Community Fundraising for Practitioners (31-Oct-25)

Community Fundraising
31 October 2025
10:00AM to 04:30PM

Individual Prices

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Package Type Available To Price
Non-Individual Member Fee All Days Non Individual Members £272
Individual Member Fee All Days Individual Members £207

Community fundraising is about getting people involved, and supporting, assisting, advising and guiding those individuals & organisations who want to help you by raising money.

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Done well, community fundraising it can be a powerful tool for reaching out and engaging with new as well as existing supporters, as well as a solid source of long-term income. This course will be invaluable to fundraising practitioners as it will help you to maximise the opportunities that raising money from the community presents. In addition, it will provide an update on how organisations are pivoting their community engagement activities and operating in a hybrid environment. It’s a must for anyone who wants to be an effective community fundraiser in the current times.

Who should attend?

This is an entry level course aimed at individuals who have been working in a community fundraising role for between 1month to 2 years.

Benefits for you and your organisation
  • Recognise the benefits of community fundraising and the different roles people can play in it
  • Consider what activities your own organisation could run
  • Identify current supporters and those in the wider community who can be involved and in what way
  • Understand motivations - why people and organisations get involved and what’s important to them
  • Appreciate the value of community fundraising as an acquisition method and a way to engage with potential and current supporters
  • Understand the importance of thanking in the re-engagement process
  • Understand the importance of appropriate targets to ensure activities and events achieve what was intended financially and in other ways
  • Understand appropriate legalities/Code of Fundraising Practice and know where to source information
By the end of the course you will be able to:

This course will help you understand how to work effectively with volunteer fundraisers and your team to ensure community fundraising activities run smoothly and successfully.  It will enable you to develop relevant skills and knowledge whilst at the same time build your confidence. The knowledge you gain will assist you to contribute to a well-planned and professionally implemented community fundraising programme which can be critical to your organisation's fundraising success, attract new supporters and play a significant role in how your charity and cause are perceived. All of which are vital to fundraising within your organisation. 

What's covered in the course
  • What is community fundraising?
  • Consider the range and types of activities used in community fundraising – virtual and in-person
  • Importance of volunteer fundraisers
  • Working with volunteers and support groups – understanding motivations, group formation and overcoming with problems
  • Supporting those fundraising for your organisation
  • Getting started
  • Getting community organisations involved
  • Essential skills – networking, target setting, event management, planning
  • Consideration of and signposting to key information such as legalities/Code of Fundraising Practise

We also offer a community fundraising course at management level. 

 

About your trainer

Sam Rider

Sam has over 25 years’ experience of leading both large and small fundraising teams for national, international and regional charities. Having worked as a Fundraising Director and CEO she has developed and delivered substantial growth strategies across all income streams from fundraising, retail, commissioning and social enterprises. She has fronted national appeals personally securing six figure gifts, set up new organisations, lead charity merges and held Trustee positions.

As well as being a course leader for CIOF, Sam also co-wrote the first UK Degree in Fundraising at Chichester University, the MA in Philanthropy at Kent University, has written a DSC Community Fundraising book and is Associate Editor of the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing. Sam has also helped design the assessment process for fundraising apprenticeships and is a qualified end point assessor.

The live virtual training experience

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising's live virtual training is delivered by trainers who are leading experts in their chosen discipline. Each virtual course has been especially designed to deliver a rich virtual learning experience. Your course will feature:

Technology requirements

The course is being delivered via the online platform zoom. To enable you to interact with your tutor and your class you will need to have access to a microphone (or access to a landline phone) and ideally have a working video link via a camera. To test compatibility with your system, you can join a test meeting via this link https://zoom.us/test

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