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 rem...
Feb 22, 2022•22 min•Ep. 91
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...
Feb 06, 2022•28 min•Ep. 90
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 the...
Jan 31, 2022•15 min•Ep. 89
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 relat...
Jan 26, 2022•27 min•Ep. 88
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; cr...
Jan 19, 2022•28 min•Ep. 87
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, inc...
Jan 10, 2022•22 min•Ep. 86
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 majo...
Jan 05, 2022•27 min•Ep. 85
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 an...
Dec 15, 2021•23 min•Ep. 84
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, precisel...
Dec 12, 2021•30 min•Ep. 83
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 explore...
Dec 04, 2021•34 min•Ep. 82
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 h...
Nov 29, 2021•22 min•Ep. 81
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 pa...
Nov 23, 2021•27 min•Ep. 80
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 leadersh...
Nov 15, 2021•18 min•Ep. 79
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 o...
Nov 08, 2021•29 min•Ep. 78
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 accom...
Oct 26, 2021•30 min•Ep. 77
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 Crouda...
Oct 07, 2021•32 min•Ep. 76
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...
Sep 22, 2021•39 min•Ep. 75
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...
Sep 13, 2021•28 min•Ep. 74
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...
Sep 02, 2021•30 min•Ep. 73
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 seve...
Sep 02, 2021•36 min•Ep. 72
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 su...
Aug 10, 2021•29 min•Ep. 71
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 ch...
Jul 23, 2021•39 min•Ep. 70
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 foun...
Jul 13, 2021•25 min•Ep. 69
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 ...
Jul 05, 2021•33 min•Ep. 68
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 a...
Jun 21, 2021•36 min•Ep. 67
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 v...
Jun 15, 2021•35 min•Ep. 66
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...
Jun 04, 2021•23 min•Ep. 65
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 amb...
May 17, 2021•33 min•Ep. 64
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 valu...
May 12, 2021•22 min•Ep. 63
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 pa...
Apr 26, 2021•30 min•Ep. 62
