onlincourse

How to Fundraise: A Guide to Fundraising for Non-Fundraisers

Get practical tips for fundraising and design an effective fundraising strategy for your group, charity or cause with this online course from the University of Kent.

Duration

3 weeks

Weekly study

4 hours

100% online

How it works

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Design a fundraising strategy to help your group or charity take the next step

On this course, you’ll get practical advice on how to fundraise whether you work for a non-profit or charity, or you volunteer in a community organisation.

Using evidence-based fundraising research, you’ll learn who gives, how they do it, and why they do so.

As you explore the fundraising process, you’ll build skills in fundraising management and learn how to create a fundraising strategy that works for your organisation.

The course will help you to take the next step in raising the money and support that your cause, charity, group, or non-profit organisation needs to thrive.

Week 1
Who do you ask and in what way?
- Introduction
  In this activity we begin with a short introduction to the course and your team of educators.
- The fundraising mix
  This activity introduces the concept of the fundraising mix and explores what types of formal groups and organisations give to charity and non-profit organisations. Image by Howard Lake, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- The individuals who give and why
  In this activity we will look at the many reasons why individuals give to charity. Understanding how they make their decisions may help you choose how to fundraise from them. Image: 'Group Jump' by Paolo Dala, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Your potential supporters
  Who you ask for support from will be depend on many factors. In this section, we consider how you might go about determining which funding sources are suitable for your cause or group.
Week 2
What are you asking for and who does the asking?
- Finding your fundraising stories
  In this activity we introduce the concept of fundraising as social and emotional labour. Understanding this can help to develop your case for support. Image: 'Puppet show at Amer Fort' by Kirithiga Ramalingam, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- What and who do you need to tell your story?
  This activity focuses on who else within a charity helps make for effective fundraising, and the possible roles that these individuals may play. Image: 'Crowd Sourcing Like Tom Sawyer' by Dave O, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Your fundraising story
  In the final activity for Week 2 you'll be writing and testing your own fundraising story.
Week 3
What is your unique fundraising plan?
- Reciprocity and developing loyal donors
  Here we introduce the concept of reciprocity and explore what role it plays, as well as the forms it takes within the fundraising process. Image: 'Happy May Day' by Shannon Hillinger (Flickr), CC BY-NC 2.0.
- The practical stuff
  In this activity we will look at some of the practical tools and ethics involved in fundraising. We will also briefly consider the role of fundraising regulation in the UK. Image: 'Ladder' by 'synx508' (Flickr), CC BY-NC 2.0.
- Your fundraising plan
  This activity will guide you through the development of your fundraising strategy and plan, so that you are ready to fundraise. Image: 'P1070131_arches_9' by Simone Pittaluga (Flickr), CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
- Summary
  We've now reached the end of our course on How to Fundraise. Here we round things off with a brief summary and thoughts about next steps. Image: 'End of term fête' by Crawley College (Flickr), CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.