Pot of Gold. No Rainbow or Leprechaun Required

What would it be like to double, triple or even quadruple your fundraising income? Imagine how transformational that could be for your nonprofit. What societal problems would you be able to solve with that massive injection of income?

There are organisations that go on to do just this – rapidly and seismically altering their potential by supercharging their fundraising ability. We have always been interested in the ingredients vital to these kinds of changes, and in 2012 we began our work on Great Fundraising organizations, sponsored by what was then Alan Clayton Associates (now Philanthropy & Fundraising). Our remit was to look at the characteristics of organizations that had massively increased their fundraising income and to look at what, if anything, was distinctive about their approach.

When we first started on that journey, we thought we would come up with the seven or maybe nine habits of astonishingly successful fundraising leaders. There was certainly an element of that, because our great fundraising leaders chose to focus their attention very specifically on issues that would transform their nonprofit into an organization that was “fundraisable”. What surprised us was that while “what leaders do” was important, much more important was “who these leaders were”, and how they chose to think about solving their fundraising problems.

Since 2012 we’ve done further work in Norway, Australia and the USA on what makes Great Fundraising organizations tick. We’ve also looked at the role of emotion in unifying an organization around a new ambition, the critical role played by philanthropic culture, and the relationship between fundraising branding and how that interface works in the context of these organizations. Added to that potent mix of academic research and testing have been upwards of 100 case studies of success supplied by Philanthropy and Fundraising, where organizations have implemented change and achieved their own great fundraising as a consequence.

On January 25th we’re launching an online Certificate in Great Fundraising, which brings together this learning and offers charities the chance to change their fundraising potential. The course is a collaboration between our researchers and the team at Philanthropy and Fundraising. It combines the academic rigour and theoretical understanding of Professor Adrian Sargeant with the expertise of one of the world’s most celebrated fundraisers, Alan Clayton. The course will give you a solid grounding in theoretical and academic perspectives whilst presenting practical case studies from charities who have massively increased their income.

The Certificate is intended to be for the benefit of senior fundraising and institutional development staff, or enlightened CEOs and Board members who recognise the value of philanthropy and are ready to supercharge their organisation’s income. We have found in the past that organizations who send multiple participants gain much more from the experience because they can “go home” and immediately start to implement the ideas, rather than having to convince other layers of management

There are 40 hours of learning which can be studied over eight weeks from any country or time zone. The course comprises lectures, case studies, readings and discussions, but students may log in whenever they wish each week to complete that week’s activities.

A word of warning, though – there is a reason that few organisations achieve fundraising greatness. It is hard. But by the end of the course, your career prospects and the fundraising capacity of your organisation will be markedly different.

For more information on course structure, fees and dates, see here or contact us.