The Small Charities' Collection

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If you work in a small charity or are part of a small fundraising team, it can be difficult to find time to develop yourself and your fundraising activities. We have created a collection of new resources to help you excel in your fundraising and in your personal development.

We understand that small charities often have much smaller teams, budgets, capacity and supporter bases, as well as the importance of the role that small charities play in our civil society, and we want to help small charities, sole fundraisers and small fundraising teams.   

Open-access resources, guidance and templates

We have a collection of new resources, guides and templates that are free to access, these have been created by our teams and our expert partners.

With small charities and small fundraising teams in mind, these resources cover a range of topics such as career development, legal and safe fundraising, how to work with creatives, how to grow your voluntary income and much more. Take a look and see what there is to support your work and your development.   

We also have a library full of resources and guidance on a range of topics relevant to fundraising.   

If you can’t find the information you need or have an idea for new guidance or a resource, please get in touch and share your idea.   

You can get more support, resources and guidance when you become a member of the Chartered Institute. Individual membership is £9.75 a month, and organisational membership starts at £225 and includes access for all of your fundraisers. If your charity's voluntary income is less than £50,000 a year, then organisational membership is free! If you meet the criteria for complimentary membership, please take a moment to complete this brief charity application form. Once submitted, our team will review your application and follow up with you shortly.

Whether you are an individual fundraising professional, a charitable organisation or a company working with the charitable sector, you will benefit from becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

Find out more about membership.

Personal Professional Development

Read: How to find your fundraising tribe

Having a good support network is a vital yet sometimes overlooked part of any job. We enjoy our work more when we feel happy and supported, and we work better, too.

Read: Five steps for career progression in a small charity

If you work as a fundraiser for a small charity, you’ll know it can be both challenging and exhilarating. When the time comes to take your career up a level, you might wonder how you can do that. 

Infographic: How to go from stressed to success by managing your workload in a small charity

If you're a fundraiser - you're busy. We know that you have an overflowing to-do list, plenty of emails to respond to, and lots of people who need your support. Don't let a busy workload lead to burnout - here's how to go from stressed to success.

Fundraising Templates

Read and download: How to develop a fundraising strategy, with a template

Developing a well-thought-out fundraising strategy is essential for small charities to achieve their financial goals and sustain their mission. This is our guide on how to create a fundraising strategy.

Read and download: How to write a top-notch fundraising job advert, with a template

When you need to grow your fundraising team, writing a good job advert will help you attract the talent you're looking for.

Read and download: How to work with a photographer, with a template

Working with a professional photographer can significantly enhance the impact of your communications and fundraising campaigns. Here's our tips and a template for producing a brief for a photographer.

Read and download: How to work with a designer, with a template

Collaborating with a creative design professional can bring numerous advantages to fundraisers in small charities. Here's our tips and a template for producing a creative brief for a designer.

Read and download: How to work with a film company, with a template

Charities need to make the most of producing film and animation to support their fundraising campaigns. Here's a guide of what to think about when working with a film company to maximise your efforts.

How-to Guides

Read: How to make your fundraising legal and compliant

Fundraising is an integral part of a charity’s ability to further its charitable purposes. But fundraising can also be fraught with regulatory obstacles and challenges, especially for small charities.

Read and download: How to pick a CRM for your charity

A CRM is a database that charities use when they’ve outgrown spreadsheets and are struggling to manage their data. There are lots to choose from, here's our guide for small charities, to help you pick one that is right for your organisation.

Read: How to secure a Charity of the Year partnership

If you're a fundraiser in a small charity and you want to secure a Charity of the Year partnership, this guide is a comprehensive look at how you can get from a blank page to securing a partnership.

Infographic: How to make the most of the latest Charity of the Year insights

Charity of the Year partnerships appeal to fundraisers because they are all about companies making cash donations to good causes. Here are some insights on the latest trends, which can help small charities to secure a partnership.

Read: How to get funding for your charity film

Everyday donors are seeing lots of video content from a huge range of different sources and on a variety of platforms. Many fundraisers know that producing and using video content should be a key part of their approach, but what can you do if you don’t have budget for video production?

Read: How to make the most of user-generated content

User-generated content can be a game-changer for charities, allowing you to connect with your supporters without needing huge budgets. Find out how you can engage supporters to produce content that you can use in your fundraising activities.

Read: How to innovate in a small charity

Fundraisers in small charities can be the best-placed to drive through innovation and boost creativity. Here are three ways you can start to think about innovation and embedding it into your small charity.

Read: How to maximise Giving Tuesday as a small charity

Giving Tuesday takes place in December and is a global day of giving. How can small charities tap into this wave of generosity? Here’s our tips on how small charities can take part in Giving Tuesday and boost engagement to maximise donations on the day.

Member-only Resources You Might Like

The following resources are just some of the many guides that are available to individual and organisational members of the Chartered Institute.

Become a member

Join the Chartered Institute to get access to these resources, and a whole lot more
Join today

In-depth Guide: Working with volunteer fundraisers

Volunteer fundraising is hugely important to charities. This guide will tell you all about how to work with volunteer fundraisers, support them and make the most of their support.

Read: Inspiring MPs to champion charitable giving

We have created a guide for fundraisers, on how you can encourage MPs to support charitable giving in their constituencies.

Read: How to get access to free counselling support and more for your wellbeing

Individual members of the Chartered Institute can get free access to the Wisdom app, which offers 24/7/365 counselling support, and more to support your mental and physical wellbeing. Plus, find out about discounts and savings that can help you with your wellbeing.

Read: The essentials of working with a creative team, from a design insider

With 17 years of experience working with some of the biggest charity brands, Letitica Credido knows how to take your fundraising campaign idea and turn it into creative materials that deliver your message to donors. Here, find out answers to the questions you might be wondering about working with a designer and creative team. 

Read: Ready for a new fundraising challenge? Here’s how to make the move

if you're looking to move from one area of fundraising to another, here's some expert guidance from CharityJob on how to present your skills and knowledge to help make a move. 

Read and download: Working with your delivery teams to report on fundraising impact

Here are four steps and a downloadable checklist to make sure you are maximising the relationships you have with your delivery teams, so you can get insight and intel from them to support your impact reporting, created in partnership with Elovate. 

Become a member

Join the Chartered Institute to get access to these resources, and a whole lot more
Join today
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