At the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) we support small and local charities and community organisations (with a turnover under £1.5 million), providing free or very heavily subsidised training and support. We were established in 2007 to help these organisations keep their doors open for the vulnerable groups they work with. We do this via a learning programme which focusses on fundraising, governance, measuring and demonstrating impact and strategy and planning. Unsurprisingly, by far the most popular area for support is fundraising. At a time when charities are facing unprecedented funding cuts and an increasing demand for services (REF) it is more important now than ever before that we are maximising our potential to secure funds. Some of our top tips to help you do this include: Get your house in order How are you supposed to effectively support the sustainability for your organisation if you don’t know exactly how much you need to fundraise and where you are going to get it? Developing a fundraising strategy can often be dismissed as a paper exercise, but actually this is the road map to your fundraising success. It builds a clear plan of activity to be followed whilst also evaluating the activities that are likely to bring you the greatest return on investment. It obviously can’t be denied that it takes time and effort to build a fundraising strategy, however the direction it provides will support you to maintain a fundraising focus which will help save you time later down the line when you are attempting to deliver against fundraising targets. Evaluate and Review as you go It is very east to fall into a trap of activity simply because ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’. Reviewing and refreshing your activity is essential to ensure you truly are investing your time and resource in the most fruitful fundraising activities for your charity. The only way you will know to put a stop to the activities that don’t bring in the required return is to evaluate each one against key performance indicators or targets and not being afraid to say lets try something different. This is where your fundraising strategy will come in handy again as you will have thought out in advance what you would expect to see from your individual fundraising activities to help you to look at your fundraising efforts objectively. Stick to the plan (sort of) Rather than trying to overstretch and have too many fingers in the different fundraising pies, it is better to look realistically at what you can achieve with your resource and work on doing these well. There are only so many hours in a day so there’s no point in setting yourself up to fail, instead you will be supporting your success if you focus on doing a few things really well, rather than trying to do everything at once. There will be time to expand your activity when your focus pays off and you are able to gain extra resource. At the same time it’s also important to know when it’s appropriate to engage with unexpected opportunities or external events that can support your fundraising activity as flexibility in fund development is also important. A safe way to do this is to establish a process on how to decide whether a new opportunity is worth going for, whether it’s getting sign off from a fundraising steering committee or your Trustees or bringing new ideas to your manager for sign off. Use Small Charity Week to your advantage As well as providing a support programme for charities, the FSI are also the organisation behind Small Charity Week. This year it is taking place between 19th-24th June and the week is packed full of opportunities to support your charity to raise vital funds and your profile. The full agenda can be found on the Small Charity Week website but also includes opportunities such as: Places at the FSI’s annual Fundraising Conference in London – there are only a few left so book today A matched fund with LocalGiving providing £25,000 worth of funding An eBay Auction where you keep all of the funds for the items you provide and have the chance of winning £2,000 of matched funds The chance to fundraise from eBay shoppers by submitting a 90-character fundraising message (deadline 2nd June) 1:1 Fundraising Advice via the FSI’s Big Advice Day – expertise comes from a mixture of funders and fundraisers Free fundraising guides to support you to run your own events and activities Leetchi’s money pot competition for the chance to gain an additional £1,000 of funding The opportunity to win cash prizes by asking your supporters to say why they love you on social media These are just some of the free activities available during the week, with six days of separate activities check out the full agenda to make sure you’re not missing out Full details on www.smallcharityweek.com or follow @SCWeek2017 for breaking news. Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    The Subconscious Effects of Storytelling in Charity Marketing Focus on the outcomes of your work rather than the outputs  

It was quite a last minute decision to ask friends and family to sponsor me for this year’s London Marathon as I wasn’t a 100% sure I would make it to the start line after some glitches with my training plan. I really wanted to run on behalf of my sons’ school as we do a lot as a family to support their fundraising as members of their Parent Teacher Association. In particular I wanted to raise some money towards the Russell School’s new playground and outdoor learning space. Luckily the charity was already registered with Localgiving so it was quick and easy to set up a fundraising page. It wasn’t until I set up the page that I realised I would automatically be entered into the Local Hero Competition and a chance of winning a cash prize for the charity. On the Friday before the London Marathon my wife Hollie asked parents to sponsor me as I was going to be running it on behalf of the School’s Playground appeal. She explained about the Local Hero competition and the fact we could boost our fundraising if everybody connected with the school gave just a little. The timing couldn’t have been better as the children’s assembly that day was on the challenges of running a marathon and Katherine Switzer, the first woman to ‘unofficially’ run the 26.2 in 1967. Lots of our own friends and family also wanted to know who I was running for as the London Marathon really is known for being the biggest single fundraiser in the world. It was great to direct them to my Localgiving page and ask them to donate to the playground appeal. On the day itself Hollie used social media and updated everyone via Facebook on my progress along the route. As the event was live on TV lots of donations came in and it was clear to her that we might stand a chance of winning one of the Local Hero Prizes. She kept posting on Facebook throughout the day which prompted people to help move me up the leaderboard during the actual event. After the Marathon itself the number of donations meant I had moved up to second place on the leaderboard, so the race was on! We knew we only had to secure a small number of donors to move to the top position and the £1000 prize and this was a real incentivize to publicise the fundraising page. The Friends of Hillside school who were in first place understandably wanted to keep their position and so they put on a spurt too! Over the final week we managed to take the top spot on the leaderboard but Hillside were in hot pursuit. It really was neck and neck, as we got more donors, so did they! We used social media and word of mouth to encourage anybody and everybody we knew to donate just the minimum £2. This was an affordable amount to ask for, and we explained that crowdfunding worked by lots of people giving just a little. I am sure many more people donated to our charity because of the competitive nature of the leaderboard. We had lots of feedback about how exciting it was to keep checking my position and how each person could see how their donation made a difference to the leaderboard, and ultimately our chances of winning the £1000 prize. Everybody got into the spirit of the competition and so many people approached us on the school run to say they had donated and were telling their friends. It meant we engaged with lots of people connected with the school’s children that didn’t know about our fundraising efforts for a new playground. We also noticed a few parents who don’t usually come to our fundraisers get involved. As the final day approached the race became even more exciting when a third contender shot up the leaderboard. We used social media and school communication channels to again communicate how close we were to winning the prize. The fact there were only one or two donors in it really did prompt people to donate to us, in fact 261 individual did! It was that close right up until midnight on the closing day and we had absolutely no idea if we had done it when the competition closed. We nervously waited for Localgiving to validate the results but celebrated the fact the competition had helped us raise £2630 in sponsorship alone. This far exceeded my expectations and just showed how much could be raised for the children when everyone chipped in. It was clear the leaderboard race had kept many school parents engaged as many wanted to ask about the nail biting results the following morning on the school run. It was a fantastic feeling when the results came through to say I was top of the leaderboard and Local Hero 2017. This feeling wasn’t because of being the winner personally, or a hero as such, it was just a great way to thank everyone for their individual support and donation. It also felt like we had helped the other charities in the same way, i.e. the leaderboard race had prompted their supporters to donate when perhaps they might not have otherwise. It was a win, win situation for everyone concerned, if not a little nerve-racking! The £1000 prize is a significant amount to aim for and a real incentive to enter the Local Hero competition. We all know how much effort goes in to raising a £1000 from scratch. The prize has given the whole school community something to be proud of and a substantial boost to our fundraising. The Russell School is a small community school that is undergoing some exciting change and the new school building has been erected on the original playground. The children aged 3-11 have been so patient whilst the building work is carried out. It’s just fantastic that this Localgiving prize, along with all the money donated, can go towards making the play and outdoor learning space great for them. The whole school community pulled together. We are proud of the Russell School PTA and what we have achieved by working as a team during this competition. Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    Great fundraising at the Great Manchester Run And the Local Hero 2017 Champion is...  

On 28th May, Mancunian runners of all abilities will be taking part in the Great Manchester Run, and will be running either a 10k or, for the daring, a half marathon. Many of these runners will be raising money for brilliant, Greater Manchester based local charities. To celebrate the efforts of these fantastic fundraisers we’ve decided to focus on one fundraiser, Bec Greenwood, who is raising money for Salford Foodbank. We asked her why she’s running; why she supports Salford Foodbank; and any tips she has for other fundraisers. Why & how did you decide to take part in the Great Manchester Run? "I work full time in TV and have irregular hours so can't commit to a regular volunteering rota but wanted to support those in need." "I've been volunteering at collections with the Salford Food Bank for a few years and when the 10k Run was coming up I thought it would be a great way to raise some much needed funds. I've never done any running before, which I think is what has made most people sponsor me out of shock!" "I've been trying to do around 3 runs a week and I'm yet to enjoy it or experience the famous 'runners high' but the fact that I'm doing it for such a good cause makes it all the worthwhile!" Why are you raising money for Salford Foodbank in particular? "I am incredibly humbled by the work that the full time staff and volunteers at the food bank do and always wish I could do more." "I find it obscene that in this day and age, people have to use food banks to help support their families as the government don't provide the infrastructure to help those in need. I watched Daniel Blake last year and was incredibly moved by the food bank scene. I wanted to do something to help those in need but didn't know how I could help them directly. The best way I can see to help is to donate my time and any sponsorship I can gain." Any advice for future fundraisers on how to get donations through & prepare for your challenge? "I had chosen a flattering picture for my fundraising page, but it was only when I changed it to a mid run/sweaty and knackered picture that I started to get more sponsorship! So I think being honest if you're finding it difficult. You don't have to pretend to find the challenge easy. People seem more impressed if you're finding it hard!" A huge thank you to Bec, and indeed all the fundraisers on Localgiving who are raising money on behalf of local charities across the UK! If her answers have inspired you to fundraise for a local charity, why not sign up to do so? It’s really quick and easy to set up and fundraising page, and there are 1000s of great, local charities online at Localgiving for whom your support would be valuable.   For further information about fundraising, why not check out these other posts in our blog? Rod’s Top Tips for Running & Fun and Funds Wise Words from Alistair Still, Local Hero Champion 2016

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to an NGO for rescuing chained or caged dogs. Their Facebook page had sweet intros to all the animals awaiting adoption and featured photos of their daily activities at the rescue center. Over time, I got quite familiar with the dogs there just through their social media feed. Even though the organization is in a different state and I’ve never actually met the dogs, I felt a personal bond and continue to donate towards their well being, ever so often.   That bond is developed through the compelling power of storytelling. Well, sure, as a dog lover, I’ve always had a soft spot for those fuzzy goofballs. However, Storytelling can help get you build an emotional connection between the audience and any character by affecting their subconscious. Let’s have a look at how these subconscious effects come into play and the approach to making it work in marketing your charity. 1) Help the audience reach the conclusion One of the primary rules of storytelling is “Show; don’t tell”. Instead of stating facts about the good guy and the bad guy, the characters are introduced through their actions and decisions. We start to root for the protagonist because the story aligns our values and morals with whatever the protagonist is fighting for. Since the story guides our emotions through these subconscious decisions, the choice of which side we relate to doesn’t seem forced upon us. In a similar way, your charity has to let the audience come to the conclusion that you are working for something positive. Giving them facts and figures is fine but real-world examples allow them to decide whether they support your cause. 2. Offer a fresh take on a common story structure If you look closely at the overall story of classic books and movies, they are almost the same - a hero taking on something beyond their depth, a larger-than-life villain threatening to ruin the world forever and even parallel ups and downs of the characters as the hero journeys to save the world. But every time the storyteller gives their personal spin on the characters and what’s at stake in the world. This makes the audience stay hooked throughout. When it comes to your charity, come up with a fresh perspective to the problem so that people can imagine their contribution doing its part to lead to a better world. 3. Build trust through familiarity In stories, the protagonist is never someone very different from us. Even if the story is set in a different world or features characters that aren’t human, the storyteller gives them a touch of personality people can relate to. That is because when our brain encounters something familiar, it makes us comfortable. We are more likely to trust in someone that comes across as familiar. This subconscious effect is very important when it comes to building trust for your charity. Create a logo and an identity that people can recognise. Have an active social media presence and talk about the progress made through your activities. 4. Have stories of redemption to share A redemption arc is another classic storytelling element that makes the hero a star in our eyes - halfway through the story, the hero faces the main villain, loses the battle and, is often, left in a poor state. But being the hero, he doesn’t quit. The rise of the fallen hero makes us root for his cause even more. Share stories where your charity or someone you’ve worked with goes on against the insurmountable odds working against them. You gain more admiration for trying than for success. 5. Show how the world you are trying to fix is broken Storytellers make a point to drive home the bleak reality in store in case the protagonist fails. It is not a world people want to be a part of. In fact, it is made clear how the world will change and end up worse than how it was at the outset of the tale if the bad guy is not stopped. Projecting this dark future is important to ensure no one wants the villain to win. Of course, in the real world, the cause you’re working for might not be so dire. People will only be willing to do their bit if you make sure they can envision how bad things would be if you did nothing. Project the alternative and help the audience see how it will worsen the situation in the future. A lot more people will be willing to step up and do their part for your initiative. These subconscious effects are part of human thought and reaction. They have been used in storytelling for centuries to guide the audience’s emotional journey. Use these in your charity marketing to increase support for your cause. Augustus Franklin is the founder and CEO of CallHub, a California-based Voice and SMS service company bridging the communication gap for political campaigns and advocacy groups. When he is not working, he is either making toys with his kids or training for a marathon. If you enjoyed this article you may also like: 3 Ways Small Charities can get Expertise They Need for Free How to be a better donor in one easy step Developing a Fundraising Plan - Strategies and Ideas  

Local Hero 2017 has now come to an end. Thank you to everyone who participated in the campaign and a huge congratulations to those fundraisers who made it onto our leaderboard. The race was hard fought with participants jostling for position right until clock struck midnight on Monday 1st May. During the campaign 341 fundraisers raised £118k for 190 local charities and community groups from across the UK. We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s campaign is …  Adam Curtis Adam secured an impressive 261 unique sponsors, raising over £2000 for The Russell School plus an extra £1000 in prize money. £5,000 in prizes have been awarded to the causes supported by the top 20 fundraisers. A full list of our prize winners can be found on our leaderboard here. Participants have been ranked according to the number of unique online donors from whom they secured sponsorship throughout the month.  Once again, thank you all for making Local Hero 2017 such as success and remember, our next campaign, the Small Charities Week Match Fund, is just around the corner.  For advice on how to make the most of this campaign why not sign up to our webinars today!  

 The Big Heart Network - the North West's marketing skills and support network for charities and social enterprises - share their top Twitter tips  Do you feel overwhelmed by social media? Has it started to feel like a massive time suck? Maintaining a professional and productive online presence can be hard graft especially for organisations facing staff or budget constraints.  But take heart! We have four time-saving Twitter tips that will make you fall back in love with the social media channel that never stops tweeting.  Define your audience  Tweeting out great content all hours of the day and getting no interaction can be soul-destroying. So sit back and take stock.  Decide who you really want to reach. Are you keen to position your organisation as expert in its sector, do want to keep staff and volunteers up to date, attract the interest of the media or reach current supporters and potential donors?  Once you have zeroed in on the target audience, work out when they will be online for the best chance of your tweet being seen by them.  Use analytic tools available in Twitter or another app to confirm the optimum time through test tweets.  Content calendar  Trying to come up with new ideas every morning is stressful and the quality of the content does suffer.  Stop right now! Instead take time to construct a media calendar, populated with your organisation's events, campaigns, key occasions in your sector and external diary dates. Breaking news can be posted around these diaried events - instant inspiration and you will never forget to tweet about an important date ever again.  Curate rather create  It is hugely time-consuming to create enough original matter to populate a Twitter feed. The message becomes monotonous if your audience is only ever hearing one voice. So, to kill two birds with one stone follow the rule of thirds. For every original tweet, retweet another account and reply to someone else.  Using the quote retweet function allows you another 140 words to add a commentary to expand your thoughts on the original tweet.  The rule of thirds provides variety, additional value, encourages engagement as well as positions your organisation as a thought leader in its sector  A word of warning: make sure you only direct retweet trustworthy sources and read or watch links in their entirety to avoid any unpleasant surprises.  Time-saving tools  Don't get caught in the cycle of having to post tweets 'live'. Set aside some time to schedule a number of tweets in advance using tools such as Buffer or Hootsuite. It an especially efficient way to deal with diaried events from your content calendar.  In the same vein, Hootlet is a free browser plugin which allows you to immediately add shortened page URL and a message with the link's title to your Hootsuite schedule without having to open Hootsuite and copy the link across – great for quick curated content. Grace Dyke is Strategic Director at PR and Communications social enterprise, Yellow Jigsaw. The Yellow Jigsaw team manage PR and fundraising campaigns for regional and national charities, as well as managing the North West's only dedicated skills and support network for charities and social enterprises, the Big Heart Network.  Big Heart Network puts its heart and soul into helping charities and social enterprises. Contact us on hello@yellowjigsaw.co.uk and visit our page to see when the next lunch and learn social media sessions will be held. Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    Local Hero: The half way leaders are... Do you have the courage to let your supporters own their story? 7 digital tactics for small charities in volatile times      

We’ve reached the half way point of Local Hero 2017. Francesca and Rachel, who are raising funds for Friends of Hillside School, have stretched their lead to 16 points raising £1875 in the process  – a strong but by no means unassailable lead. Meanwhile, the chasing pack is becoming increasingly concertinaed. Just 15 points (donations) currently separate 7th to 20th place. Each week we are inspired by the creativity and energy put in by our Local Heroes. This week is no exception. Here are some of our highlights from week 3: Fundraising is an art! Charlotte Clark is creating a bespoke piece of wall art to be exhibited as a permanent fixture in the Clifton Community Arts Centre. She will be incorporating the artwork of local community groups such as schools and charities.  Knit you usual challenge Avid knitters from the "Made to give......with love" group in Plymouth  are  getting sponsored to knit links. These links will be built into a chain which will be measured in September.  All funds go to Jeremiah's Journey. Digital detox  These days detoxes take all types  - for Anoushka Yeoh and friends going without screens for a day is the hardest challenge of all!  Tour de France Force After conquering Kilimanjaro in 2017, Lynda Dean and the wider Sporting Family Change Team are at it again – this time cycling mighty 240 Miles from Bath to Paris!  “…Even if we’re just dancing in the dark…” Julia Fletcher is hosting on an energetic night of glow sticks and Lycra for Basingstoke group,  Helping Hands for the Blind. Fundraising from 10,000 feet above! 6 brave souls will be jumping out of a plane in a tandem skydive for Oxford Cruse, which provides free bereavement support and counselling to people in Oxfordshire. If you’ve got stirring story or a creative challenge why not get in touch! Until next week, happy fundraising!  

At the start of Week 2 early leader, Martin Green was usurped after an extraordinary overtaking manoeuvre from Francesca Ferrari and Rachel  who ran the Brighton Marathon for Friends of Hillside School on Sunday. However, Team Hillside will have to really keep an eye on their mirrors to avoid losing top-spot to the fast encroaching Lucy Hayre who is running the Sheffield Half Marathon for survivors of depression in transition After 11 days of Local Hero 2017, the campaign has 205 fundraisers taking part representing 135 group. As things stand a fundraiser needs  just 18 unique donors to make it onto the leaderboard. So why not join in the fun today?   As well as updating you on our leaders, each week during the campaign we’ll highlight some of the fundraiser pages that have caught our attention. Below are this week's heroes! 7runners:  1 cause – 7 people  are running the Hackney Half Marathon to raise money for our Gendered Intelligence’s annual trans youth camping trip. Watch their promotional video here.  Daring to be Dairy Free - Meghan Gilleece is going Vegan for April in support of North Belfast based community garden charity Grow. Hair today, gone tomorrow – 12 year old Evi Hudson is chopping off her lovely locks in support of cancer charity Yeleni Therapy & Support. Weight loss and weightlessness  - Joseph Cornford-Hutchings is completing a tandem skydive  for Snowflake Night Shelter in Hastings and St. Leonards. Lets get Regina O'Reilly snowed under by Funders! Regina is running the gruelling North Pole Marathon for the Heart of Experian Charity Fund. If you’ve got stirring story or a creative challenge why not get in touch! Until next week, happy fundraising!    

Rebecca Gibson, Development Manager the Archway Project, explains how they use digital tools to support their fundraising activities. What is the Archway Project? The Archway Project will transform the learning facilities at the Roman Baths. It consists of three elements: A new learning centre that includes a pioneering Investigation Zone set among in-situ Roman remains A new World Heritage Centre for Bath that will enthuse everyone to explore our special city An extension to the Roman Baths - currently, a sauna (called a laconicum) is hidden behind two non-descript wooden doors. These doors will disappear, and visitors to the Baths will be able to enjoy it. These will open in 2019.   Why is the Archway Project important? The learning facilities at the Roman Baths are over-subscribed and inadequate for the needs of 21st century learners. There is also nowhere for people to learn about why Bath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Finally, some of the Roman archaeology and collections are under threat if they are not cared for. The Archway Project will address all these needs simultaneously. What is the sponsor a tile appeal? Donors can leave their own individual mark and message of support on a virtual tile. The marks are inspired by our collection of Roman ceramic building materials – box tiles and bricks. The box tiles were used to construct the Great Bath’s roof. Builders marked the surface of the actual tiles with wooden combs, to help the mortar stick. One of the bricks in our collection, similar to those that feature in the laconicum floor, features a dog’s paw print. Who is leading the appeal? The Roman Baths Foundation is an independent charity, whose purpose is to support learning and conservation at the Roman Baths through fundraising and advocacy. Fundraising for the Archway Project is its first task. Rebecca Gibson, Development Manager, is leading the fundraising drive for the Archway Project. Rebecca says: “Sponsor a tile is the first time the Foundation has used a digital platform to raise funds. Local Giving and platform developers Considered Creative worked closely together to help us create it. We wanted something dynamic that would appeal to local residents. With Local Giving’s and Considered Creative’s support, we have achieved that. Now we are working on promoting it.” How do I sponsor a tile? Sponsoring a tile is easy and low-cost. You can sponsor a tile here from £5. How do I find out more about the Archway Project? There is lots of information about the project on the Roman Baths website or you can contact Rebecca directly at archway@bathnes.gov.uk Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    Local Hero 2017: Let the Race Begin  How to be a better donor in one easy step Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society Image:  Rebecca Gibson, Development Manager, standing next to the Laconicum, which will be open to the public in 2019.

We’re just days into Local Hero 2017 but the race is already heating up.  Taking an early lead with 39 points is Martin Green who recently ran the Manchester marathon dressed as a Phoenix Nights Style Michael Jackson. Martin is fundraising for the The Riff Raff Society - a Manchester based organisation that provides funding and community support for mancunians in need. Infact, fundraisers for The Riff Raff society are currently filling all three Local Hero podium positions! We're thrilled to see Martin's off the wall antics doing so well - but remember there is still plenty of time to beat it. If you wanna be starting something why not sign up as a fundraiser now! You'll automatically be included in Local Hero 2017. As well as updating you on our leaders, each week during the campaign we’ll highlight some of the fundraiser pages that have caught our attention. Below are this week's heroes! An easter without chocolate! Daily chocolate devourer, Paul Belsey, is giving up chocolate for the whole month of April in support of Muffin's Dream Foundation. To bee or net tu-be? - Fundraising is all about creating a buzz. These Tennis2Be fundraisers will be hovering around London's tube stations to show that tennis can be played anywhere, anytime! I would walk 500 Miles and I would walk 500 more Nicky Handcock is walking 1000 miles including the whole London Loop for Richmond and Kingston ME Group. These girls have fire in their bellies! A This Girl Can team are competing in the Bradford Lord Mayor's Appeal Dragon Boat Festival for Young Minds. Woah - thats a beard and a half! Four years after having a stroke, Alex has transformed himself into a regular half marathon runner. Alex is now running the Yorkshire double in support of Leeds and District ABC support group - and this time he'll be dragging a little extra weight from his chin.  If you’ve got stirring story or a creative challenge why not get in touch! Until next week, happy fundraising!