Developing Your Fundraising Mix

The difficult economic climate has resulted in people having less disposable income to donate and businesses being more reluctant to support charities when they are uncertain about their own financial futures.

There is more competition for funding available through government departments with most of them using contracts as opposed to grants. The merger and reduction in the number of councils will also have an impact on how organisations are funded locally with more responsibility given to councils for community development and more groups competing for the funding.

However, there are lots of opportunities out there for us to raise our income in different ways, to find new ways to fund the vital work that we do and to become more self-sustaining and the master of our own destinies. We need to diversify our fundraising and ensure that we have durable and reliable sources of income to take us into the future. By developing our fundraising mix we can be more sustainable and reduce the risk of having too much funding concentrated in one source.

Organisations are raising their profile as well as money through social media, like the successful no makeup selfie Facebook campaign that raised money for Cancer Research. Others are trading or setting up social enterprises such as The Now Project with their two social enterprises Loaf and Gauge. Money can also be raised through engaging your community in fundraising, organising events such as marathons, games evenings and X factor events. Community shares are another way you can engage with your community in a meaningful and democratic way and raise finance for something to benefit the whole community. There are a wide range of trusts, foundations and corporate donors as well as councils and government departments that have funding schemes providing money for specific projects. GrantTracker is a great resource for searching for and keeping in touch with funding schemes relevant to your work. You can search under the particular topics such as sport, environment and arts and get regular updates by email of new schemes and deadlines.

The NICVA members’ day on 7 October “Developing your fundraising mix” will introduce you to new and innovate forms of fundraising and provide the opportunity for you to meet people who can help you fund the work of your organisation. The day is free to NICVA members (2 per organisation) and you can get more information and book a place via our events page.