Strong relationships between charity trustees and fundraisers are built on trust, communication and mutual understanding. Jonathan Levy, Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF) Trustee, face-to-face fundraising specialist and founder of The Fundraising Inspector, shares how his experience in street, private site and door-to-door fundraising has shaped his approach to leadership and governance. Jonathan explores how fundraisers and trustees can work more effectively together and why fundraising professionals should consider becoming trustees themselves.
"From an early stage in my career, I’ve heard many fundraisers slam their trustees as if they’re outright incompetent. I feel there’s often an unfortunate lack of cohesion between the two parties; many trustees are highly competent and really wanting to help, and I feel that fundraisers sometimes don’t make enough effort to get to know and develop relationships with their trustees.
"Yes, some trustees can be difficult and maybe unrealistic, but I strongly believe that trustees often get more flak than they deserve."
"My greatest love of fundraising is the face-to-face approach; fundraisers working on a street, private site, or door-to-door.
"These are fast-paced interactions involving a huge amount of rejection each day. Achieving success requires quickly building rapport and trust, active listening, strong communication skills and genuine resilience amongst other things.
"These are great qualities in leadership. I don’t like buzzwords, my approach to leadership is direct and about making everyone feel valued and part of a winning team.
"We’re people before postholders and everyone matters."
Providing a listening ear where appropriate, taking time to learn about fundraising rules and regulations, asking how you can help, placing trust in staff, recognizing that things take time and offering to share contacts and potential developmental opportunities
Take a good look into what being a trustee entails. I think it’s a real shame that from my experience many fundraisers don’t understand the role of trustees, even if they think they do, so my advice is to ask questions, not only about what trusteeship but also about individual motivations. Both fundraisers and trustees have a fantastic array of skills, talents, and reasons for why they do what they do.
I first became a trustee at the age of 22, some 13 years ago now, and I can honestly say that trusteeship has unexpectedly been one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I’ve given a lot but gained so much back. Many people are put off from trusteeship because they don’t realise how much they have to offer.
We need more fundraisers on board, so if you feel the time is right, find a cause that matters to you and believe in the value and diverse perspectives you can bring.
Jonathan's reflections offer a reminder that strong working relationships begin with curiosity and a willingness to understand another person's perspective.
For fundraisers, that might mean learning more about trustees' responsibilities and motivations. For trustees, it could mean taking time to understand the realities of fundraising, listening to professional expertise and recognising the skills fundraising teams bring to their organisations.
These are the conversations at the heart of our Trustees’ Week campaign, Better Conversations, Stronger Fundraising.
Explore more perspectives from CIOF trustees, staff, and insights from our fundraising community.
