Fundraising was top of the agenda, as NICVA Advice Officer Jocelyn Horton guided organisations through how to develop a strong case for support and increase their opportunities to access funding for programmes, activities and core costs.
Each participating organisation also received a 12-month GrantTracker subscription, giving them access to over 1,100 funding schemes.
The evening provided the opportunity for five of the organisations involved in the ASCEND programme to meet, support each other and share experiences, as well as learn about developing a fundraising case for support and discuss questions and issues that they have.
Organisations represented
- Multi-Ethnic Sports and Culture NI (MSCNI)
- Polish Sisterhood
- Counselling All Nations
- Dom Polski
- ImageNation
The session also provided vital space for peer support, offering time for reflection, shared challenges, and encouragement between organisations.
Key learning points
- A fundraiser’s role is really about raising funds to create change and make a difference.
- Funders are prepared to give, distributing funding to others to meet their own mission and objectives to make that difference.
- Our job as fundraisers is to inspire and convince funders that we are their ideal option to make that change happen.
- Preparing a Case for Support summarises the relevant information funders want to know and helps convince them to support you.
- The typical questions funders want to know:
- describing the need and adding evidence to help illustrate the issue and scale of the problem;
- explaining how your work addresses the need, aligns with funders' objectives and priorities, and tells your story;
- demonstrating your impact to funders to show how effective your work is;
- setting out your budget;
- using funder questions as an opportunity to demonstrate your organisation’s credibility, experience, and expertise in creating change.
About the ASCEND Programme
The NICVA ASCEND Programme is funded by Dormant Assets NI through The National Lottery Community Fund’s Access to Resilience Programme. It supports small organisations led by and for under-represented ethnic communities in Northern Ireland, helping to build leadership, strengthen governance, and increase organisational sustainability.
Interested in joining ASCEND?
We are starting to recruit organisations to be part of Year two of the programme, starting in 2026
If your organisation represents global majority communities and wants support in leadership, fundraising, governance or sustainability, please contact [email protected].
