In this encouraging conversation, he shares how he planned and executed a successful emergency appeal, raising £74,000 for his small charity in around six weeks. His insights include: why thorough preparation beats rushing to send an ask; how a free, 40-minute online event generated valuable major gifts; the power of radical transparency with your supporters; and why an emergency appeal is a “one-shot” - and needs to be treated as such.

Bright Spot trainer Ben Swart shares what he’s noticed when fundraisers decide to truly commit. With examples, he shows that although committing doesn’t guarantee fundraising success every time, it absolutely increases your chances of winning.

Why? Because the moment you decide to really go for that valuable funding application or ideal partnership, you gain three advantages over the many other organisations that haven’t done so. You find courage you didn’t know you had, creative ideas you wouldn’t otherwise have thought of, and a persistence that outlasts setbacks. 

If there’s a fundraising or career opportunity you want to really go for, this episode is for you.

Mel Bushell is Director of Development at Winchester College and a hugely experienced fundraising leader. She has found Giving Days incredibly effective.

This rich and practical conversation explores: the recipe behind what was at the time the most successful school Giving Day ever run in the UK; the lasting fundraising benefits that a well-run Giving Day creates long after the event is over; how to approach match funding and make it work hard for you; smart ways to keep your Giving Day feeling fresh and engaging; and how the process can be a wonderful opportunity to deepen relationships within your charity and across your community.

We'd love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting the show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

He was very excited to talk to the brilliant Sarah Pryer, who is Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Bristol and Weston Hospitals Charity. Inspired by a team training day with Bright Spot a year ago, Sarah’s team have been creatively applying certain principles and enjoying the difference they have made. 

This wide-ranging conversation includes: the communication shift that inspired a new five figure gift from a foundation; the storytelling approach that moved a corporate partner to choose to extend for a new valuable three-year partnership; the factors that have boosted the team’s confidence; ideas for building relationships internally; and what led her team to create their Trolley of Joy!

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our podcast, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

An invaluable skill is knowing when to step back and when to learn, adapt and try again. In this encouraging conversation, Sarah Tavener, Head of Global Philanthropy at Mines Advisory Group (MAG), shares the remarkable story of how she secured a multi-million-dollar donation after 19 years of thoughtful persistence with the same funder! 

We hope Sarah’s insights will help you be tenacious and creative when your idea or proposal still makes sense, so that you too get the transformational results that your hard work deserves. 

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show (e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media). You can find both Rob and Sarah on LinkedIn.

One charity that has been making wonderful progress in recent years is Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. For instance, for their recent Big Give campaign they took on their biggest ever target… and they hit it in just over 24 hours. 

Laura Elliott, Head of Supporter Fundraising, talks about a range of effective strategies that have been inspired by listening to the Fundraising Bright Spots show. 

This conversation with Rob includes their approach to: stewardship; thanking; the 80/20 Principle; creating Wow Moments; and a culture of learning. She also describes a Gift Aid campaign that has so far inspired an extra 7% of supporters to opt in.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben share four powerful habits that transform your results - without adding more to your to-do list.

We explore how to: improve your results by getting laser-focused on what matters most; deepen relationships with your most valuable supporters through one simple shift; gain clarity about where to invest your precious time; and identify the leverage points that solve your biggest fundraising challenges.

These aren't about working harder - they're about working smarter. And the best part? You can start any of them today.

If you'd like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn

Fundraising trainers Rob and Ben pick four episodes to inspire you. These ones are a good listen in any season, but they’re even better if you’re listening in December / January. 

We pull out highlights including: the pitching strategy that one fundraising team used to win three massive Corporate Partnerships in a row; how to solve internal conflicts over messaging, and inspire far more support; techniques for transforming your success rate with Trusts and Foundations; and the strategies Debbie used to double her Major Gifts results. 

If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on LinkedIn.

The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has faced plenty of challenges in the last five years, given the turmoil that the hospitality industry has faced since the COVID pandemic. In December 2024, income was so low that the organisations’ very survival was at risk. 

One year later, they have had their best year to date, passing £1m in revenue. In this interview, Juliane Caillouette Noble, Managing Director of the SRA, shares the strategies they’ve used to achieve this stunning comeback. It includes lessons about adapting your strategy, the huge benefits of getting clear about who your ideal partner is, storytelling and how to hang in there during the tough times. 

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

In this episode Max Newton (Cerebra) and Lindsay Tilston Jones (Shelter) discuss with Rob Woods an approach that has hugely helped the success of their fundraising.

They explain that the most important resource in any charity is not people, but relationships between people. With examples, they share why it has made such a difference and practical tools that will help you improve the relationships you have with your colleagues too.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Inspire to Ignite is a small, fast-growing not for profit organisation based in Cambridgeshire in the UK. Rob was delighted to talk to the co-founder Sam Squire to understand how they’ve managed to quickly grow to serve so many young people in just three years. 

In this down-to-earth conversation, Sam shares examples and tactics that have helped on the journey so far. The conversation includes how to be open-minded, co-creation with funders, the Five Yard Rule for growing your impact and how to move swiftly and confidently when an opportunity presents itself.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

The Berin Centre is a small community charity in rural Oxfordshire in the UK. To better serve their community, they decided to build a new cafe. Laura Harte is Director of the charity. In the podcast she shares why this project was so important for people, examples of how they raised the funds and practical tips. She also explains why properly involving the community was fundamental to the success of the whole project. 

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Debbie Johnson has been making wonderful progress in her fundraising. In the year she took part in Bright Spot’s Major Gifts Mastery programme, she increased major donor income for her wildlife charity by 200% compared to the previous year... and these wonderful results continue to flow.

In this podcast she and Rob discuss several powerful distinctions from the training that have helped achieve this success, including: a powerful strategy she uses every day to improve relationships with donors; a technique that improves results when she meets supporters; being yourself; listening skills; and an insight that transformed one major gift from five figures to an amazing six figure value.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Punyapriya Singh is Senior Head of Supporter Engagement at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, and was named Fundraiser of the Year in the CIOF National Fundraising Awards. In this conversation, she explains the approach which has helped her charity achieve fabulous growth in public fundraising income in recent years.

In particular, she explains the importance of caring about and adding value to relationships with your supporters (rather than focusing primarily on money). She brings her ideas to life with examples of the stunning growth this thoughtful, relationship-first strategy has helped achieve, including a wonderful event for families, a golf day worth £100,000 and the success of their £12m capital appeal.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

What can you do to increase your success rate with these funders? 

Atul is a curious and shrewd fundraiser who has spent many years exploring how to grow fundraising income in this area. In this conversation Atul and Rob discuss several of his most effective strategies. It includes ways to find more funders who definitely care about your cause; what to call your project (spoiler, it makes an astonishing difference to results!) and strategies to leverage game-changing bids by sequencing them with smaller, easier ones.  

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Amy Swart is a very experienced relationship fundraiser and is Director of Fundraising and Communications at the suicide-prevention charity James’ Place. Building warm, two-way relationships with supporters, including major donors, trusts and foundations, is fundamental to the charity’s approach. This mindset has been a major factor in the wonderful growth they have achieved in recent years. 

In this conversation Amy shares her approach, with practical tips and encouragement for fundraisers and charity leaders determined to build excellent, long-term relationships with supporters.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

And in this episode Bright Spot trainers Rob and Ben share the first three on our list. We explain why we love each book, and a bunch of ideas you can apply in your fundraising, even if you don’t have time to read the books.

Among other things, this conversation includes: a fascinating insight about how to improve valuable skills more quickly; two ideas for inspiring supporters; and a little-known technique that increases your confidence in important meetings.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

The excellent book Reset by Dan Heath is all about how to turn things around when you feel stuck. In this podcast Rob talks to Craig about ways you can apply the Reset techniques to solve difficult fundraising problems. 

Heath suggests that in most difficult situations there is one crucial ‘leverage point’ – something that will potentially make the biggest difference. The key is to work out what this is and then stack far more of your resources on making progress here. As you make clear progress, your new momentum makes other things easier too.

Craig and Rob share examples of this approach helping fundraising teams to solve important problems, including how one charity reduced the time it takes to send out thank you letters, from 3 weeks to just 2 days.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you so much for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

What’s the key to increasing High Value Fundraising Income for your charity? Build stronger relationships with people who care about your cause. 

There are many ways to do this, but even in this tech-savvy era, the most effective thing is to have actual conversations with those people! And a greatly under-used way to do that, is to call them on the phone. Obviously, it’s not always possible. But when it is, we’ve noticed that very successful fundraisers often call their supporters.

Many people know this in theory but talk themselves out of doing it! 

Bright Spot trainers Ben Swart and Rob Woods share some practical things you can do to overcome your (understandable) concerns. And they share examples to boost your confidence so you can connect with your charities’ donors and partners.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn.

Interestingly, some charities do secure valuable gifts, partnerships and grants, in spite of big disadvantages. Clearly this fact does not make life fair or make fundraising easy.  But it means that if we seek them, we can find valuable insights.

Having studied dozens of examples, in this episode Rob reveals two strategies that successful ‘underdog charities’ use when they succeed against difficult odds. In discussion with fellow Bright Spot trainer Ben Swart, he uses examples to show how these techniques can help you slay your own fundraising dragons.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. You can find us both on LinkedIn.

Charities often focus too much attention on how they help. They act and speak as though what they do is the most important and interesting thing. 

When you clarify and reconnect to the reason why your charity exists, it can be a fabulous catalyst for growth. You get new creativity and energy. When the South African non-profit Feenix did this in 2017, it unlocked a period of extraordinary growth. During the next five years up to 2022, fundraising income grew by 630%! Their impact was transformed.

Cara Jean Peterson, CEO of Feenix, joins Rob on the podcast to tell the rollercoaster story of how they did it. She shares insights from this exciting journey. And she offers tips to help other charities that are determined to grow their impact.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing our podcast, so it can help as many good causes as possible. Cara Jean and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

Younger supporters tend to see the world differently to older generations – as charities, how can we respond? For answers and encouragement Rob talks to philanthropist and best-selling author Lisa Greer.

As a so-called ‘major donor’ Lisa has a valuable perspective on charity relationships with High Net Worth individuals. And one of the fascinating themes in her latest book The Essential Fundraiser’s Handbook is how charities can effectively raise funds with younger supporters. 

In the interview Lisa explains why the traditional approach to high value fundraising does not suit most supporters who are Millennial, Generation Z and younger. And she offers practical suggestions for what charities can do differently to improve fundraising results.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing our podcast, so it can help as many good causes as possible. Lisa and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

In recent months, the UK charity Refuge created the chance to pitch for three corporate partnerships. For all three, the stakes were high. In fact, one of them is worth millions of pounds and will make a massive difference to their services protecting women and children from domestic abuse.

All three pitches were successful. 

In this episode Rob Woods talks to Katie Hillitt, Head of Philanthropy at Refuge. She shares the approach that has proved so effective, with tips and encouragement to help other charities with their pitches.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it helps as many charities as possible. Katie and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

The High Value and Legacies fundraising department at Alzheimer’s Society has achieved impressive growth over the last 5 years. Rob talks to Charlotte Matier, Associate Director at the department to hear about the culture, processes and priorities that have helped achieve these results. In particular, she shares the three pillars they use to guide decision-making and ways of working.

Using examples, Charlotte shares how her team strive to build firm foundations upon which successful fundraising can take place; to create exceptional experiences; and to maximise value for both supporters and the charity.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it can help as many charities as possible. Charlotte and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

Relatively few charities and non-profits achieve impressive, sustained growth over several years. But a few do. And as a result, they are able to make a much bigger difference for the communities they serve.

For more than ten years, Alan Clayton has carried out detailed research into what makes the difference. In this episode he and Rob discuss the valuable distinctions he has discovered. And Alan brings these ideas to life with lots of recent examples and he offers guidance for other charities determined to grow long-term fundraising income, with less stress.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it can help as many charities as possible. Alan and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

In this interview she shares the techniques she learned on the Corporate Partnerships Mastery programme that she’s used to deepen relationships and add value with her charities’ partners – this has led to an increase in income of £100,000 in the last year with one partner – as well as how she’s found and built brand new partnerships – one worth £50,000 - from scratch.

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Thank you for sharing the episode, so it helps as many charities as possible. Charlie and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

Of course, in our busy and ever more distracted world, it’s not always easy to find time to think. That said, we’ve noticed that fundraisers who are very effective and also resilient, usually find a way to deliberately build thinking time into their week.

If this idea appeals, but you often struggle to do it in practice, this episode is for you. Jhumar Johnson is Chief of Staff to the Vice Chancellor at the Open University. Her demanding role includes that of Development Director, so she has a lot to get done. 

Five years ago, a mentor showed her the power of ‘think time’, and she’s found it a hugely valuable habit ever since. In the interview Jhumar explains why she finds it so helpful. She also shares practical tips for how other fundraisers and leaders can build more thinking time into their work. 

We’d love to know what you think about these ideas! Jhumar and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

Rob is again joined by Bright Spot colleague and fellow fundraising trainer Ben Swart to talk about four episodes that proved especially popular and inspired us in 2024. 

Our discussion of fundraising strategies, tips and examples includes: how to take advantage of the opportunities and resources already available to you (many of them are currently hidden); how to smash silos and help your whole charity pull together towards the common goal; a fabulous stewardship technique that helped one small cancer charity achieve its most successful year for corporate fundraising ever; how to use LinkedIn differently, and become a magnet attracts funders to reach out to you instead of the other way around.

If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you! You can find us both on Linked In.

Rob is joined by Bright Spot colleague and fellow fundraising trainer Ben Swart for this round up of our podcasting year. 

They pull out highlights from some episodes they’ve found most inspiring to listen to, including: how to influence your colleagues, for example to support your fundraising project; how to attract more major donors (precious insights from a philanthropy advisor at a bank who has talked to and learned from more than 4000 High Net Worth individuals; insights from an ambitious, strategic partnership worth £2.3m); and tips for negotiating more effectively with (potential) partners, through a deeper understanding of your charities’ value to companies.

If you’d like to get in touch or share this episode with other charities, thank you very much! We are both on Linked In.

There have always been criticisms of charity in general and philanthropy in particular. But in recent years it seems that this has become more widespread, and that this issue may be having a detrimental effect on donations at all levels. 

If we work for a charity, understanding the issues is valuable for our own confidence and for the sector as a whole.

For help and encouragement, Rob was delighted to talk to Dr Beth Breeze, Director of the Centre of Philanthropy at the University of Kent. Beth has written an excellent book on this subject, In Defence of Philanthropy. In the interview Beth shares the three most common types of criticism she has found through her research, and she shares examples and her ideas for how we might respond to each one. 

We’d love to know what you think and your ideas on this subject. Beth and Rob are both on LinkedIn.

In March 2024 Bowel Cancer UK launched a three-year partnership with Andrex, the UK’s leading toilet roll brand. This award-winning partnership is changing attitudes, as well as increasing awareness of the symptoms of the disease, on a huge scale. 

The partnership is worth an extra £2.3m to the charity. This is on top of its ongoing presence, which raises awareness of symptoms on toilet roll packaging in 10 million homes in the UK. 

In the show, Megan from Bowel Cancer UK and Natalie from Andrex share their perspectives on building an ambitious, win-win partnership whose positive effect is so much greater than either organisation could achieve on its own.  

And they share tips and encouragement for other organisations that want to create their own win-win strategic partnerships. 

After your presentation, would you like your colleagues to actively support your fundraising project? Or perhaps you’d like the funder to share your proposal with fellow trustees… or for your audience to choose your charity as a partner.

Whatever your presentation, in this, the second episode on influencing groups, Rob and Ben share a powerful technique for deciding what to include. With examples, they explain three ideas for improving your results when you present or pitch through more effective content.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on LinkedIn.

And yet, after helping thousands of people to improve various skills that are useful in fundraising, Rob and Ben have found that everybody is able to become more skilful in this area. It is entirely learnable.

And it’s certainly worth the effort, because being able to effectively share your ideas with a group is incredibly valuable. 

In speaking at dozens of conferences and training hundreds of fundraising teams, Rob and Ben have learned some things that make it easier! 

In this episode they share techniques to help anyone who wants to improve their confidence and skill at presenting to colleagues or funders.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on LinkedIn.

This time Rob talks to Tom Downie of Tiltify. They discuss the content creator economy and the opportunities it represents for charities. Every year Tom sees how hundreds of charities operate in this fast-growing market.

Tom shares both common mistakes and lots of insights from when charities make the most of these valuable opportunities. He shares examples, both of charities responding to influencers that approach you with their own ideas; and of campaigns organised by charities that successfully recruit many influencers to get involved.

Thank you so much for supporting our show! Please share it on, and if you want to get in touch we are both on LinkedIn.  

We all get stuck sometimes! When this happens, it pays to change our approach. 

To help you get ideas Rob and Ben share three stories of charities who solved very difficult problems by doing things differently. 

One was struggling to recruit volunteers…and took a risk which transformed their results. And when the citizens of a town were angry that a nazi march was due to take place through their streets, they responded creatively and had the last laugh. 

And to improve her odds of winning a competitive partnership with a restaurant, one shrewd fundraiser decided to do things differently…and won a valuable partnership for her charity, for life.

Finally, Rob and Ben share three steps to help you be creative and brave in solving your own challenges.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X Ben is @benswart.

In this episode Rob hears why and how they got started, ideas that have inspired them and lessons they’ve learned. They also offer advice and encouragement for anyone considering starting something new on top of their day job. 

Perhaps you’ve been daring yourself to blog or vlog, but you can’t quite get started. Or you want to create an intra-team initiative in your charity. Or you wonder about joining or starting anything else that serves the sector…Kenneth and James share what they’ve learned and encourage you to take the first step.

Thank you so much for supporting our show! Please share it on, and if you want to get in touch we are all on LinkedIn.  

Good corporate fundraisers have always known that the best charity partnerships are genuinely win/win. But not all companies understand this, which is a major reason they may be reluctant to consider a partnership, or to give more. How can you help them see it, and so be more open to the possibility?

Ben Swart shares advice to help you be confident about the value of corporate partnerships and skillful in conveying it to companies. Ben and Rob a range of practical things you can do to improve your results when persuading companies to partner with your charity.

We’d love to know what you think! And thank you for supporting our show, e.g. by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X Ben is @benswart and Rob is @woods_rob.

For practical ideas and plenty of encouragement, I was excited to talk to the always-inspiring Paul McKenzie. Paul is a very experienced fundraising leader, and he is convinced that we have far more power to positively influence people within our charity than we might think. Paul and Rob share examples and offer three practical things anyone can do to better connect, build strong cross-team relationships and make change happen. 

Thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / Twitter Rob is @woods_rob and Paul is @scottallpaul.

This time we look at an award-winning podcast, The Log Books, which has run for three successful seasons. Rob talks to Stephanie Fuller, CEO of Switchboard and Adam Zmith from Aunt Nell, who collaborated to create the show.

We explore why and how they made it, how it helps the charity connect with its community, and other benefits the show has brought.

Thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with colleagues or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Rob is @woods_rob and Adam is @AdamZmith.

Tom is Managing Director, Global Head of Social Impact and Philanthropy at UBS and over the last ten years he has had conversations with more than 4000 High Net Worth Individuals about their philanthropy. Through these conversations and in witnessing many transformational donations Tom has gained valuable insight into how they make decisions.

In this, our second interview, Tom shares the second crucial element that philanthropists especially value in requests for funding from charities. And he shares various tips to help fundraisers improve this element of their proposition.

Thank you for supporting our show, for example, by sharing it with your team or on social media. We are both on LinkedIn and on X / twitter Rob is @woods_rob.