I recently got lured into an argument with my family as to whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not.
My colleague Ben Swart had a thought: these four podcast episodes are a bit like Die Hard. Great at this time of year… ie when you’re taking stock or planning for the year ahead…but also a valuable listen whatever the season.
I recently caught up with my colleague Ben Swart, for the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast.
In this latest show (The Die Hard One – Ep. 189) we to suggest episodes from this past year that are especially worth a listen. Whether you missed them when they came out or would benefit from giving them another listen, here are four we’d recommend.
1. What do great fundraising organisations do? (Episode 172, with Alan Clayton)
If I could only recommend one episode, this would be it.
Alan Clayton researched what separates charities that grow income significantly year after year from everyone else. One powerful insight: organizations need to be two businesses to achieve one mission. Be world-class at delivering your work. But also be world-class at meeting the emotional needs of people who care about that cause.
So many headaches come from trying to manage charities like they are ‘one business’, making both service delivery and fundraising teams compromise. As well as stress for both teams, this leads to bland messaging that satisfies neither audience.
One example: Trócaire, an Irish charity, had for years focused its messaging on “fighting for justice”.
They realised that this language made sense within the charity, ie with development professionals. But fundraising had been an uphill struggle because their supporters were predominantly middle-aged and elderly women with Catholic values.
They didn’t want to be fighting! They didn’t even use the word ‘justice’ as often as people within the charity had presumed.
When the messaging shifted to an idea that was intensely meaningful to their supporters “until love conquers fear,” the charity achieved five years of extraordinary growth.
Listen to What do great fundraising organisations do? (Ep 172)
2. We aced all three big pitches – here’s how (Episode 174, with Katie Hillitt)
Katie Hillitt and her team from Refuge won three major pitches—including the Omaze partnership you may have seen on TV. These three partnerships total nearly £5 million in income for a charity raising £9-13 million annually.
What made the difference?
Of course, winning a valuable partnership is complex and challenging. And there are several strategies which the Refuge team had learned through Corporate Partnerships Mastery which helped make their three pitches so effective.
But at the heart of it, they worked especially hard to understand what companies truly wanted before deciding what to include. One thing that’s fascinating about this distinction is that its not always obvious what the company wants! On the podcast Katie and Ben unpack how to solve this in practice.
And Katie and her team were ruthless about only including the 2-3 things that would most help them choose Refuge. By the time they pitched, they felt so well prepared that it felt like the company’s opportunity to lose.
Listen to Acing all three big pitches – here’s how (Episode 174).
3. Fundraising with Trusts and foundations – success secrets (Episode 182, with Atul Kumar)
Atul has found that the major barrier to trusts and foundations success isn’t actually the quality of the bid – it’s actually getting them out the door. Many charities submit far fewer applications than intended, for the want of a few last bits of information. Tantalisingly, when you know this, most of these blockers are completely solvable!
A fundraiser on our Major Gifts Mastery programme loved this insight, realised her bid had stalled, called her colleague, and they solved the blocker in 45 minutes. She pressed send the next day.
Another tip: project names matter enormously. Conservation Volunteers changed “Wednesday Afternoon Conservation Volunteering Group” to “Green Gym.” Funding took off.
And “Carbon Army” received a £183,000 grant plus valuable celebrity backing. This success would have been very unlikely if they had stuck to the initial title which was very meaningful internally… but a mouthful of jargon to anyone outside the charity.
For more valuable tips, listen to Fundraising with Trusts and foundations – Success Secrets (Ep. 182)
4. How one fundraiser doubled major gifts income (Episode 184, with Debbie Johnson)
Ben said he’s listened to this three times already. After the most recent listen, he told his wife: “I so wish someone had played this for me 19 years ago when I was first a major gifts fundraiser.”
Debbie Johnson from the Wildlife Trust shares how she changed her approach and doubled her results after taking part in Major Gifts Mastery.
Within 90 seconds of hearing Debbie, you notice: her primary focus isn’t on ‘trying to get money’. It’s on little things she can do to build relationships with people who care about her cause.
For example, every morning, Debbie blocks out time—highlighted in pink—for “three donor moves.” Not requests. Just actions that might strengthen relationships.
The story Ben loves: a young couple who had supported the charity in the past but not been in touch for a while. Debbie called them up to suggest a catch up. The husband said they’d love to, but his wife was about to have their first baby—things would be hectic.
Debbie looked at their address, noticed a park opposite their house, and suggested: “What if we just meet at the park? We can grab a coffee and go for a walk.”
They met there, baby in the pram. Since then, Debbie has met them many times in that park.
Through various generous donations, the couple has now given around £1 million in total.
If you work in major donor fundraising, Ben and I think you’ll find this genuinely helpful.
Listen to How one fundraiser doubled Major Gifts income (Episode 184)
I hope these four give you encouragement, practical ideas, and renewed energy, whatever season you listen in.
If you’d like to learn more techniques like the ones these fundraisers have used, find out more about our training for fundraisers and teams here.
Which episode will you listen to first?
Find this helpful? If so, please share it on, so we can help as many good causes as possible.
