Event Fundraising Workshop June 19th, Taunton

Course overview:

This workshop will show you how to organise and run a successful fundraising event, giving you a framework to work from – be it a large scale outdoor event, or a smaller scale community event. You will find out about how to ensure your fundraising events raise as much income and awareness as possible for your cause, whilst keeping a handle on expenditure. It will also introduce you to the basic principles of marketing and - whether a large or small event - it will help you to explore the most cost effective (and free) marketing opportunities for your organisation.

We will cover:

• Identifying the right event for your purposes, timing & location
• Make your events stand out from the crowd & awareness raising
• The importance of defining your target audience
• Gathering data for successful future events
• How to develop additional income streams at your events
• How to recognise, record and reduce the risks
• Budget planning and attracting sponsorship
• Gifts in kind and maximising income from your events

Next Training course is Corporate Fundraising: raising money from companies

This Cascade Training Course is on Monday 3rd December 2012, in Taunton and you can book here online.

This workshop is aimed at staff (& volunteers) who have been tasked with the job of looking for funding from companies and just don't know where to start - or who need to know how to build ‘win win’ corporate relationships. We will look at the different ways to approach companies, when, and with what!

You will also gain the tools necessary to identify the best sources of corporate funding for your organisation and how to make the right approach to maximise your chance of success. This training will develop and equip you with the skills needed to confidently identify potential corporate funding partners and how to go about forging strong relationships with them.

We will be covering:

• Identifying different sources of corporate funding
• How to implement a corporate fundraising strategic plan
• Cause Related Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Tips on 'getting a foot in the door’
• Insight into what different companies are looking for
• Common reasons why approaches tend to fail
• Developing a winning relationship – getting chosen as ‘charity of the year’

Ardent Hare - A bright new name for Dada-South

Ardent Hare - A bright new name for Dada-South

Ardent Hare - great new name for Dada South

I have just become a Patron of an Ardent Hare artist with disabilities. Christopher used 2000 condoms in 22 days to make an amazing sculpture. Love it! Why not join me in supporting the amazing work that this charity does to help artists with disabilities. 

http://ardenthare.org.uk/support/patrons/patron-christopher-sacre

Cascade Workshop at Dillington House, Ilminster

Despite the painfully slow internet the day went well! Looking forward to delivering the next Cascade workshop on How to Create a Legacy Fundraising Campaign (17th April in Taunton).

Making Friends & Influencing People Online! Workshop -Tue 24th January 9.30 to 4.30 Ilminster

So you’re ‘Linked In’, ready to ‘Tweet’ or have signed up to ‘Facebook’ – but how can you make the most of these resources?  


‘Communicators’ in organisations are increasingly being expected to run or manage social media campaigns, so if you want to know how to maximise your online presence, start a campaign and measure impact - this course is for you! We will look at which social media networks are best to use for particular audiences, how to manage a social media campaign and how to integrating this with your marketing/fundraising strategy.

•       Social Networking sites: overview & basics

•       Hot trends including  QR codes, gaming, Second Life

•       Emails and online newsletters

•       Search engine optimisation

•       Banner adverts & Google grants

•       Fundraising web sites & giving portals

•       Online in memoriam fundraising - Tribute funds

•       Increasing the flow of traffic through listings

FOR MORE INFORMATION or to book please contact CASCADE 

Databases for charities and non profits

Having been recently tasked with sourcing a CRM database for a small charity, looking to utilise it for supporter relations and fundraising, I thought this might be useful for other organisations so have compiled these Database tips.

This is not an exhaustive list of everything that’s out there, I am not looking at it from a 'techie' perspective and in no way am I recommending one software provider over another, this is purely based on my research for my client, oh and the last 20 years experience of working in the sector, when I have used quite a few databases, including Alms, Raisers Edge, Fisk-Brett (now ASI Europe) Salesforce, Donorflex and even access/excel driven versions -which if developed properly, can be perfectly adequate for charities with fewer records.

Understanding what are you looking for

There are so many things to consider when looking for and choosing a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database, for example do you want one that is an online version, (using cloud computing) such as the one provided free of charge (grant application) by the Sales Force Foundation, or one that is software driven (like Access) that just sits on a PC with single user access?

Whilst there are quite a few 'free' fundraising databases available on line, a lot are very American, as is Raiser Edge in fact – one of the most popular (and expensive) CRM databases used by a lot of charities in the UK, which is a bit like Marmite - people either love it or hate it. 


I would not rule out the free software on offer but do look at it carefully, after all ‘free’ might not actually be the best value.

You also need to ensure you are ‘future proofed’, which means choosing something that can grow with you, for example ETapestry, now owned by Raisers Edge, is free for 500 records or less and is then modular based with a tiered pricing structure depending on your level/need for telephone support or extra bits of software, extra users etc.   Be aware that this could ‘hook you in’ and work out costing more in the long run.

Remember - its a bit like relationships - it may be hard finding the right one for you but it will be even more difficult if you have to change your database in the future.

Another option could be Advantage Fundraiser, with a single user version license available at around £630.

Throughout my fact finding exercise on databases, it was surprisingly hard just getting a price from companies, primarily because it’s hard for them to quote until they know what you want. It’s a real ‘chicken and egg’ scenario. 

One advantage of AdvantageNFP is that they are one of the few suppliers that actually let you know its prices. They are an independent UK supplier and according to Civil Society's survey (Spring 2011) they were ranked number 1 for charities with >£1M turnover, plus 100% customer recommended. You can try AdvantageNFP Fundraiser for free just visit their website to claim your free trial.

If you want to integrate your fundraising income generation records within your database, there are plenty around that will record and produce ‘thank you’s’ automatically, calculating things like Gift Aid and even compiling the figures and forms needed for HMRC to do a Gift Aid claim. Or maybe donated income will be recorded as part of your standard accounting practices, in which case there are also ones that will integrate with Sage, Excel or Quick books etc.


I believe SAGE Act can do all of this and has the CRM aspects that also integrates with social media, although it has 'sales' aspects, I don't know how fundraising focussed it is. (I think the American version is but its not available here - yet). 


There is a very comprehensive list on IT for Charities of all database software providers. And don’t forget that you can also outsource your database function, (see advice from IT for Charities web site).

There is also some ‘open source’ database software available free of charge and Tech Soup also signposts to some databases.

Please also check out my Database Tips page, this and the tips above are available as a doc - just get in touch and I will email it to you.