Trust Fundraising for Core Costs

Trust fundraising for core costs is repeatedly cited as the biggest challenge for trust and grants fundraisers out there.  Here are my thoughts on how to tackle this one.

Three years on from the start of the pandemic and it seems that competition for trusts is off the scale.

Great.

Now I hasten to add, there are a lot of trusts out there that are offering core support – possibly more so than there used to be.  Part of their Covid-19 response was to offer no-strings funding and many have continued to do this, where previously they had been more interested in projects.

However, it doesn’t necessarily feel like this.

With charity budgets stretched, there’s a feeling of scarcity in the air and whatever the evidence tells us, I for one feel like I’m coming across more and more trusts focused on issues which are not relevant to the cause I’m working for.  In addition, it feels like fewer and fewer trusts are accepting unsolicited applications.

You too?  Hoping I’m not alone here…

I would love right now to swoop in with a silver bullet and to tell you about a fantastic new research resource populated with trusts and foundations who are a) absolutely minted and b) DESPERATE to support your charity

But there isn’t and there aren’t so I’m going to resort to repeat the advice that I always do.  Trust fundraising is neither new, exciting, innovative but requires rigour and focus on a few core skills.  No shortcuts I’m afraid.

So… trust fundraising for core costs…

If it’s already in your budget and your charity has already committed to delivering it, then it’s core funding and any external funding received towards these items can be described as budget relieving.

• For some charities, they will underwrite their annual commitments so that work happens regardless of external funding secured.
• Some charities will not underwrite their ‘core work’ and will use income achieved in that financial year to pay for it – the longer established and more numerous your sources of funding, the less risky this is.
• Some charities operate in the middle ground – they will reforecast in the middle of the year according to funds raised / what’s in the pipeline and will re-adjust activities if needed (and / or use reserves to plug the gap).

Whatever your financial model, most charities underestimate the amount of work they can package up as ‘core funding’.

So long as it meets the objectives of a funder, it makes no difference to them whether or not it was already in your budget.

Here are some thoughts to help you when concentrating on trust fundraising for core costs.

1. Package it up

Seasoned fundraisers will be familiar with the idea of packaging up your existing work and presenting it as a project especially when doing trust fundraising for core costs.

If a funder is speaking in the language of ‘projects’ don’t assume that your core ask will be automatically excluded from consideration.

What these funders really want to know is:

1. Are you helping the same people that we’re interested in helping?
2. Can we have clarity on how you’re spending our money?

Usually, this simply means that they’re looking for their gift to achieve a specific outcome over a defined period of time.

Whether or not you’ve already budgeted for it is neither here nor there.

So give them what they want.  Describe a part of your work ensuring you include the following:

• A defined period of time over which their gift will be used
• The number of people you plan to help in that time
• The difference you expect the work will make to the people you’re helping

Funders like to feel clarity and ownership over the things they’re funding.  It’s also easier to report back to them if you have set out in advance the activities you’ll be doing.

2. Go wide

Sometimes, we limit ourselves when we consider the work our charities do, which in turn, limits the funding opportunities available.

Think about:

• People who benefit, but indirectly
• Indirect benefits (bonus / secondary outcomes for the people you’re helping)

For example, I once worked with an adult Hospice that secured significant funds for children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Because adult hospice patients often had children that understandably needed support in the face of parental illness and death.

We also sometime forget to chart the additional, unseen benefits of our work on those we seek to help. Think as widely as possible about the impact of your work.

Who benefits indirectly (but nonetheless significantly) from what you do?

How?

Yes, gardening workshops teach people practical skills in how to grow their own veg, but they also deliver huge benefits around both physical and mental health and wellbeing, as well as increasing self-esteem, personal capability and independence.

Use external articles and evidence-based research to illustrate your point – quote these in your proposals.

Doing this thinking may open up new funders and funding opportunities and may make trust fundraising for core costs easier.

3. Rough choices

Sometimes you’ll be forced to choose between:

• Option A – applying for a large grant which sits outside of your core work
• Option B – applying for much smaller grants which serve your day to day operation

As a fundraiser, it’s not necessarily your job to make the strategic call on what is best for your organisation.

It is however your job to think it all through and present a list of pros and cons for discussion (and ideally a recommendation):

• What is each funder asking for by way of information – do you have it all ready to go?
• Who needs to be involved in project development for the large, non-core grant option?
• How much time do you expect it to take and what is the funder’s timescale?
• Will you have sufficient resources to do all the reporting needed for the large grant?
• With the large grant option – are there any elements of core work which could be included (and are these enough to make it worth it)?

Getting trapped in a spiral of grant seeking (where your organisational strategy is determined by the grants which happen to be available at any given time) is unsustainable long term for obvious reasons.

If you’re in this place, then you might want to start thinking about other streams of income.

• Has your charity explored community and corporate fundraising?
• Have you discussed fundraising with your trustees and invited them to make introductions to people they know on your charity’s behalf?
• Is your website set up so that prospective supporters know how they can do so (and can then do so, easily)?
• Are you inviting people to pledge a gift to your charity in their will?
• Are you building an audience through a regular newsletter (ideally one as engaging and epic as The Nest Egg…hahaha!)?

They say the best time to plant a tree is either twenty years ago, or today.  These things don’t happen overnight, but if your charity is going to need to exist for the long term, then you should really start to think about the long term.

It’s also really important as a fundraiser not to overcommit yourself. If you don’t have time to do both, then be clear about that.

Being hard working is great.  Working hard and being routinely available outside of your contracted hours is no good for anyone.

4. (More) Research (Again)

More and deeper research is the tonic needed for present day challenges in fundraising,

Success can be found in fewer applications to better prospects with carefully targeted approaches where you are confident that your cause meets their interests and criteria

Don’t just research cold prospects.  Existing trust supporters may well have changed since you last applied.

Are there clues in the grants lists of the trusts already supporting you which hint at what you could apply to next?

If you are struggling to fill your pipeline with prospects (core or otherwise) then it’s important to:

1. make time to regular research and
2. update and explain the situation to your colleagues.

Trust fundraising is very much a numbers game, but this doesn’t mean you should panic and shoot off applications to random trusts at the expense of quality.

I love this quote from brilliant fundraiser Lesley Clemenson which is not only bang on the money but also gives me so much hope that a quality over quantity approach is right:

“I think with increasing years of experience, I do fewer – with better results – and a longer research and preparation period too. I am also less likely to take a punt on something unless the Trust’s accounts show a good match for us in grantees.”

Hope is in short supply right now and I’m up for taking all I can get!