Stuart Chell
Stuart is a fundraising consultant specialising in high-value giving (trusts, major donors and corporates) and faith based charities, and a current MA student at Kent University.
Location Wigan
Activity
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Stuart Chell replied to Meg Henry
@MegHenry We are really pleased this has helped :-)
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@ElenaStartseva That is an excellent idea. The Supporter Journey Planning Worksheet is just a basic template so that it can work for most organisations. However, you absolutely should adapt it to make it as useful as possible for your organisation.
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Stuart Chell replied to Balaram Nath
@BalaramNath That is great news!
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Stuart Chell replied to Balaram Nath
Thanks @BalaramNath, we are glad it is helpful
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Stuart Chell replied to Vartika Singh
@VartikaSingh It is so powerful. If anyone ever doubted the importance of thanking donors, they just need to watch that video.
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Glad it was helpful @VartikaSingh
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Stuart Chell replied to Vartika Singh
@VartikaSingh Absolutely. Your supporters love to hear how their gifts have made a difference, and it is the number one thing that will encourage them to give again in the future.
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Stuart Chell replied to Balaram Nath
Welcome to the course @BalaramNath, hopefully it proves useful.
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Stuart Chell replied to Jennifer L
You ideas for Ghana sound fantastic. Welcome to the course @JenniferL, we hope it proves useful
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Stuart Chell replied to Geovanna Ambi
Welcome @GeovannaAmbi, we hope the programme helps!
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Hi @RescueInitiative, the only way to find out is by asking them. A good thing to do when a donor lapses is to call them, thank them for their support, and ask for their feedback. My experience is that asking them, "why did you stop giving" will cause them to clam up and you will get stock answers like, "change of financial circumstances". However, asking them...
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@VartikaSingh These are great reflections from the training. Thank you for sharing.
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@VartikaSingh Really glad it was helpful :-)
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Stuart Chell replied to Anna B
@AnnaB That is not an uncommon response to this exercise. We can often feel like we do not know anyone, but by doing this exercise we can see all our potential supporters in one place. Glad it has been helpful.
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@RescueInitiative You are not alone here. I think the key is being comfortable in the knowledge that asking again is the right thing to do for a number of reasons: 1) asking again confirms to the donor that their gift made a difference and they are valuable to your organisation. If you don't ask again, they might assume that their donation was not...
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Stuart Chell replied to Anna Wright
@AnnaWright Hi Anna, it certainly will
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Thanks @RoisinBrennan-O'Neill, this is a really good summary of the key points.
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Stuart Chell replied to Roisin Brennan-O'Neill
Thanks @RoisinBrennan-O'Neill, hope it proves useful.
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Nice to meet you @RoisinBrennan-O'Neill. We cover fundraising plans later in the course, so hopefully this will be useful.
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Stuart Chell replied to Laura Quaiter
Welcome @LauraQuaiter, we hope you find it useful
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@SusanScothern You raise some very topical points. If you are interested in this subject you might enjoy reading Rob Reich's Just Giving or Linsey McGoey's No Such Thing As A Free Gift.
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@HannahWilliams That is brilliant that you are being transparent and thoughtful with your use of stock photos.
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Yes @LisaRowell! These are great uses of trustees.
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That sounds a good next step @LornaLee
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Stuart Chell replied to Hannah Williams
Great you have a colleague like this @HannahWilliams, could you buddy up with them to develop an ethics policy?
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Brilliant actions @LisaRowell. Maybe encourage some friends/family to mystery shop your charity and feedback how they found the experience.
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Great reflection @LornaLee. Remember there are lots of third party providers such as Just Giving, Stripe, Enthuse, Goodbox etc who have lots of great "out of the box" solutions to make donating to your charity easier.
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Stuart Chell replied to Lisa Rowell
Glad it is helpful @LisaRowell
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@HannahWilliams Very similar situation Hannah. If you are not an environmental charity, then you need to weigh up what is right for your beneficiaries against general environmental goals.
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
@RoisinBrennan-O'Neill It absolutely does
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Great points @ElleniH. I totally agree that it is all too easy to get lost in a budget and forget to tell your story effectively.
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@DavidPetri asking companies to volunteer or provide expertise is a brilliant way to engage them, and many will be open to this. It can also lead to further support down the line.
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Stuart Chell replied to Elizabeth Leeke
Welcome @ElizabethLeeke, I think this course will really help you develop your thoughts and strategy for diversifying income. If you have any questions or thoughts throughout the course, feel free to use the comments board.
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Really good point @BobFrancis. Have you had any experience of this? An example might help others on the course.
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Great point @ValEvans.
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This is an interesting one @LindsayWhite. I would also suggest you also need to consider the amount each method also raises in making your decision. For example, if a paper thank you letter achieves better donor engagement and more funds raised that allows you do deliver more work, does the good work outweigh the environmental impact of letter? It is a really...
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This is an interesting one @JoPage in light of the increasingly environmental concerns. However, if you are not specifically an environmental charity, you need to balance the benefit to the beneficiaries for using a 4x4 versus the environmental impact and decide what is the right decision in your case.
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Stuart Chell replied to Val Evans
Thanks for sharing @ValEvans. There are times when charities need to decide whose needs they will prioritise - the beneficiaries or the donors? Then when questions arise about appeals that might make donors feel uncomfortable, but are the right thing to do for beneficiaries (e.g. it will raise them more money or tell their story), you can fall back on your...
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Stuart Chell replied to Lindsay White
@LindsayWhite it is definitely worth it, what you do not want to do is wait until an ethical issue arises to develop the policy, as that is difficult to navigate. However, I know it is a job that is hard to come around to amongst other more time sensitive work.
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
Hi @KarenCox, I know what you mean. I specialise in Christian fundraising and have seen that because of the faith element the ethical bar is raised meaning we have to be extra clear on our ethical policies and procedures.
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Stuart Chell replied to Kathryn White
Absolutely @KathrynWhite, unfortunately too often charities wait until a scenario arises before drawing their ethical boundaries, which then complicates things.
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We are glad they are helpful @LouiseMiddleton
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@HannahWilliams Glad they helped :-)
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@DavidHassen Haha brilliant :-)
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They are wonderful @GillianWoodrow and very easy to work with.
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Stuart Chell replied to David Petri
Really pleased it is helpful @DavidPetri
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Stuart Chell replied to David Hassen
Hi @DavidHassen and welcome to the course. In week 2 we have a session on "fundraising for unpopular causes", which you might find useful for the political livestream. In the meantime, please feel free to ask questions in the comments.
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Stuart Chell replied to Hannah Williams
Thanks for the feedback @HannahWilliams, glad it is helping.
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Stuart Chell replied to Jo Page
That is fantastic @JoPage. As a fellow fundraiser, can I tell you how much we appreciate colleagues like yourself!
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Hi @HannahWilliams these are wonderful reflections. We are really pleased you are getting so much out of the course. Regarding point 2, your nervousness about offending people, there are a couple of things I've picked up along my journey which might help. The first is that people on the whole don't mind being asked for donations as long as the ask is...
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Hi @HannahWilliams I've responded to these now on Padlet. Let us know if anything does not make sense or you have any further questions.
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Thanks @DeborahNevin for sharing this. I am sure it will be useful for many on the course.
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Stuart Chell replied to Ely B
Hi @ElyB, and thanks for joining us. It's great to hear you want to learn more about fundraising, we hope this course is of use.
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Stuart Chell replied to Aminat Ayodele
Welcome @AminatAyodele - we really hope this course helps at the start of your exciting journey. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.
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Hi @LornaLee, your comment about leaders "just do" really resonated with me, as I have worked with many youth charities over the years. One thing I've had success with is making story-telling a part of the culture, as a way to celebrate and focus all on the mission. For example, encouraging leaders to start meetings spending five minutes sharing stories about...
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
Absolutely @KarenCox, and the more people in your organisation that gets involved in fundraising (be it in the planning or delivery) the easier you will find it. Always good to engage colleagues in these discussions!
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Stuart Chell replied to Kathryn White
We are really pleased it has helped @KathrynWhite
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Stuart Chell replied to Louise Middleton
That is great news @LouiseMiddleton
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@KimberlyDijksman we have certainly seen corporates stepping up more in the pandemic and hopefully this will continue.
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Stuart Chell replied to Ife Alleyne
We are pleased it is helpful @IfeAlleyne. Feel free to use the comments to ask questions to the tutors.
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Stuart Chell replied to David Petri
@DavidPetri Glad it is helpful. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
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Stuart Chell replied to David Petri
We hope you find it useful @DavidPetri
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@LouiseMiddleton That's great news!
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Great to hear @LouiseMiddleton you are thinking about the next steps. Have you started formulating a plan to do this?
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@KarenCox great point! And remember stories will be everywhere in your charity. Fundraisers are a little bit like journalists. A training course I attended years ago encouraged us to keep a small pad at all times to capture those ad hoc stories you hear by the kettle or before a meeting, which can prove to be gems at a future date.
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Hi @KathrynWhite, these are great reflections. Tone is difficult. I think the key is being very clear who the audience is for every communication. It is normally when we are creating "a one size fits all" communication that we tie ourselves up. And I definitely agree with an ask. Every communication should have a call to action. There is no point creating an...
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Hi @KathrynWhite, what a wonderful brochure! I have put some thoughts on Padlet, hope they help.
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Hi @LindsayWhite that sounds like a great idea and will also give your audience a "feel" for the type of organisation that you are.
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Stuart Chell replied to Lorna Lee
@SonyV Great!
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Stuart Chell replied to Sony V
Absolutely @SonyV, a good corporate fundraising partnership will benefit both parties.
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Stuart Chell replied to Sony V
Thanks @SonyV, we are pleased you are finding it helpful.
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Hi @kwabenaAmoako-Anim, these are the ones I am aware of:
- https://www.dsc.org.uk/publication/the-guide-to-uk-company-giving-2021-22/
- https://www.charityconnect.co.uk/post/here-s-100-corporate-foundations-can-you-add-to-my-list/4252?fbclid=IwAR0kS86nU5g-WYg8_Ane07rmZFqjF3UozyTCJGgZKMgPyegChC1pHQxHRkk
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Stuart Chell replied to Sophie Wickham
Thanks @SophieWickham, we are really pleased you found it helpful.
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@MichelleHamilton That is brilliant. Often as fundraisers we can shy away from stating what we need out of the relationship because of the power dynamics (they have the money/resources we seek). It is brilliant to read you are tackling this head on.
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Stuart Chell replied to Michelle Hamilton
@MichelleHamilton I couldn't agree more. And it bites at both end of the scale. I have small charity clients with great projects missing out on larger funding, and large national charities' regional branches missing out on local/regional grants (despite the project being localised) because of the annual turnover of the charity.
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Stuart Chell replied to Michelle Hamilton
Hi @MichelleHamilton - this is indeed a challenge most fundraisers face. Fundraising is often as much about building relationships internally as it is externally. The key is to help educate key staff about the benefit of fundraising, and try and help them feel part of the process. Practically, I have also found doing some of the leg work for them helps. So...
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
@KarenCox That is a great idea! Also, always worth looking at your staff, volunteers, and current supporters and seeing who they are connected to. I have had multiple successes in the past where a staff members' partner works at a corporate we want to approach and have helped facilitate an introduction which led to funding.
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Hi @NicolaWallis the network of community foundations covers most of the UK and some of them have large geographical remits. You can search for your nearest one at https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/our-network and then my advice would be to call them to see what they have in your local area. Also, you will find the individual funds that they manage will...
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
Hi @KarenCox, great point about phoning, and from experience the Community Foundation teams are very willing to help in whatever way they can.
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@SusanScothern That is great news Susan, and congratulations on securing the grant from them.
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@LornaLee Absolutely Lorna, and they are brilliant to work with.
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@SusanScothern Good point Susan. It would be interesting to hear the challenges this brings for you and how you get around them? It might help others in similar situations.
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@ElleniH Really good point Elleni. One to be careful on Charity Commission is that sometimes grant makers register using their accountants or solicitors address. If in doubt, always try to call the funder and they are normally happy to clarify the application process.
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Stuart Chell replied to Lorna Lee
@LornaLee I do love these "meet the funder" resources. If you want to see more, check out the free online meet the funder events that Get Grants host https://www.getgrants.org.uk/meet-the-funder/
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Stuart Chell replied to Epi Mabika
@EpiMabika Really glad it is proving useful Epi. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments as you progress through the course.
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Stuart Chell replied to Lorna Lee
@LornaLee We are really glad it is helpful. Please feel free to post thoughts and questions in the comment section as you progress through the content.
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Stuart Chell replied to patricia gray
Hi @patriciagray, we are looking forward to getting to know you all more over the next three weeks. Do feel free to ask any questions in the chat.
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@KathrynWhite You raise a really important point. When I worked at a children's hospice we had corporates gardening for us nearly every week. Not really what we needed! Even worse was the 3000+ easter eggs that would be collected by businesses and donated to us. We only had 250 children accessing our service, and the majority had dietary requirements...
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Stuart Chell replied to Lorna Lee
@LornaLee Absolutely! On the back of this session, do you think you will give corporate fundraising a go?
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Hi Meryl. They are primarily set up as vehicles for local philanthropists to support local causes. I certainly have not come across one with funds outside their local area. However, the key is to always visit the community foundation's website and take a look at the grant criteria for each fund they manage.
Not to confuse things, but what I have done in...
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Stuart Chell replied to kwabena Amoako-Anim
Hi Kwabena, thanks for your questions.
A private donor is an individual who makes charitable gifts. If they give to your local area, then they would also be considered a local philanthropist. A private donor could alternatively give overseas or to national causes (rather than locally), thus the slight variation in terminology.
In answer to your second...
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Stuart Chell replied to Hannah Williams
Hi Hannah, they are fantastic and very easy to work with. Whenever I have called one they have been so helpful.
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Hi Kathryn, it was sad to see this go. But as you mention there are some great free resources out there.
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
Hi Karen, it is also worth checking Get Grants. They have a free monthly e-newsletter you can subscribe to and get the latest grants available into your inbox each month.
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Stuart Chell replied to Hannah Williams
@HannahWilliams It is such a good point. Sometimes we forget that funders are reading stacks of grant applications. The more enjoyable it is to read, the more likely they will remember it when it comes to deciding who to give to.
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Stuart Chell replied to kwabena Amoako-Anim
Hi Kwabena, this is an excellent question. It comes down to your charity's constitution. If you have it set as one of your objects that you will fundraise in the UK and disperse funds to overseas NGOs you will have no problems. Unless you are talking about less formal fundraising (e.g. staff fundraising - i.e. your staff hold a Macmillan coffee morning), in...
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Stuart Chell replied to Karen Cox
I know what you mean Karen. I am currently doing the MA in Philanthropic Studies at Kent, and my favourite feature is being able to pause lectures to take notes.
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Stuart Chell replied to Hannah Williams
Welcome to the course Hannah. This is definitely the course for you as you will end with a strategy that you can put in place for your individual giving.
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Stuart Chell replied to Carolyn D
Hi Carolyn, nice to meet you. You will certainly pick up some tips and tricks for writing in the coming weeks.
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Stuart Chell replied to Kathryn White
Hello, and welcome Kathryn. We have some others from Mencap here on the course, so you may recognise some names in the forum.
