What role in fundraising should small charity Trustees play?

Many of Minerva’s clients – past and present – are not only small but are charities run mainly, or exclusively, by volunteers. Very few have the funds to pay for a salaried fundraising professional, and many struggle to pay consultants’ fees for even one or 2 days per month.

In this harsh economic climate, a Minerva contract of 2 days per month over a year is unlikely to be able to cover more than a grant-making trust (GMT) campaign and some applications to the National Lottery.

Valuable as support from GMTs and the Lottery is, the other sources of funding – corporate, high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, regular supporter giving and fundraising events – should not be ignored. And this is where Trustees come in !

Sadly there are fewer young trustees around than we would like ideally. But there is a silver lining to this cloud: older trustees will have developed business and personal contacts over the years which they can and should use for their charity’s benefit. Examples of this are:

• Corporate: trustees who hold – or have held – senior business positions will understand corporate attitudes to charity support. In particular they will know the opportunities to be explored besides cash gifts, eg. payroll giving; gifts-in-kind; expert support; and employees’ voluntary fundraising
• HNW individuals: contrary to the views held in some quarters, HNW individuals are often very generous and frequently open to unsolicited approaches. These approaches are much more likely to succeed if they are made by a Trustee of the charity who knows the individual personally or is a member of a club or forum to which the HNW person also belongs
• Supporter giving needs personal contact – one-to-one or group meetings/briefings to encourage regular giving. Such briefings are time-consuming to organise and deliver, and are therefore probably beyond the resources of a small charity’s equally small executive (often 1.5 FTE or less). But Trustees who are prepared to devote some key time to setting up these events will ensure that they can go ahead – and be successful !
• Fundraising events: volunteers love to organise fundraising events and unselfishly devote much time to these. But they often overlook the fact that the aim of a fundraising event is to raise funds, not to publicise the charity or “have a good time” – although both these activities are beneficial spin-offs. Trustees, especially those within a business of professional charity background, are able to bring a degree of reality and effectiveness into events so that they raise money, first and foremost.

The message to small charity Trustees is clear: if you are not involved in fundraising, you should be!