Developing a Fundraising Strategy

Learn with a like‑minded VCSE cohort in this expert‑led, peer‑supported course and create a strong, sustainable fundraising strategy.

Key Components

This course consists of the following sessions:

• Training Session 1 - Thursday 23 April, 10am to 1pm
• Training Session 2 - Tuesday 12 May, 10am to 1pm
• Training Session 3 - Tuesday 2 June, 10am to 1pm
• Follow-Up Peer Support Session - Wednesday 15 July, 10am to 1pm

Course participants should commit to attend all the sessions.

In addition to the training and peer support, course participants will have access to a one hour one-to-one session with the trainer for more personalised support, as well as other resources.

This is a unique opportunity to work with expert facilitators, and a supportive peer cohort, to develop a fundraising strategy tailored to your organisation.

Who Should Attend:

This course is suitable for staff, volunteers or trustees who are looking to develop a fundraising strategy. Attendees should commit to attend all sessions of the course.

This course is only available to Richmond-based VCS organisations.

Places are restricted to a maximum of 1 per organisation.

Content

This course - designed and delivered by Lime Green Consulting - will guide you through a comprehensive process for developing a fundraising strategy to improve your organisation's long-term sustainability and diversifying your income sources.

We'll equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to evaluate and prioritise fundraising opportunities, make better use of your limited resources, navigate a challenging fundraising landscape with more confidence, and ensure everyone in your organisation understands what fundraising success looks like and how they can contribute to it.

We’ll start with the vital preparation work that you need to do to map out your fundraising needs, opportunities and barriers, in order to lay the foundations for your strategy. We'll then explain how to scope out and prioritise which types of fundraising to focus on, and decide how to resource them. Finally, we'll explain how to put in place some key building blocks for long-term fundraising success - including a case for support, income forecasting, fundraising targets and creating a fundraising-friendly culture in your organisation.

This course will contain a mix of presentation content, interactive exercises and peer support sessions, giving you the opportunity to test out ideas, work through challenges, and learn from both the expert trainers and other participants.

To get the most out of this course, please plan to set aside at least 3-4 hours between sessions to put your learning into practice in your organisation - this will mostly involve arranging planning sessions with colleagues and writing up notes and key ideas. We'll guide you through the process for doing this when the course begins.

In addition to the three core course sessions, you'll also be able to access:

• A peer support session around six weeks after the course, open to all participants who would like to share updates on their progress and discuss any remaining challenges.
• A one-to-one, one-hour online drop-in session with the trainers, giving you the opportunity to talk through your progress and get more tailored, in-depth support and guidance.
• Free access to Segments - Lime Green Consulting's accessible, bitesize, on-demand fundraising training videos - for the duration of the course. This will enable you to supplement your learning or get a refresher on something already covered during the course. Each video is fully captioned and available to watch as many times as you like.

About the trainers

This course will be designed and delivered by Mike Zywina and Ally Rea of Lime Green Consulting. Lime Green supports ambitious charities and social enterprises to be more strategic, become more sustainable and access more funding. They do this by providing a mix of strategic consultancy, facilitated workshops, hands-on fundraising support and training.

Mike has 15 years’ experience in the sector as a fundraiser, consultant, senior manager and trustee. He runs strategic planning workshops and training courses for charities and social enterprises, and designs major funding bids, with a particular track record in securing Lottery funding. As a strategy specialist, Mike brings people together to make better strategic decisions, prioritise the right opportunities and develop a more sustainable funding base, by asking the right questions to bring structure to their planning and draw out the best aspects of their work.

Ally is a marketing and fundraising professional with over 15 years’ experience across charities large and small. She has worked in bid writing, communications and strategic and operational roles across the arts, heritage, disability, health and media sectors. Ally has also assessed funding applications for Arts Council England, and brings this funder perspective into her trusts fundraising work and facilitation.

Quotes from previous participants:

"A well-paced, engaging course with clear and useful content. It has supported me to consider the context of the fundraising climate and direct my charity's next steps, giving me confidence to go back to my organisation with new skills to facilitate new and positive conversations."

"I have been to quite a few training courses run by the corporate sector and civil service, yet this course really stood out. The pace was perfect, content was fascinating, and it was so well managed to include and empower each one of us, despite our different organisations and varied levels of experience."

Cost:

£45+ booking fee for Richmond-based VCS groups with an annual income below £250k

£90+ booking fee for Richmond-based VCS groups with an annual income above £250k

Due to our ongoing funding from Richmond Council, your ticket cost is already subsidised. However if you're funded by Hampton Fund, you can receive further support— just ask them for a promo code that will give you a fully funded place.

Please note that if your organisation has a training need in this area and cost is a barrier to you accessing this training, please get in touch via training@richmondcvs.org.uk.

If you are unsure if you qualify for a Richmond place, please call us on the number below before booking.

Additional information:

If booking for this session has closed, the correct ticket type is not available or you have another training-related query, please contact Richmond CVS on 020 8843 7945 or training@richmondcvs.org.uk.

Please note that by registering for our training, you will be bound by Richmond CVS’s Training Terms and Conditions.

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