Fundraising news, views, client stories and more

The Sojourner Trust

Posted on 06 November 2015

The Sojourner Trust was established in late 2006 by five women from the African-Caribbean community who wanted to make a difference, particularly in relation to the education and personal development of young people from African and Caribbean communities in south London.

Charity Fundraising Ltd was engaged to set up, manage and administer the distribution of £200,000 in grants. Our charity consultants worked closely with the Sojourner Trustees to develop a set of clear funding criteria, guidelines for applicants, a website, a promotional strategy, assessment criteria, a tracking database, legal documentation and a grant reporting framework.

The Trust invited applications for funding from not-for-profit organisations benefitting young people (aged 10-25 years) of African and African-Caribbean origin (including mixed race) living in the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark or Lewisham. The trust was particularly interested in projects focussing on education and personal development, where a grant of up to £15,000 could make a significant difference.

A total of 81 applications were received over the 13-week application period. Carefully thought out criteria, application guidance and promotion ensured that only four applications were ineligible, which is well below the sector average and demonstrates our commitment to minimising wasted time on the part of applicant organisations. Feedback on the application guidelines included: “Really clear, really straightforward” and “These are the most organised guidelines I’ve ever seen!”

Charity Fundraising Ltd solicited monitoring reports from all grantees and provided a full written report to the Sojourner Trustees at the end of the process. The Trustees said: “Charity Fundraising’s strengths lay in the area of their communication both verbally and written. They work well to agreed deadlines and are flexible when required. All in all a very professional organisation.”

Derbyshire Districts CAB

Posted on 06 November 2015

Derbyshire Districts Citizens Advice Bureau offers free, confidential, impartial and independent advice and information on a wide range of subjects including debt advice, benefits advice, housing and employment matters, consumer or tax issues, legal matters and immigration issues.

Charity Fundraising consultants supported Derbyshire Districts Citizens Advice Bureau by undertaking a Fundraising Strategy and also by  providing support in relation to project design, development and bid review of a Big Lottery Fund – Advice Services Transition Fund. We were extremely pleased that the Big Lottery Fund application was successful and  a grant of £342,000 was awarded. The funding is intended to build capacity and improve advice service outcomes throughout the Amber Valley, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash and High Peak Districts and will make a huge difference to the significant numbers of people living in those areas who need advice and information in order to deal with the effects of welfare reforms.

Emma Haggar, Chief Executive of Derbyshire Districts Citizens Advice Bureau said: “Having an external view really helps in ensuring you communicate clearly to funders your concept , Steph is able to challenge robustly but in a supportive and constructive manner – we are already looking together at our next project”

Slough YMCA

Posted on 14 May 2015

Slough YMCA provides supported accommodation for homeless young people between the ages of 18 and 30 with the aim of helping them through their toughest times, which will hopefully lead them to independent living.  Through their community hub project, The Hangout, Slough YMCA try to foster a greater sense of community cohesion by bringing members of the local community together in one venue regardless of their race, colour, sex or background.

The YMCA is also the largest voluntary provider of community based sports, fitness and physical activity programmes, which form part of an all-round approach to healthy living and personal and social development that is unique to the YMCA.

Fundraising consulting firm Charity Fundraising Ltd, wrote a successful funding application to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities initiative, resulting in a grant of £248,289. We have also achieved £60,000 from BBC Children in Need and worked on a range of other funding bids. To date, the total raised for Slough YMCA is £379,789.

“Slough YMCA are happy to recommend Charity Fundraising Ltd. We hope to work closely with them in the coming years to look for further funding and assistance with tendering.” Colin Young, Chief Executive

Kidscape

Posted on 03 January 2014

Kidscape was the first charity in the UK established specifically to prevent bullying and child sexual abuse. Kidscape works UK-wide to provide individuals and organisations with practical skills and resources necessary to keep children safe from harm. Kidscape staff and trainers equip vulnerable children with practical non-threatening knowledge and skills in how to keep themselves safe and reduce the likelihood of future harm.

Kidscape works with children and young people under the age of 16, their parents/carers, and those who work with them. The charity provides:

  • A Helpline offering support and advice to parents of bullied children.
  • Booklets, literature, posters, training guides and educational videos on bullying, child protection, and parenting.
  • A national comprehensive training programme on child safety and behaviour management issues.
  • Advice for Parents & Carers, Professionals and Young People themselves.
  • Confidence building sessions for children who are bullied.

Our team has worked with Kidscape on a wide range of projects over a number of years providing: Funder prospect research, bid writing support, project development support and bid review as well as advising on fundraising strategy and organisational development in areas such as monitoring and evaluation. Charity Fundraising Ltd has now helped secure over £1.4Million for Kidscape in grant funding.

With our fundraising consultancy support, major grant funding has been achieved from a range of sources including:

  • Department for Education for two innovative Bullying Intervention Training programmes
  • BIG Lottery Fund – Realising Ambition programme for replication of Kidscape’s Positive Assertiveness Confidence Skills (PACS) training across England.

Autism Anglia

Posted on 03 January 2014

Charity Fundraising Ltd worked with The Essex Autistic Society (now Autism Anglia) for over three years and achieved grant funding in excess of £1.5 Million for a wide variety of developments to their service provision.

The New Doucecroft School was a flagship project for the society. With ever growing demand for their Autism specific education provision, EAS took the opportunity to purchase the Abbots Hall Campus on the outskirts of Colchester. A major Fundraising Campaign was launched to adapt, furnish and equip the campus buildings to provide a high quality learning environment with dedicated IT, Lifeskills, Physical Education, complex needs and art/craft facilities as well as state of the art sensory rooms and the phased provision of new build boarding houses.

Charity Fundraising Ltd formed a successful partnership approach with staff at EAS; whereby EAS took on community fundraising and PR activities whilst Charity Fundraising led work to achieve major grant income from Charitable Trusts, Foundations, High Net Worth Individuals, National Lottery and other funding streams.

Family Support Team
Charity Fundraising Ltd also provided fundraising services to develop multi-year salary funding for Essex Autistic Society to establish a Family Support Service for those affected by Autism and their families across Essex.

Other projects that Charity Fundraising successfully achieved funding for include:

  • Doucecroft Further Education Department – Conversion of a disused outbuilding into two floors of useable space including a classroom and meeting/training room.
  • Horticultural Equipment – A variety of horticultural equipment for students at the Further Education department; promoting vocational skills and potential employment opportunities.
  • Staff Training – Funding for a professional development course for Team leaders and Senior Support Workers.

Crossroads Care Cumbria

Posted on 03 January 2014

Crossroads Care Cumbria initially enlisted the services of fundraising firm Charity Fundraising Ltd to conduct funder prospect research, diversify the organisation’s funding sources, provide strategic advice and develop a fundraising strategy as well as delivering extensive bid writing.

Several members of the team at Charity Fundraising Ltd worked with Crossroads Care Cumbria, with each individual consultant applying their specialist skills and expertise to ensure that we offer the best possible return on investment.

In total Charity Fundraising Ltd raised £1,323,624 in grant and contract funding through a number of grant sources, including: BIG Lottery Fund (Awards for All and Reaching Communities) and the Northern Rock Foundation. We also worked closely with the client to secure multi-year contract funding for ‘Call-Off’ services. The final tender submission to Cumbria County Council was successful and had an estimated total value of £900,000.

Charity Fundraising Ltd also provided additional consultancy support. This included consultation exercises with older carers, an evaluation of their services and a feasibility study into the development of a new young carers service. The work involved leading consultation with key stakeholders, competitor analysis, identification of income streams and development of a new service and user forum.

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