What can trustees do to raise funds

What can trustees do to raise funds?

Richard Starkie – previous chair of trustees

Did you know that 20.1 million people in the UK volunteered through a group, club or organisation during 2017/18?[1] That’s almost two-fifths of our country giving up their time for the sake of other causes. As part of the research that produced these results, we also discover that most people have formally volunteered at some point in their lives which is hugely encouraging.

It seems the charity sector knows really well how to harness volunteers to deliver programs that would otherwise cost the non-profit’s lots of money. A useful exercise (and a good piece of evidence to quote when writing to grant-givers) is to add up all the hours of your volunteers and work out how much this would have cost you if you would have had to employ someone to cover those hours. With all the associated costs of national insurance, pension contributions etc… the numbers soon start to pile high and it’s a tangible way to see how much your volunteers are worth to you.

One way that volunteers can serve a non-profit is through the role of a trustee or board member. These are people that help govern the work but also keep it accountable in the use of finances and the work being delivered. They can also be a great source of help when it comes to fundraising.

I’ve asked Richard Starkie, who was chair of a local youth work charity, his thoughts on how trustees can help to raise funds.

1. What is the best investment you have made as trustees to raise more funds for your work?

It is really important to recruit a director who has vision, ideas and wants to see them fulfilled. When you have that, the director can drive the focus to see that the funds are raised so the right appointment is crucial. We also found that putting funding into high profile events that gave added visibility to the charity and enabled interested people to become regular givers was a worthwhile investment.

2. If you have a group of trustees who all work, what can the trustees do to help raise more money?

It is important that if you believe in the work as a trustee, that you also support it yourself through becoming regular givers yourselves. Trustees can also be ambassadors for the charity in whatever settings they are in, encouraging others to give including in their churches, keeping the profile and reputation high.

Practically, trustees can also help with roles such as being available to proofread funding applications.

3. What tips have you learnt in running a successful fundraising event?

A fundraising event takes a lot of planning and co-ordination so have a very organised person in charge! It also helps to set out clear principles and aims from the start so the director or team can make all the decisions based on those principles.

Also, be aware that you have to speculate to accumulate. Some risk is needed by investing money in a high-profile-events even when you are not 100% certain you’ll get it all back. There are other benefits such as raising profile and reputation that might not raise you money straight away but can lead to long-term finance. Even if you lose money, you need to know that it can raise some in the future.

4. How do you keep on top of fundraising targets when you meet every two months?

We made sure that the director met with the treasurer much more regularly than every two months.  was also crucial to have specific targets including the number of funding applications sent out in a period of time so it was easier to identify along the way whether we were hitting targets. Staff members were also given fundraising days to focus on developing financial support for the work.

5. How can you best support your staff in fundraising?

We did this through a multi-faceted approach. It included:

·         Fundraising days – to identify and approach potential individual donors

·         Training courses – in a variety of topics all related to fundraising

·         Targets set and worked towards – these were reviewed regularly with their line manager

·         Time given to thank existing supporters – whether sending newsletters, cards or gifts

·         Time given to developing high-quality projects which could attract funding

6. Any other comments?

Developing and increasing the amount of regular monthly supporters is the key to fundraising success and sustainability.

Bio

Richard Starkie has been chair of trustees at Quinton Youth for Christ since it was first established in 2010. In that time, he has worked alongside two centre directors to help create a sustainable youth work charity which serves the needs of local young people, the local church and the local community in Birmingham, UK.

[1] https://data.ncvo.org.uk/volunteering/