17. Di Gornall – Better supporter relationships with experiential fundraising.

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.