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Discover other real-life examples of successful fundraising in an NHS hospital.
It is possible to secure major gifts in an NHS charity
I meet lots of NHS charities who think they will never be able to build a major gifts programme. I’m here to tell you not only is it absolutely possible but you are already missing out on donors by thinking you can’t ask for major gifts!
Fundraisers tell me that they can’t raise major gifts successfully because:
I would love to dispel some of these myths!
I saw phenomenal growth from major gifts over a 13 year period at Addenbrooke’s. Before we started the programme we were receiving c.£200k a year from unsolicited gifts e.g. local trusts, course fees from clinicians. When I left we had raised £36 million for two major campaigns (over 4 years).
When we first started the proactive programme it was run by a fabulous, ambitious, knowledgeable colleague of mine who first introduced our major giving club in 2011. I learned so much from her and she mentored me to become a major gifts fundraiser. She challenged me to make my first ask of £50,000 within a few short months of learning on the job. The prospect said no. I thought I would be horrified but I wasn’t because it taught me so much about the art of asking!
To launch our very first major gifts programme we took several important steps:
1. We created a giving vehicle to make it easy for donors to give (and to make asking easier)
The 1766 Club, named after the year Addenbrooke’s was founded, had three levels:
£1,000 - Member
£5,000 - Benefactor
£10,000 - Guardian
Each of these levels had different levels of stewardship and personalisation. The Club had its own logo, heritage look and elegant feel, but worked as a sub-brand to our charity brand. We had special brochures, folders, letterhead, logo and banners to make it feel exclusive.
2. We created a prospect list by analysing our database.
In 2011, our prospect list was made up of donors who had given £1,000 or more as a personal (not a fundraised) gift during one year. There were several reasons for this;
3. We hosted a launch event for the Club prospects
We hosted a launch event at one of the Cambridge colleges and invited our President plus three clinicians to talk for 5 minutes each about a project they had had funded by the charity. We inspired them and surprised them. And gave them a fun evening.
4. We asked guests for money.
We asked guests to join the Club and talked about the tax effective ways of giving (that’s a whole different article - but more fun than it sounds!). Having giving levels is a lovely way of making asking easy for early-stage fundraisers. It’s safe, easy and builds confidence. To ask well, you need practice, you need to follow some key steps which we teach in our workshops, you need to listen and you need to ASK. So many people don’t ask and honestly, it really irritates donors!
5. We put in place great stewardship systems making sure we had touchpoints in place throughout the year to regularly thank donors, show them their impact, and build their trust in the charity by demonstrating how we spent our funds well. We invited 1766 Club members to special stewardship events, sent bespoke thoughtful updates, newsletters with handwritten notes, letters from staff and christmas cards. The more someone gave, the more personalised their stewardship e.g. personal meetings with the CEO, clinician-signed letters etc.
6. We asked them to give annually.
3 weeks before the anniversary of their gift, or towards the end of the tax year we would write a personalised letter asking donors to commit to another gift.
In the first year we had one fundraiser working on major gifts and I remember how unbelievably excited we would all get whenever we received anything we classed as a major gift. Our first £10k blew our minds! We soon established a baseline of c.£100k proactively fundraised per year on top of the unsolicited income we received. This was with just one fundraiser.
Lessons learned:
Advancement Resources has been developing and delivering research-driven fundraising training for over 30 years to fundraisers around the world. Level-up by investing in yourself and your team. Get some good advice and start to build a major gifts programme. If you combine it with a grateful patient programme, your income will soar!
Discover other real-life examples of successful fundraising in an NHS hospital.