Sharpen your tools and broaden your shoulders - eight ways to refine your trusts fundraising in this brutal landscape

Rachel Cross, Trusts Fundraising Consultant at Lime Green, shares her thoughts on trusts fundraising tactics in the current crisis...

"I just don’t get it; is there something wrong with me?"

"Has something changed? Or was it something I said?"

"Am I too big, too small, too boring, too complicated?"

"Is it just me? Did they find someone better? Should I just give up?"

I’ve spent some sleepless nights lying awake asking myself such questions over the years, faced with romantic rejections in my (rather unsavoury) dating life. But I’ve realised that these questions are similar to the ones that have recently been keeping many trusts fundraisers and charity leaders awake at night.

We’re used to hearing a humbling amount of ‘no’s’ in trusts fundraising, but recently, we’re feeling much less humble and much more about to crumble.

Trusts that have supported you reliably for years have suddenly changed tune. You pause an application for a couple of hours, suddenly the round has prematurely closed. You’re declined by a funder whose priorities couldn’t be more spot on. A promising lead on your pipeline this week has paused funding the next. Jo Jeffrey’s ‘the List’, keeping live track of all pauses, restructures and closures in UK trusts & foundations, is now the only grants database you never knew you’d need.

Firstly, it’s not just you. We are in a charitable funding crisis. I don’t use ‘crisis’ lightly, though I’m aware we’ve been in some level of crisis since 2010. But it really is true – sector wide, the past year has been brutal like no other. Even charities and seasoned fundraisers who have never been too concerned over their grant income have noticed the shift – and they’re equally disturbed. The compounding effects of significant current affairs over the last decade have come to a drastic head – the state of the funding landscape just one major symptom.

That said, this post isn’t intended to be all doom and gloom (though we’ve certainly done a lot of lamenting about the world recently). As fundraisers and charity leaders, we’re not the kind of people that accept defeat easily. Faced with flux, successful fundraising is always self-reflective, creative and forward-thinking.

So, below we’ve collated our best insights to help you react strategically to rejection and to optimise your trusts and foundations fundraising in its current turmoil. Of course, we can’t guarantee success – there are always so many internal and external factors at play. But, at the very least, I hope these insights help you to sharpen your tools and broaden your shoulders as you face that next application!

1. Is your organisation really eligible for that grant? Be honest with yourself...

I know the feeling: you come across a golden opportunity to apply for a five-figure grant that could transform your organisation. What’s more, the application is online, the window is open, and you’re ready for the taking. 

You’re sucked in by the offer and what it could achieve…so much that, upon reading the eligibility criteria, you begin doing a little ‘creative stretching’. You justify to yourself why and how your organisation meets the funder’s criteria: “they fund Welsh heritage, we’re an ocean conservation charity…so yeah, we’re both interested in saving the W(h)ales”. It’s a daft example, but you get my (longshore) drift.

Funders have objectives too, which they fulfil through selecting the charities or projects which align best with these. At times, it can be easy – even unconsciously – to start shoehorning your organisation’s mission into the opportunities you find. It’s even more tempting when you’re passionate about what you do and have seen the real impact of your work. 

Or, worse still, you begin creating new projects just to fit the funder’s criteria – risking mission drift and succumbing to philanthropic paternalism. 

Remember, even if you’re a volunteer – the organisation pays for every hour you spend on applications – in time, money or both. Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a lottery mindset when applying for grants: “well, if we don’t buy a ticket, we definitely won’t win”.

But with limited resources and mounting pressure to secure funds, sometimes it’s better not to apply to that grant and to focus your efforts on funders whose objectives are clearly aligned with yours. This could mean turning away from some opportunities that appear lucrative, but if you’re really being honest – it’s not a £50k opportunity if you’re not really eligible. 

2. Help the funder see why

Which leads me nicely on to one of the most common reasons funders reject applications: not meeting their funding criteria. If your funder successfully passes tip #1, then show them explicitly how your organisation or project meets their specifications!

Some applications make this easy by directly asking this question. For those that don’t – where possible and relevant within an application framework, tell them anyway!

​The key is to be as specific as you can, relating their priorities directly to your organisation’s activities and outcomes, and backing it up with evidence. Don’t just repeat their priorities back to them (they should really know these). Help them to understand why investing in your specific project or organisation will help them to achieve their goals, too.

3. Stay specific and local where possible

Generally speaking, the wider the remit of a funder, the more applications it receives. Funders making grants throughout the UK to a broad range of purposes will receive far more applications (eligible and ineligible) than those granting in a specific geographical area or with very niche interests. 

It can be tempting to get your application count up by firing off applications to lots of generic funders, with vague priorities such as ‘relief of human suffering’ or ‘education’ – especially those that are open to charities of all shapes, sizes and locations.

However, it’s important to remember that with great variety also comes great competition. With the exception of a few mega funders with very high capacities, such as Garfield Weston, most have tight limits on the number and size of grants they can make. Just because their interests are (seemingly) wide, sadly it doesn’t mean their funds stretch any further. 

In the current climate, your application to a generic funder is going to be one of hundreds – even thousands. Just like how remote jobs are more competitive than local ones, a lot of strong applications miss out. Unless you have limitless capacity for churning out well-written, tailored applications (and not unchecked AI-generated dribble), be wise and realistic when it comes to your prospect research and which applications to prioritise. 

If your organisation’s activities are based in a specific region – or if your aims are similarly niche – looking for funders whose giving is restricted to your certain area or set of priorities is likely going to generate better odds in your favour. Between a popular £20k grant offered nationally to a broad range of purposes and four or five £5k grants with more restricted parameters that are aligned with your own – contrary to popular belief, chasing the ‘big wins’ might not necessarily be strategic in the current context. 

4. Keep your case for support watertight

We’ve shared our in-depth case for support framework in a previous blog, so I won’t repeat the whys and hows here. Your case for support is an incredibly important internal tool that you can use as a springboard in your applications. It’s also a key resource for helping you identify and address any gaps or weaknesses in your organisation/projects. 

Like any policy or strategy you create, it’s important to keep revisiting your case for support and keeping it sharp. A good case for support is always a live document. As you evolve, find new evidence, collect more data, keep adding, tweaking, updating and strengthening your arguments.    

A good, regularly updated case for support will be one of your most important fundraising tools

5. Give your organisation a health check

​With increased competition, funders are becoming more stringent with their due diligence and regulatory checks. Keep a close eye on all of your public material and any documents you’re providing funders, such as accounts, policies and annual reports – checking for any anomalies or discrepancies that might raise questions. 

Remember, funders will do their homework. They need to be confident that they’re investing wisely. Particularly for cold applications, funders are often coming blind to your organisation and will be looking out for potential risks that seed doubt. Something that makes perfect sense to you may come across completely differently to a trustee overwhelmed with applications and needing to make difficult shortlisting decisions.

For example, is the messaging on our website consistent with our applications? Is there anything in our accounts that may raise eyebrows, and can we explain this? If we’ve rebranded, changed name or location, have we updated this everywhere? What appears when we Google our organisation? (Yes, Googling yourself is a perfectly reasonable form of evaluation).

6. Prioritise relationship-building with funders

Where previously it may have been possible to rely more on generating income through cold appeals, this approach is now rarely sufficient to get noticed. Relationship-first fundraising and good funder stewardship – with a focus on quality, not quantity – is more important than ever. 

This means making human connection, picking up the phone, soliciting meetings, inviting funders to see your work, accompanying your applications with bespoke cover letters – even if the funder has an open application process. 

Being clear and consistent with your record-keeping, making sure that you’re meeting each of your funders’ requirements for reporting in a timely manner, is essential. There’s nothing worse than getting funders mixed up, or accidentally double-texting (okay, probably emailing). 

Go the extra mile to develop and maintain strong relationships, both with cold and existing funders. Click here for more tips on building relationships with invitation-only funders – these ideas can be applied to those important ‘open’ funders, too.

7. Share, communicate and educate your team – and adjust your expectations accordingly

I’ve spoken to many fundraisers recently feeling immense pressure from above – whether that's trustees, CEOs or senior management – struggling to hit targets, feeling isolated in their role, and faced with a lack of empathy and understanding. Communicating with leaders who aren’t experienced or recent fundraisers can be extremely discouraging when they just don’t understand the nuanced challenges facing the sector at present.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for managing these, sometimes very challenging, team dynamics and professional relationships. However, sharing objective knowledge that comes from an outside source can be more effective in helping your team comprehend some of your contextual challenges.

We have been blessed as a sector with many insightful resources produced by fundraising experts. Providing your team with ‘evidence’ is likely to be more informative and could help your organisation to adjust expectations, adapt and think creatively, and set more considered targets.

​Some of our reading recommendations can be found on this post by the Small Charity Friendly Collective.

8. Be gracious with yourself

This is of utmost importance. With the best will in the world, there is no getting away from the reality: trusts funding is tougher than tough at the moment. You will get rejections; probably lots of them. After a while, it can be hard not to take it personally.

So, if you only take one thing away: give yourself grace. We know the current state of the sector is taking its toll on the mental health of fundraisers and charity leaders. Prioritise doing the things that keep you refreshed and well, whatever those may be. Seek support, take time out if you need to, and utilise the resources and support available.

​Remember, you are very much not in this alone.