Advertise on podcast: Fundraising Bright Spots

Obviously great fundraising involves building great relationships with your supporters and donors. But how do you do that in practice? One charity that has been making wonderful progress in recent years is Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. For instance, for their recent Big Give campaign they took on their biggest ever target… and they hit it in just over 24 hours.  Laura Elliott, Head of Supporter Fundraising, talks about a range of effective strategies that have been inspired by listening to the Fundraising Bright Spots show.  This conversation with Rob includes their approach to: stewardship; thanking; the 80/20 Principle; creating Wow Moments; and a culture of learning. She also describes a Gift Aid campaign that has so far inspired an extra 7% of supporters to opt in. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

If you'd like to make 2026 your best fundraising year ever, this episode is for you. Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben share four powerful habits that transform your results - without adding more to your to-do list. We explore how to: improve your results by getting laser-focused on what matters most; deepen relationships with your most valuable supporters through one simple shift; gain clarity about where to invest your precious time; and identify the leverage points that solve your biggest fundraising challenges. These aren't about working harder - they're about working smarter. And the best part? You can start any of them today. If you'd like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn

If you’d like handy tips and inspiring examples from our fundraising podcast in 2025, or ideas for what to listen to next, we recorded this special show for you.  Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben pick four episodes to inspire you. These ones are a good listen in any season, but they’re even better if you’re listening in December / January.  We pull out highlights including: the pitching strategy that one fundraising team used to win three massive Corporate Partnerships in a row; how to solve internal conflicts over messaging, and inspire far more support; techniques for transforming your success rate with Trusts and Foundations; and the strategies Debbie used to double her Major Gifts results.  If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn.

In times of rapid change, all charities and social good organisations are having to adapt if we are to survive and continue to make an impact. The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has faced plenty of challenges in the last five years, given the turmoil that the hospitality industry has faced since the COVID pandemic. In December 2024, income was so low that the organisations’ very survival was at risk.  One year later, they have had their best year to date, passing £1m in revenue. In this interview, Juliane Caillouette Noble, Managing Director of the SRA, shares the strategies they’ve used to achieve this stunning comeback. It includes lessons about adapting your strategy, the huge benefits of getting clear about who your ideal partner is, storytelling and how to hang in there during the tough times.  We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

The biggest source of stress for most fundraisers is usually conflict with other teams in your organisation. What can you do to improve internal relationships and have your fundraising project succeed? In this episode Max Newton (Cerebra) and Lindsay Tilston Jones (Shelter) discuss with Rob Woods an approach that has hugely helped the success of their fundraising. They explain that the most important resource in any charity is not people, but relationships between people. With examples, they share why it has made such a difference and practical tools that will help you improve the relationships you have with your colleagues too. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

As the funding environment becomes ever more competitive, being ambitious, open to opportunities and willing to adapt is extremely valuable for charities.  Inspire to Ignite is a small, fast-growing not for profit organisation based in Cambridgeshire in the UK. Rob was delighted to talk to the co-founder Sam Squire to understand how they’ve managed to quickly grow to serve so many young people in just three years.  In this down-to-earth conversation, Sam shares examples and tactics that have helped on the journey so far. The conversation includes how to be open-minded, co-creation with funders, the Five Yard Rule for growing your impact and how to move swiftly and confidently when an opportunity presents itself. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Leading and raising funds for a small charity is demanding enough. The stakes get even higher when you need to raise a lot more money for a capital appeal. The Berin Centre is a small community charity in rural Oxfordshire in the UK. To better serve their community, they decided to build a new cafe. Laura Harte is Director of the charity. In the podcast she shares why this project was so important for people, examples of how they raised the funds and practical tips. She also explains why properly involving the community was fundamental to the success of the whole project.  We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Major Donors can make a huge difference to fundraising income, but fundraising with High Net Worth people can also be really challenging.  Debbie Johnson has been making wonderful progress in her fundraising. In the year she took part in Bright Spot’s Major Gifts Mastery programme, she increased major donor income for her wildlife charity by 200% compared to the previous year... and these wonderful results continue to flow. In this podcast she and Rob discuss several powerful distinctions from the training that have helped achieve this success, including: a powerful strategy she uses every day to improve relationships with donors; a technique that improves results when she meets supporters; being yourself; listening skills; and an insight that transformed one major gift from five figures to an amazing six figure value. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Community fundraising is an invaluable income stream for many charities, both through income raised directly and all the value these relationships add in other fundraising areas. Punyapriya Singh is Senior Head of Supporter Engagement at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, and was named Fundraiser of the Year in the CIOF National Fundraising Awards. In this conversation, she explains the approach which has helped her charity achieve fabulous growth in public fundraising income in recent years. In particular, she explains the importance of caring about and adding value to relationships with your supporters (rather than focusing primarily on money). She brings her ideas to life with examples of the stunning growth this thoughtful, relationship-first strategy has helped achieve, including a wonderful event for families, a golf day worth £100,000 and the success of their £12m capital appeal. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Fundraising with trusts and foundations has become ever more competitive recently. What can you do to increase your success rate with these funders?  Atul is a curious and shrewd fundraiser who has spent many years exploring how to grow fundraising income in this area. In this conversation Atul and Rob discuss several of his most effective strategies. It includes ways to find more funders who definitely care about your cause; what to call your project (spoiler, it makes an astonishing difference to results!) and strategies to leverage game-changing bids by sequencing them with smaller, easier ones.   We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Most fundraisers know how crucial it is to build genuine relationships with people who care about your cause. But doing it in practice can be far from easy!  Amy Swart is a very experienced relationship fundraiser and is Director of Fundraising and Communications at the suicide-prevention charity James’ Place. Building warm, two-way relationships with supporters, including major donors, trusts and foundations, is fundamental to the charity’s approach. This mindset has been a major factor in the wonderful growth they have achieved in recent years.  In this conversation Amy shares her approach, with practical tips and encouragement for fundraisers and charity leaders determined to build excellent, long-term relationships with supporters. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

There are plenty of really good books specifically about fundraising. We’ve also found it invaluable for fundraisers to read well-written books on related subjects. But which ones are worth your time? If you’re on the lookout for a good read and some different perspectives, we’ve created a Books that Inspire Fundraisers – The Super Six, which you can access with this link. And in this episode Bright Spot trainers Rob and Ben share the first three on our list. We explain why we love each book, and a bunch of ideas you can apply in your fundraising, even if you don’t have time to read the books. Among other things, this conversation includes: a fascinating insight about how to improve valuable skills more quickly; two ideas for inspiring supporters; and a little-known technique that increases your confidence in important meetings. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

How to change what’s not working. Sometimes in fundraising, things aren’t working, you feel overwhelmed, and you don’t know where to start.  The excellent book Reset by Dan Heath is all about how to turn things around when you feel stuck. In this podcast Rob talks to Craig about ways you can apply the Reset techniques to solve difficult fundraising problems.  Heath suggests that in most difficult situations there is one crucial ‘leverage point’ – something that will potentially make the biggest difference. The key is to work out what this is and then stack far more of your resources on making progress here. As you make clear progress, your new momentum makes other things easier too. Craig and Rob share examples of this approach helping fundraising teams to solve important problems, including how one charity reduced the time it takes to send out thank you letters, from 3 weeks to just 2 days. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Growing your confidence to talk to supporters makes a big difference. What’s the key to increasing High Value Fundraising Income for your charity? Build stronger relationships with people who care about your cause.  There are many ways to do this, but even in this tech-savvy era, the most effective thing is to have actual conversations with those people! And a greatly under-used way to do that, is to call them on the phone. Obviously, it’s not always possible. But when it is, we’ve noticed that very successful fundraisers often call their supporters. Many people know this in theory but talk themselves out of doing it!  Bright Spot trainers Ben Swart and Rob Woods share some practical things you can do to overcome your (understandable) concerns. And they share examples to boost your confidence so you can connect with your charities’ donors and partners. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

How do you beat tough odds in fundraising? For many fundraisers, the odds are now tougher than ever. Whether it's because your cause is less popular, or your charity is small or less well-known… There are many reasons you may feel like an underdog. Interestingly, some charities do secure valuable gifts, partnerships and grants, in spite of big disadvantages. Clearly this fact does not make life fair or make fundraising easy.  But it means that if we seek them, we can find valuable insights. Having studied dozens of examples, in this episode Rob reveals two strategies that successful ‘underdog charities’ use when they succeed against difficult odds. In discussion with fellow Bright Spot trainer Ben Swart, he uses examples to show how these techniques can help you slay your own fundraising dragons. We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. You can find us both on LinkedIn.