
“Be prepared. I did the IoF Certificate in Fundraising….A year later I became the CEO!”
Debbie Geraghty, Executive Director of Plymouth Music Zone, explains how doing a fundraising course led her down some unexpected paths...

Rewriting the rules on stewardship
It turns out that when you join the first ever stewardship course at the IoF, the room can get a little giddy. A trainer who is practically jumping up and down with excitement and 19 delegates who bring so much energy to the table its almost palpable.

Turn that buzz of excitement into better fundraising
Fundraising Convention was memorable for so many reasons with a real buzz of excitement after a couple of very challenging years. We could have had relentless self-pitying GDPR moans and groans but we didn’t. That isn’t what Convention is about. It is about reflecting, learning, improving and embracing change and this year we had this by the bucket load.

5 ways to put your Convention learnings into practice
I’ve come away from the three intense days at Fundraising Convention bursting with new ideas, inspired to invigorate processes and products in my own organisation, and with new contacts to help progress those ideas and my career.

Bold new ways to give donors what they want
We use a lot of jargon words in fundraising. We aren’t unique. We share this joy with every other sector. Our own private language that allows us to talk in code, sort of convinced we fully understand each other. It is both a blessing in communication efficiency and a wall between us and authenticity.

Leading the way
Rebecca Elliott of Amnesty International UK shares how the Future Leaders Programme has given her the skills and techniques to take the next step in her career. Read how the programme has strengthened her work and helped her take on new projects with great pride.

Is it time to start recruiting fundraisers from outside of the sector?
Well, it’s a little bit of an inflammatory article title, but there’s a deep vein of truth in it.

The future is now
Chris Millward, now CEO at the Institute of Legacy Management (ILM), shares how his learning at the IoF Future Leaders Programme in 2015 is continuing to have a major influence over his work today.

How mentoring can help us truly succeed in fundraising
The most honest feedback I receive in life is after the final whistle is blown and I’m sitting in the pub with my mates.

Connecting Personal Development to Donor Experience
Gary Kernahan and Loretta Bresciani Murray ask whether charities in Scotland are failing their donors and beneficiaries by overlooking learning and development.