By Lucy Hiorns, strategic fundraising consultant at The Charity Spark. Sponsored content from The Charity Spark.
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend recently. He’s the CEO of a very innovative, medium-sized charity that provides services. As we watched our little ones play together, I asked how things were going at work.
At one point he mentioned fundraising. My ears pricked up. Was he asking for my advice?
I prepared myself to answer his questions, and then realised he wasn’t looking for advice at all.
His charity delivers vital services in the community. Income is healthy, and they’re growing all the time. They’ve never really thought of themselves as needing to “do fundraising.” Then, out of the blue, they received an anonymous £30,000 donation.
His conclusion was simple: it was a nice surprise, but they already had an income model that worked. Why bother investing time and energy in fundraising when they didn’t really need to?
“Rather than do lots of fundraising,” he said, “what we really need is to build awareness. People just need to understand how vital our services are.”
He wasn’t wrong – awareness building is a critical strand of a good fundraising strategy. But a strand none the less, and on its own not enough to maximise an organisation’s fundraising potential.
This conversation reminded me of conversations I’ve had with other leaders of not-for-profits; I think it reveals something important about how fundraising is often understood by leaders in the sector – especially when income feels stable.
A diverse income strategy is rarely just a ‘nice to have’
When income is strong, diversification can feel optional. This is often true for charities that earn most of their income through service delivery or rely on a steady pipeline of statutory funding.
But overreliance on any single income source is always risky. Government policy shifts. Funding pots dry up. Costs rise. New competitors enter the space. We saw during COVID-19 how quickly face-to-face and event fundraising could be switched off overnight. And these changes can happen quickly, destabilising what once felt secure.
A diverse income strategy, by contrast, gives organisations options, flexibility, and that vital buffer against forces they can’t control. From a leadership perspective, rather than asking “Do we need fundraising right now?”, a more strategic question might be:
“What would safeguard our income five or ten years from now?”
In fundraising, information is power
That £30,000 donation may have felt like it dropped out of the sky, but it didn’t. It reflects a deliberate relationship, built on trust, shared values, and a reputation the funder could rely on.
Of course, the money will be put to good use. But it also offers valuable insight. Understanding more about the donor, and what specifically motivated them to give, could be incredibly powerful.
Even if the charity decides not to pursue fundraising any further, understanding donor motivation, especially behind a significant gift, is useful strategic intelligence for any leadership team thinking about long-term sustainability.
Knowing my friend, I suspect his strong, charismatic leadership and aptitude at telling the story played a key role. And if the charity’s leadership and reputation inspired that generosity, that’s something worth understanding – even if they don’t go down the route of adopting a formal fundraising strategy.
Fundraising pays off… when it’s done strategically – caution is healthy, avoidance/inaction is not
In the charity sector, there are rarely spare resources. But when done well, fundraising is a sound investment of both time and income – even, arguably especially, when resources are tight.
My friend’s instinctive caution about fundraising is a healthy one. Not all income is worth pursuing.
I’ve seen organisations pour enormous energy into activities that raise modest sums but absorb countless staff or volunteer hours. A community fundraiser that brings in £400 but takes weeks of planning may feel positive, but it’s unlikely to be strategic.
Good fundraising pays for itself. Strategic fundraising requires careful, reasoned choices – including knowing what not to do. Those decisions should be informed by data, a deep understanding of the organisation, and insight into the wider fundraising landscape. And it certainly won’t look the same for every charity.
That kind of clarity requires experience, discipline, and – dare I say it – sometimes a helpful outside perspective.
Awareness alone does not drive giving
One of the most common assumptions we hear from leaders is:
“If people just understood what we do, they would care.”
But understanding isn’t the same as connection.
People give because something moves them – because they see their own values, stories, or hopes reflected in the cause. They give because they see a genuine need, and usually because someone makes a clear, compelling ask.
Awareness might open the door, but awareness alone won’t drive successful fundraising.
Instead of starting with “What do we need people to know?”, a more powerful set of questions might begin with: “Who already cares about our cause – and why?”
It’s a subtle shift, but beginning to focus on the donor, and on where you already have organic interest and momentum – can change everything. Fundraising isn’t about noise; it’s about stewardship, relationships and long-term resilience.
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