Date:

August 2021

Key Areas Covered:

• How to develop major donor programmes

• How to diversify funding streams

• How to increase funding generally

Key Takeaways:

• Using a CRM system can be extremely helpful in tracking and managing relationships with funders and potential funders

• Utilise your Trustees and their network

• Hold small, intimate dinners with Trustees and potential funders

• Ensure communication with funders is personal and not generic (e.g. mailing lists)

Date:

September 2021

Key Areas Covered:

• How to engage more young people in conservation work

• How to include young people in decision making processes

Key Takeaways:

• Encourage young people to give feedback / attend events etc. using incentives such as certificates, qualifications and prizes

• Run competitions or provide opportunities for work experience where possible

• Ensure that you don’t just listen to the loudest voice in the room; everyone should get the opportunity to speak (e.g. on a Youth Board)

Date:

September 2021

Key Areas Covered:

• Why are many people not sufficiently aware or educated on the biodiversity crisis?

• How do we better bridge the gap between people and nature?

Key Takeaways:

• Educational programmes are an extremely useful tool in providing opportunities for people to learn more

• Try to break out of the ‘conservation silo’ - connected with academic institutions, creatives, businesses etc.

• Ensuring learning about and experiencing conservation is not a luxury, and is something that everyone can achieve

• Climate and eco-anxiety is increasingly an issues, should charities engage more with this?

Date:

April 2022

Key Areas Covered:

• Increasing core funding

• The difficulties of hiring fundraisers

Key Takeaways:

• If you are struggling with hiring, consider 'new to sector' applicants or those who have taken a period of time off

• To increase exposure to potential funders, utilise your Trustees network and set up a JustGiving page

• To increase core funding, invest your time carefully, set up a legacy programme, and host educational events

Date:

June 2022

Key Areas Covered:

• How to improve and encourage collaboration between charities, corporate partners, volunteers, and more!

Key Takeaways:

• If possible, ask your close supporters (individuals or corporate partners) to run their own events introducing your charity to their peers

• Intimate group sizes at events help to forge stronger connections

• When approaching funders (particularly Trusts and Foundations) it is best to build a relationship first, rather than approaching directly for funding

Date:

November 2022

Key Areas Covered:

• This session provided an opportunity for our charity partners to ask questions directly to a panel of funders from varied funding backgrounds

Key Takeaways:

• There is no perfect way to measure impact and outcome, but it’s important to show that it’s something you are doing, working on and looking to develop

• Funders should utilise their network more to encourage their peers to give more to charities

• Use crowd funding to spread awareness about your charity

• A key trend in the charity and philanthropy sector is the intersection of the climate crisis with the biodiversity sector

Date:

November 2022

Key Areas Covered:

• The overarching question of this webinar was ‘ To what extent do / should charitable organisations allow potential green (or social!) washing when it comes to fundraising? ‘

Key Takeaways:

• Having an ethical fundraising policy is extremely useful in reducing the difficulty of making decisions on whether or not to accept funding from a funder who’s value may not be aligned with your own

• It is important to put the onus on the funder to demonstrate how they meet your values

• It is often useful to involve the wider team in making decisions on certain funders, to ensure everyone is happy