Northern Fundraising Conference

We're delighted to bring you a panel discussion featuring Manchester Fareshare and Liverpool Football Club Foundation. Both organisations have been at the heart of the national charity discussion in the north in 2020 and are looking forward to sharing their unique experiences with conference delegates. From the brilliant efforts of Marcus Rashford in helping to combat child food poverty to Jordan Henderson coordinating premier league support for NHS Charities Together, this is a story of the power of sport and charities together to change the world. From the global to the local, this session will cover our theme of fundraising on a journey and discuss the four strands of our conference: Future Proofing, Reviewing, Collaborating and Wellbeing.

Speakers: 

Matt Parish, Foundation Director, LFC Foundation

Miranda Kaunang, Head of Development, FareShare Greater Manchester

Moderator: James Davis, Committee Member, Northern Fundraising Conference

Whilst 2020 was a challenging year for many reasons, with the coronavirus pandemic casting a dark cloud over the charity sector, one silver lining has been the innovative and exciting fundraising campaigns that charities have developed. The sector responded with some incredible fundraising campaigns; West End performances broadcast to people’s homes, Premier League legends doing keepy-ups for hospice care and text giving becoming a cash alternative in a socially distanced world.

More than 3,000 charities used Donr’s Text Giving platform to provide supporters with a quick, easy and contactless method of donation in 2020. As a result, donations were up over 500% from 2019, with charities breaking the £3 Million barrier.

In this session, Donr will be joined by some fantastic northern charities to celebrate some of the best text donation success stories of 2020. Providing valuable information and inspiration to carry into your own digital fundraising strategy for 2021.

Speakers: Bradley French, Fundraising Innovation Manager, Donr

Samantha Lade, Senior Project Manager, Donr

Julie Platt, Fundraising Manager, Chester Zoo

• How did lockdown impact your fundraising? 
• What steps did you take to identify new income streams and take the risk to develop them? 
• Digital was a crucial to a lot of your plans, how did you avoid donor-fatigue in this space? 
• Providing great supporter experience made the difference between a good project becoming a great one, how will this inform your future fundraising? 

Speakers: Sarah Shooter, Head of Development, Theatre Royal Wakefield

Sofi Lundgren, Director of Development and Communications, Thackray Museum of Medicine

Catherine Kirkham, Individual Giving Officer, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Moderator: Jindy Pal, Senior Consultant, THINK Consulting Solutions

What barriers do we face as charities and community fundraising...are you collaborating, creating partnerships, community spirit, working & learning together amongst a wide diverse community? In our Building Bridges session we want to discuss the ways you can open doors and build new relationships with diverse communities. Focusing on developing connections and inclusive volunteering opportunities amongst a diverse network, to expand your charity awareness and donor relationships.

Speaker: Angela Vyas, Community Fundraiser, Yorkshire Air Ambulance

• You both saw the impact lockdown was having on fundraisers and resolved to mitigate it, can you give an overview of how you achieved this on a personal and organisational level?
• With the benefit of hindsight, what did you learn from this and would you have changed anything?
• We saw that safe, non-hierarchical spaces were vital in facilitating honest, collaborative, and constructive support, how do see this developing in the future?
• As we phase out of lockdown, what are your plans to keep wellbeing on the fundraising world’s agenda?

Speakers: Lucy Leeming, Fundraising Manager, St Ann's Hospice

Nikki Wrench, Family Engagement Manager, Make-A-Wish UK 

Moderator: Dan Fluskey, Head of Policy, Chartered Institute of Fundraising

We will be joined by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. 

Covid has increased Will writing by 30%. Legacy income to charities has doubled in 15 years. And due to do so again! Donations are forecast to drop. 50%+ of baby boomers are putting charities of all sizes in their Will - local ones in particular! What an awesome moment to spring into sustained action. This session will give you everything you need and the cost might even be a big £0.

Speaker: Richard Radcliffe, Founder, Radcliffe Consulting

• Community fundraising was one of hardest hit in lockdown, how did you adapt? 
• How did insight inform your strategic and day to day activities? 
• Stewarding supporters through the pandemic was challenging, what did it teach you about them? 
• What role will digital play in your future fundraising calendar? 

Speakers: Rebecca King, Events and Community Fundraising Manager, Crisis

Debbie Coulson, Director of Income Generation, Teesside Hospice

Chloe Jones, Fundraising Officer, Autism Together

Lisa Russell, Associate Partner, THINK Consulting Solutions 

Moderator: Angela Vyas, Community Fundraiser, Yorkshire Air Ambulance

• How did you develop a shared value partnership to help you meet the objectives of you and your partner?
• How did you go about understanding your partner's capacity and processes to ensure smooth collaboration? 
• What steps did you take to build a relationship that allowed for opportunities for frank discussions? 
• Demonstrating your partnership's impact it vital, how did you do this in lockdown and what are your plans to do this in the future?

Speakers: Holli Kellet, Lead Account Manager, CLIC Sargent

Audrey Tietz, Account Manager, Young Minds

Kevin Rimmer, Regional Operations Manager, Wickes

Nathan Dennis, Trustee, First Class Foundation

Moderator: Amit Aggarwal, Consultant, More Partnership

Speaker: Claire Warner, Consultant and Mentor

Dr Haseeb Shabbir, Senior Lecturer at University of Hull will close the conference with an uplifting, hopeful and inspiring presentation on : Solidarity, Care and Inclusivity as the Future of Fundraising

Vulnerable leadership takes time and effort – and can be transformative for the self and others. Leading with vulnerability involves knowing ourselves and being open to our emotions, acting with empathy and addressing issues of power and privilege.
Join this session to understand the different aspects of being a vulnerable leader and the benefits this can bring to yourself, the teams you lead and organisations you work in and the charity sector as a whole. Learn practical ways and identify the challenges of leading with vulnerability and embracing this changing way of leadership, something that feels especially important right now when the fundraising sector is under such pressure and uncertainty.
 

Speaker: Karen Bolton, Fundraising Consultant and Person-Centred Counsellor

Exploring the importance of growth mindset; how the mind works and how you can make it work more effectively to meet your goals. This session will offer practical tools for teams and leaders looking to reach higher levels of performance in the workplace. Whether you are looking to boost productivity or instil a new positive culture within your organisation, this workshop will provide a selection of tools to meet your needs.

Speaker: Kate Duffy, Director, Junction Point UK

Often we do not run the race because before we reach the tracks we become disqualified. But then we see and hear of those who had a set of worse circumstances than we did and finished the race. It should cause us to go back and check if indeed we were disqualified.
 

Speaker: Ije McDougall, Founder, The Kairos Initiative

Whilst it is important to communicate your message to supporters, it is equally (if not more so) important to listen, and listen actively and understand what makes them ‘tick’. In this session, we'll explore how to improve and use your listening skills to build better relationships, make more targeted approaches, and enjoy your fundraising more! As well as the principles of good listening and a chance to have a go yourself, this session will cover some examples of how to put it into action with different audiences.

Speaker: Lindsay Harrod, Consultancy and Development Manager, The Foundation for Social Improvement

With more charities filming content on their phone and using footage captured by beneficiaries, we want to help to get the best results possible. Using real example and practical steps, our session will be broken into 3 key stages: Pre-production - ensuring there is clear messaging and a plan for the film. Production - how to coach people to capture usable footage and the technical requirements for high-quality material. Post-production - how to edit and put the film together.

Speaker: Emma Bracegirdle, Co-founder, The Saltways

Poverty Proofing ensures all aspects of work in schools, cultural organisations, health settings and charities offer accessible and universal programmes that do not inadvertently disadvantage or stigmatise those that are caught in the poverty trap. Following the national success of the Poverty Proofing programmes led by regional charity Children North East, this session will explore how the voice of babies, children and their families informs a collaborative approach to fundraising by offering an ethos that ensures fundraising opportunities are accessible to all in society, no matter how much financial resource they have. As well as identifying challenges for those in poverty we will share practical ways to overcome these challenges, allowing for future proofing of inclusive fundraising strategies and practices.

Speakers: Luke Bramhall, School Research and Delivery Service Manager, Children North East
Catriona Taylor, Head of Communications and Fundraising, Children North East

You may know how to network but how do you go from online networking to collaborating? This session draws upon my experience of collaborating through #CharityHour. I partner with others on themes, facilitate a weekly chat for the charity sector where we learn together and ensure community spirit by engaging. In this session, I will cover my top tips for collaborating, how to overcome obstacles (such as non-response or getting buy-in) and talk about making yourself known for working with others.

Speaker: Tahera Mayat, Host of #CharityHour (Social Media Manager), Harrison Mann

We all want to hit those major gift targets but does ‘prospecting’, ‘cultivating’ and ‘stewarding’ really raise more large gifts?
What do philanthropists think about this process?
Do we always need to be building up to that next big ask?
In this session you’ll be introduced to a new model. You’ll hear the perspective of philanthropists and how other charities are putting this approach into practice and getting great results. You’ll leave with practical tips that will help you build stronger relationships and deeper connections with your major donors - so that ultimately they give more and for longer.
 

Speaker: Louise Morris, Major Donor Specialist, Summit Fundraising Ltd.

Are you unsure how to work with your Trustees to grow major gift fundraising? Perhaps your trustees seem apprehensive about being asked to open their networks and help find new major donors? Do you want to feel more confident working with your trustees to grow this income stream, particularly in these uncertain times?
Collaboration with trustees is a vital part of major donor fundraising. This session will help you discover the enjoyment that can come from working with your trustees to secure more big gifts. We’ll draw upon our experience as fundraisers, fundraising leaders, being trustees and working with over 500 charities to give you practical ways to facilitate peer to peer fundraising and grow major gift income.
 

Speaker: Charly White, Coach and Trainer, Vivid Leadership Ltd