Fundraising strategy in 2021: two lessons from 2020

This short article was first published by UK Fundraising here, alongside the thoughts of three other independent fundraising consultants, Grahame Darnell, Helen Trenchard & Della Weight. Anybody that knows me will tell you that I’m a glass half-full kind of guy. But I would say that even as we say goodbye to a frankly shocking 2020 for charities and for fundraisers, there are reasons for optimism as we think about the lessons the year has given us for our fundraising strategies for next year and beyond. Here’s two of them. First, your fundraising strategy isn’t worth the paper it isn’t written on if you just treat it as an unchanging document, that you discard at the first sign of trouble ahead. If 2021 has taught me anything, it’s that even if we tore up what we originally envisaged, we need to ensure we keep thinking and acting strategically. We need to keep focusing on what has worked well for us and others, and make sure that we reflect and respond to the events that threaten to engulf us, rather than react in a short-termist manner. Don’t get me wrong – we can still reflect and respond very quickly, but I would guard against the knee-jerk. And secondly, the common theme in all the fundraising successes I’ve spotted across the sector have been based on nothing cleverer than good, old-fashioned relationship-building. 2020 has been about community-building in new ways, hasn’t it? Not just with our partners, funders and supporters, but also ens