Image by alex-mit via iStock The exasperation felt by parents the world over when their child goes through the “why?” phase is the content of a surprising amount of internet real estate. We start out curious – it’s how we learn about all the things – why is the sky blue? Why do I have to stop when you tell me to? Why do I have to go to bed? Why did you call my brother Daniel? In time we learn how to satisfy our own curiosities – learning teaches us how to find information and of course nowadays we can simply google everything (maybe that won’t work on why my parents called my brother Danie ..read more

Marketing Manager Money Tree Fundraising is moving it’s marketing support in-house and hiring a Marketing Manager. This is a fully-remote, part-time post with genuine flexibility as to working hours. Working closely with the CEO, you will develop the company’s marketing plan and will then implement that plan in order to drive people to want to work with Money Tree Fundraising for either their trust of major donor fundraising. We are on a mission to embed sustainable high value fundraising within charities of all size and you are going to help us achieve that mission. We already undertake a lot ..read more

You researched the funder, found all the areas of alignment, and decided upon what you think is an appropriate funding request. You wrote a great application, touching on the realistic and urgent need and provided evidence. Yet you were unsuccessful. Unfortunately competition remains exceptionally high for grant funds, applicants rarely know the other organisations and projects at the decision-making table, and funders can have unwritten priorities and guidelines to which they adhere. It is rare an applicant organisation can impact these aspects. However, the two areas applicants CAN make a ..read more

Needing to create or improve your organisation’s policies and governance for your fundraising toolkit?  Have a look at these free resources, samples and templates on the internet.  You WILL need to adapt and edit templates to make them appropriate for your organisation, and make sure that you actually deliver and agree with the policy’s components before you put it in place at your organisation. Money Tree Fundraising is not endorsing any of these sites and by sharing these links with you we are not providing advice. We always recommend any organisation seeks appropriate and quali ..read more

We do not work on a commission basis. Nor do any fundraisers who follow the Fundraising Code of Practice as laid out by the Fundraising Regulator. Beyond compliance, there are many reasons for this: the incentive for fundraisers to apply undue pressure to potential donors is too great the charity loses out – only the money-making bit of the work is done, and if done well costs the charity a lot more than paying a salary when using the services of a third party (freelancer for instance) then it is a legal requirement that s/he declares how s/he is paid at the point of solicitation. I have as ..read more

This is a true story. And not one I am proud of. Several years ago now I was the trustee of a charity. At the end of the financial year I gave a donation – a few £hundred – with a note saying not to worry about a thank you but could I have a receipt for my tax return please. At the time was a lot of money for me – I’d had to save up to give it. I felt deeply about the work this organisation did. The charity took me at my word and a couple of weeks later I received a perfunctory letter acknowledging receipt of the cheque* and my accompanying Gift Aid declaration. The letter was signed by ..read more

I took a brief sabbatical at the end of 2015 – two months to step away from my life and experience some very different places, cultures, lifestyles. The trip was planned around a volunteering project where I’d get to ethically hangout with my all time top favourite animal (don’t tell my dog) – the elephant. I did my homework and picked a place where the elephants come first – they’ve been working all their lives and come to this sanctuary for peace, health and retirement so no, I didn’t ride any elephants (this is really bad for them) nor did I get to swim/bathe with them (they’ve had enough ..read more

Photo by Paulette Vautour on Unsplash There are few things more likely to put me off carrying on a conversation with someone than if their response starts “no, but…” It makes me feel rejected, unwanted, as if I am wasting my time. I was once invited as part of a group to attend an event so that my feedback could be sought on a draft strategy. I listened as we started and quickly heard a pattern emerge. Each piece of critique was met with “no, but…” to defend the original thinking. By the third “no, but…” my mind was wandering off – what would be the point of adding my expertise to this dis ..read more

Our CEO Beth Upton has worked in fundraising since 2002 and is regularly frustrated by the income opportunities not being taken advantage of by charities, large and small. The options available for charities for raising money can feel overwhelming and packed full of jargon: high-value, grants, corporate partnerships, acquisition, retention, life-time-value. It can be hard to know where to start and rarely does any charity have a systematic and successful process for raising voluntary income from multiple sources. In fact, for many smaller charities, it is impossible to assess which types of ..read more

The single biggest mistake I see from those recruiting for high value roles is the mistake of choosing the best person of those who came for interview rather than holding out for the person with the right skills, attributes and experience. This might be okay if it is done knowingly and the recruiter is knowledgeable enough to address all of the areas where development will be needed to turn this best-of-the-candidates into a stand-along great fundraiser. Where I have seen this mistake has been where the panel isn’t knowledgeable enough in what it takes to be a great major donor/corporate/tru ..read more