Revenue Fundraising

 Review your work in light of how trusts and foundations might view it.  Prepare a case for support (or case statement) that outlines your work or project and the costs involved.  Research and recruit 'high-level people' who have contacts with trustees of relevant trusts. Meet with these people to ascertain who they know and who they are willing to approach on your behalf. Organise personal letters to their contacts before you submit formal applications. Prepare a trusts timetable outlining the trusts to apply to throughout the year.  Train staff in how to write successful trust submissions.

Paddy has a great deal of experience with fundraising from trusts. It is important to treat trustees and officers of trusts and foundations as individuals in their own right.  We will try and pass on your enthusiasm for the cause or project onto these people before the formal process of an application.  This can increase the chances of success some four- or five-fold. We believe in a similar process for livery companies.  

 Assess your corporate contacts and how to develop more.  Make the most what businesses can do for your charity (e.g. with corporate joint promotions). Understand what motivates the corporate donor and include this in your approaches. Produce stunning materials to show that you are serious, maximise on any existing corporate relationships. 

 Communicate with people sensitively and appropriately to persuade them to leave you legacies. Research the legacy income the organisation may have already received. Advise on patterns of legacy giving for your type of charity and its location. Write and produce effective legacy materials. Understand your audiences - cold & warm prospects, requesters, intenders and pledgers - and how to carefully approach each type.  Advise on the linkages between legacy administration and legacy marketing. Review your general publications, newsletters and website for legacy marketing opportunities.

Do all this in an appropriate and sensitive way.

Legacy Marketing is a specialist topic and needs to be undertaken very carefully. We have particular expertise with legacies (in 1997 Paddy won a national Award for Excellence in Fundraising from the Fundraising Institute of Australia for the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Legacy Marketing Strategy where he was Director of Public Affairs at the time).  Legacy marketing is the most cost-effective fundraising you can do with many charities spending only 3-5% of their budget on legacy marketing and achieving 30-60% of their income from this one source.  

Make special events work (and actually make money).  Understand how you get others to do your events for you. Produce `standardised events’ which work for you on an annual or continuous basis. Consider the possibility of producing a D-I-Y Fundraising Pack that allows people to undertake events on your behalf - anything from barn dances to jumping out of aeroplanes. 

Don't fall into the 'events trap', that soaks up much of your time, energy and resources. Make events work for you.

Train trustees, staff or volunteers in any aspect of fundraising. Lead ‘brainstorming’ sessions or workgroups focusing on an holistic approach or a particular part of your organisation’s fundraising. 

Paddy can mentor staff or trustees within your organisation - to support them to better understand fundraising and in a more strategic way.

Paddy is sometimes available for part-time interim assignments as CEO or Fundraising Director for charities in the UK. 

Previous interim assignments include periods of 3-9 months with organisations such as the Refugee Council, St Clare's Hospice, Orbis and Global Witness.