decide whether and when you may need to cancel events planned for the Autumn; and ideas for boosting the sponsorship your supporters are able to collect for events they did before the pandemic hit. And if you’d like to understand more about Andy’s strategy for events growth – over 8 years events income at his charity rose from £700,000 to £4.5 million - I’ve explained his approach in a mini e-book called Challenge Event Fundraising - How to survive the pandemic and then grow income in the long-term You can download it for free from: https://www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/challenge-event-fundraising/ If you found the episode helpful, please do subscribe today, so you won’t miss out on all the other pandemic-challenging episodes we’ve got lined up; and also, I’d be really grateful if you could take a moment to share it on with your colleagues or on social media. If you want to get in touch, Andy and I would love to hear from you – we’re both on Linked In, and on twitter Andy is @andysallnow and I’m @woods_rob. Thank you for listening and stay safe.
Clearly one implication of the virtual lockdown is that you can’t meet your supporters for the next few months. So if you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to continue to develop relationships and inspire major and mid-level donors, companies and other key influencers, then I think you’re going to find today’s episode really helpful. In this episode Rob Woods talks to the innovative major gifts fundraiser Lynda Harwood Compton from Animals Asia, to find out what she’s learned about organising virtual project visits for her supporters. In November 2019 Lynda organised a webinar for 30 major donors as a virtual project visit, which she mentioned during my interview in Episode 13. She’s run three more events since then, and they are proving a crucial way to keep her supporters inspired during the pandemic, so Rob wanted to spend a whole episode to properly understand her approach - these ideas are now more relevant than ever to charities. In the interview, Lynda explains the strategy, how she helps her service delivery colleagues prepare to succeed, and several of the benefits to organising these events. We hope you find this episode helpful. If you’d like to get in touch or share it so other people can benefit, we’d be really grateful. We are both active on Linked In and our twitter names are @LatchLynda and @woods_rob. For details of the Bright Spot Members Club where you can see the whole interview, go to www.brightspotmembersclub.co.uk/join or for the episode notes go to www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk
With nearly everyone now staying at home and worried about their health, income and families, its hard to know how to keep and build relationships with supporters, especially for causes not directly linked to the coronavirus. In this episode of the fundraising bright spots podcast, Rob Woods discusses responses to these problems with Ben Swart, Head of New Business Corporate Partnerships at the NSPCC and part of the Bright Spot training team. Ben talks about what he sees as the most important fundraising activity he and his team are engaged in right now – proactively talking to supporters. He explains why being brave and calling / face-timing your supporters is more crucial than ever, not so much to seek a gift, but to show that you care (about the supporter) and to let them know about the challenges faced by your beneficiaries right now, and how your charity is responding. Ben and Rob acknowledge this is an area many people find difficult, and so offer ideas and examples to help you take a deep breath and manage to enjoy more conversations with supporters anyway. We hope you find this episode helpful. If you’d like to get in touch or share it so other people can benefit, we’d be really grateful. We are both active on Linked In and our twitter names are @benswart and @woods_rob. To see the episode notes and details of the Bright Spot Members Club, go to www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk
As many charities are pushed to the limit in how they serve their beneficiaries during the current global pandemic, charities are also searching for ways to respond to unprecedented threats to fundraising income. In the short term, an obvious casualty is the loss in income due to cancelled events. In this interview recorded on 17th March 2020, I talk to event fundraising expert Jane Curtis. Though many events will need to be cancelled, I wanted her advice about ways we can respond to the challenges, for instance, in how we stay in touch with participants; in adapting existing events to virtual versions, and finding challenges that meet new needs in a population that can’t go out. I also really appreciated Jane’s ideas for things we can do to increase chances of fundraising success in the medium and long-term, such as gathering insight and deciding to keep learning, even in these tough times. I really enjoyed my conversation with Jane and hope you find our discussion is helpful food for thought as you are stuck at home, thinking through ways to respond to these difficult challenges.
Many activities to raise funds for charities are successful because they’re relatively easy and can be used whatever the cause. An advantage to cake sales is that they raise money in the short-term, but a downside is they don’t necessarily help you build relationships with supporters after that. What if the fundraising proposition itself makes a connection to your cause more likely to happen? In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, Rob Woods talks to Di Gornall about experiential fundraising. By this, we mean an event or way of giving that includes an experience that’s relevant to the issue your charity tackles. A particularly valuable fundraising activity for Centrepoint is the annual Sleep Out event, and Di is well-placed to explain why this is and how it helps the charity to build relationships with participants. She also offers her ideas for any charity interested in developing an experiential proposition, including how to make sure it’s not tokenistic, how to gather insight and why you must make sure you are measuring the right things, especially in the first year.
- Emily Casson – Digital Fundraising Part 2. Think big, start small… by Rob Woods, Bright Spot
As the influence of digital technology on our lives continues to grow, it clearly represents an important opportunity for any charity. But with so much rapid change and pitfalls to beware, taking advantage is far from easy. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, Rob Woods talks to Emily Casson, the award-winning Digital Marketing Manager at Cats Protection. Emily explains her over-arching approach (and team motto) and shows why this belief system is so fundamental to her team’s success. It is ‘Think big, start small, scale quickly or fail fast.’ Emily explains why each of these four elements is so valuable, as well as how she has helped all fundraising teams in her charity to embrace this way of working, rather than keeping digital activity only for her specialist team. And to bring her strategy to life, Emily offers practical tips to help you raise more money through Facebook.
There’s nothing new about the benefits of charities working with a board of volunteers to raise funds. This is a classic strategy and there is a reason it’s still used so widely – when it works well, it’s so much more powerful than staff seeking funds for an appeal on their own. But it’s not for the faint-hearted, and when it goes wrong it can be stressful and frustrating. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, we share an classic interview from the resource library of the Bright Spot Members Club. Rob Woods talks to Jennifer Coleman-Peers, a major donor fundraiser and social impact consultant whose extensive experience includes three years leading the Volunteer Board Fundraising team at the NSPCC. Jennifer and Rob discuss a range of ideas to help increase the up sides and decrease the risks that come with working with influential people to raise funds for your charity. Jennifer explains the four things you need in place if you are to make this strategy work; the most important factors to prioritise when seeking and selecting a chair; how to find board members; and how to make boards more effective.
In this noisy, distracting world, charities are finding it harder than ever to hold donors’ attention long enough to have proper conversation. So what can relationship fundraisers do to build strong, inspiring relationships with the people who care about our causes? In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, Rob Woods interviews Lynda Harwood-Compton of Animals Asia, a creative, dynamic fundraiser who is willing to try new things to build great relationships with major donor and mid-level supporters. At the time of this interview, Lynda was finishing her first year as a major donor fundraiser, having raised an extra £305,000 – ie her results were more than 40% ahead of her target budget. In the interview Lynda explains various strategies she used to achieve this success, including: organising webinars with a colleague in an animal sanctuary to bring supporters closer to the cause; finding ways to include more real stories when she talks to donors; and using WhatsApp groups to strengthen informal relationships.
If you’ve ever needed to represent your charity at a meeting with someone important – eg a powerful supporter or a Board Member – then you know how easily those differences in power can harm your performance and your stress levels. In this episode Rob Woods interviews the best-selling author, voice coach and gravitas expert, Caroline Goyder. Caroline originally trained as an actor at Central School of Speech and Drama. She is the pioneer of The Gravitas Method and for 16 years she has coached actors, business leaders and fundraisers in how to speak with more confidence and authority, so as to reduce stress and improve results. In this episode, first recorded for the Bright Spot Members Club, we’re looking at practical ways any fundraiser can increase their personal presence. This includes the mind-trick for handling pressure pitches and interviews that Caroline was taught by the actor Bill Nighy; a simple physical shift you can make which instantly changes the way you come across to others; and why Caroline encourages her clients to practice pausing more often.
Understanding and appreciating your supporters’ situation is a crucial element in consistent fundraising success, but how do you go about gathering this insight more effectively? In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, we share the second half of Rob Woods’ interview with Lesley Pinder. Lesley is the Head of Supporter Experience at the British Red Cross and here she shares a range of lessons she’s learned about the discipline of gathering insight to improve fundraising. These tips include: how you get the sceptics in your organization, including those more senior than you, to buy into the importance of better insight, how to be more open-minded, curious and brave, in spite of the natural human need for certainty; and ideas for how any fundraiser, even in a small charity with limited resources, can do some basic things to improve the gathering of insight. If you like this episode, we recommend you also check out Episode 10, also with Lesley.
At the heart of most fundraising success stories you find that the fundraiser(s) worked hard to better understand the supporter’s world. And unless you strive to understand and appreciate your supporters’ situation, it’s very difficult to consistently create great experiences. But doing this in practice is not always easy for busy fundraisers in busy charities. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, Rob Woods talks to the Lesley Pinder who knows a great deal about the skills, issues and processes involved in gathering meaningful insight to improve the success of fundraising projects. Lesley is the Head of Supporter Experience at the British Red Cross and in this conversation she shares various distinctions she has made, including a clear three step process which makes insight-gathering easier to organise; she explains why we need to let go of the idea that there is ever one right answer and she explains several practical tactics you can use to better understand your own charity’s supporters.
We spend so much of our life at work, it clearly makes sense that we should aim to make this time rewarding and enjoyable. But how can you increase your chances that your career will take you in a direction that makes you really happy? In this episode of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods talks to Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising at Teenage Cancer Trust. When it comes to career development, Liz really knows what she’s talking about – she has taken specific steps over the last two decades that have helped her enjoy and develop her career as she wanted; and she’s also devoted a great deal of time helping others do the same, both as a leader in charities, and in voluntary roles such two years spent as Chair of the Institute of Fundraising Convention Board. In this interview Liz shares practical tactics to work out career next steps even if you feel stuck; ways you can increase your motivation to invest in your career development outside your day to day job, that is, doing things that improve your skills and confidence to land your dream job; and advice to help you go after a job that you will really enjoy, as distinct from something that you might merely be good at.
Over a five year period, high value income at EMMS International built steadily from almost nothing to £2m / year. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots Podcast, we share the second half of Rob Woods’ interview with Tony Gaston who managed major donor fundraising during this period of fabulous growth. As in the previous episode, this interview gives you a sense of how Tony approaches the challenges and opportunities of high value fundraising for a small charity. Using examples, he brings to life some key lessons he has learned along the way, including how to be more confident when talking to supporters; how he often uses simple films made with a smartphone instead of sending lengthy proposals and the book he regularly re-reads to help him continue to manage his time so productively. If you’re interested in major donor fundraising, you can also check out Episode 7 of the podcast for more of Tony’s stories and advice.
How can you increase high value income for your charity? Clearly context matters - the same strategies will not work for every charity - but if you want ideas and an increased belief that growth is at least possible, then a good place to start is to look at a fairly small charity that’s achieved an impressive year on year uplift in major gifts income. In this episode of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, 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 deliberately pause and see the bigger picture, and how this habit has helped him spend precious energy on solving the most important (and lucrative) challenges; he explains what he feels is the single most important thing to get right when meeting supporters; and how learning to act very quickly when you notice an opportunity has helped secure several generous major gifts.
There is no factor more important to your success as a fundraiser than your grit. But is it possible to become more resilient? In this episode of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods explores the inspiring research of Professor Angela Duckworth who talks about ‘grit’ in terms of how able you are to keep on moving forward, in spite of the setbacks you face. Rob shares key lessons he has learned from studying successful fundraisers over two decades and he shares four ways any of us can improve our ‘bouncebackability’. These include the concepts of ‘growth mindset’, overcoming pessimism and how avoiding certain words increases your resourcefulness to handle your challenges.
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 of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods talks to Adam Heuman, Director of Engagement at the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. In three separate charities (of varying sizes) Adam has asked the board to invest, and all three times his request has been successful. Rob and Adam talk about what holds many fundraising directors back from even exploring this issue, and why Adam feels it’s such a fundamental challenge to address. And he explains the particular things he does when he prepares a case for investment. Using stories from across his career, Adam explains the crucial question he always asks the board; the particular mistake he once made which wasted loads of time (and what to do instead); and why it’s usually right to start the process even if you don’t yet know all of the answers.
One major challenge for a fundraiser is how you help your colleagues and trustees to see things from the supporters’ point of view. In Episode 4 of the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, Rob Woods interviews the individual giving expert Rachel Hunnybun about one personalised thank you project and the difference it made to the charity. She explains how handwritten thank you cards were written to anyone who had given more than the amount they normally gave (even if that gift was relatively small), and she shares the valuable impact this special thank you had on later giving, compared to a control group. Rachel and Rob go on to explore a charity that achieves both efficiency and ‘WOW factor’ in its thanking as well as the surprising power of involving non-fundraising colleagues in supporter-focused stewardship activities.
Taking full advantage of an opportunity makes a huge difference to your fundraising momentum. In this episode of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods talks to Jo Bega, Chief Executive of Child Rescue Nepal. The charity’s Radio 4 Appeal was one of the most successful of the year and in this interview Jo explains how they achieved these stunning results. This included securing investment from the board, tactics with the script and story-telling and ways to help existing supporters make the most of the appeal. We also hear a range of creative tactics Jo and her colleagues use to make their supporters feel special, because ‘a well thanked donor is where your next donation is most likely to come from’. Jo believes the charity’s supporters are an essential part of the mission, and she explains practical ways this belief affects how they communicate.
Many charities spend huge effort recruiting people to do fundraising events, but often fail to inspire them to become long-term supporters. In episode 2 of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods asks Andy King to explain how he went about solving this missed opportunity when he worked at East African Playgrounds. The strategy was so successful that it was a major factor in the charity’s income growing three-fold in three years. Andy explains how he achieved a better understanding of the supporter’s perspective, in particular why they might want to stay involved, and how he used this insight to change the proposition they were offered at the end of their event. As a result, take-up soared from 1% to around 60% of event participants signing up to support in the long-term. He also explains how this strategy led to growth in trusts and corporate income as well as individual giving.
How can anyone improve their fundraising skills and results? In this first episode of Fundraising Bright Spots, Rob Woods explains a powerful tactic he has been using to help charity fundraisers grow their results over the last two decades. He explores the power of modelling or ‘searching for bright spots’ and shares the most common reason we tend to run out of steam too early when trying to get better at a fundraising skill. Rob describes the particular steps he took early in his career, to improve his confidence in telling stories and he mentions some of the inspiring ‘bright spots’ he will be interviewing later in this series. He also explains four simple things any determined fundraiser could do to help them enjoy increased confidence and progress in their work.