Trust Fundraising Latest

For many charities, raising funds from trusts is a core part of their fundraising strategy, whether for revenue, capital funding or both. It is an important source of income with a good ratio of return and one well worth investing in.

In recent years, however, the trust fundraising environment has become ever tougher. A perfect storm has seen a combination of factors that have increased the headwinds for fundraisers and made hitting their targets more challenging. These include:

While fundraisers have always faced a challenge, these factors have combined to create a genuinely tougher environment. So how should charities respond?

The Trusts Opportunity

Despite the above, the 10,000+ UK trusts and foundations are still distributing over £6 billion p.a. to good causes. Somebody is going to receive this funding, so why not your charity? It is vital to recognise that this is still a big opportunity and that trusts have an important place in your fundraising strategy. In other words, do not despair.

So what can you do to ensure you get your share of the trusts cake?

10 Tips to Secure Funding

1. Focus on retention first. In other words, make very sure you are keeping your existing funders on board by maintaining good relationships. Speak to them when you can, always thank them, send updates (even if not requested) and try to engage with them as far as you reasonably can. Remember that people give to people and that trust fundraising is essentially a long term game. Treat them as you would wish to be treated and you will build relationships that last.
2. Get your case for support right. It’s all the more important to ensure you are making the very best case you can, given the competition for funds. Why should anyone give to your charity? You need to prove the needs and demonstrate impact, as well as excellent value for money, all backed up with human stories, so you are reaching both head and heart.
3. Be organised. Make sure you are planning and recording your applications well so you don’t miss opportunities, including thank you letters, updates and records of last contact. These are essential for logging the relationship, especially where there may be a change of fundraiser (trusts especially dislike discontinuity here).
4. Check your supporting documentation. How strong is your impact report? Does it tally with what your website and accounts are saying? (funders may check this). If your financial information has any tricky issues (such as large reserves, deficits or unusual spending), have these been properly explained? If not, consider drafting a one sided document to explain and justify.
5. Rethink your approach to research. You need to keep the prospect pool topped up as, despite your best efforts, you will lose some funders on the way who need to be replaced. And of course if you want to grow, you will need to find even more. So are you covering all the bases? (think directories, internet searches, a review of who funds your competitors, the screening of your individual donor database for trustees of trusts etc). We can also help with this task.
6. Contact mapping. Before approaching a new prospect, have you checked to see if anyone associated with your charity knows any of their trustees? This can make a huge difference with cold trusts (and especially with those that say they will not accept unsolicited applications).
7. Maintain your passion. In these days of AI generated bids, a good way to make yours stand out is to ensure your passion comes across clearly. AI copy lacks the fire in the belly that marks out a good fundraiser. Funders can spot the difference so use emotion to good effect (backed up of course by compelling facts and figures).
8. Invest in your team. Even seasoned fundraisers benefit from training and development (and new players even more so). So if your budget can stretch to it, try to give your team opportunities for personal development and encourage them to join networking groups such as the CIoF’s Trusts and Statutory Special Interest Group as well as the Facebook groups etc that cover this area. There is a lot of useful information, support and ideas available here for free.
9. Keep testing. Don’t just stick with an old approach to trusts but try to innovate. Things are changing and you need to keep up. So in your prospecting, try different approaches and see what works best.
10. Consider a review of your trusts operation. Every few years, it is worth standing back and reviewing your trust activities. How well are you doing? How does this compare to similar charities? Are you missing any tricks? What is a realistic target to set? What would it take to grow beyond your current position? This piece of work may best to commissioned externally to get an objective view from a trusts specialist who can provide feedback, ideas and a plan to take you forwards. It is a good investment of funds, which should repay itself many times over in future years.

Conclusion

So while things have undoubtedly been tough in recent years, the good news is that there is still a lot of funding available from trusts and much that can be done to secure your share.

If you would like to talk to one of our trusts specialists with no commitment or discuss a review of your trusts operation, please call us now on 01903 723519 or email ben@wgconsulting.co.uk