Bridges for Communities is a Bristol-based charity that brings together people of different cultures and faiths to increase tolerance and understanding. They run a befriending service for refugees and asylum seekers.
As a small charity, Bridges had never had a joined-up fundraising strategy, instead funding its work through occasional grants and ad-hoc donations and events. However, with the charity growing steadily but unsure how best to secure funding for the work they wanted to do in future years, they turned to us for strategic support, funded by a grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation.
We designed two full-day fundraising strategy workshops for staff and trustees. These focused on reviewing the charity’s current fundraising performance, identifying key audiences to focus on, scoping out different types of fundraising in terms of the potential return on investment and inputs required to be successful, and agreeing future strategic priorities.
We then wrote up a 16-page strategic report report of notes and recommendations, and supported Bridges to use this report to finalise a three-year fundraising strategy and detailed financial forecast.
Dan Green, Managing Director, was delighted not only with the strategy itself but how the process had improved their understanding of different types of fundraising and secured buy-in from the whole Board and staff team. In Dan’s own words:
"I'm delighted that we now have a clear and thought-through strategy to guide our fundraising efforts. I can confidently say that we have assessed our opportunities and our needs, and we know what we aiming for! This gives me and the trustees a great deal of reassurance that the organisation is sustainable and heading in an exciting direction.
"I really appreciated your systematic and personalised approach, and that the entire process felt thought-out, with each element there for a good reason. You were able to understand what we are about as an organisation in a short space of time, then capture what we discussed in each meeting. It was a pleasure to work with you, and I really appreciated your prompt responses as well as your patience - thank you!"
We then provided six days of follow-up support to help Bridges get “fundraising ready”. This involved creating an inspiring and colourful case support that outlined the need for the charity’s work and the impact they were having, and undertaking in-depth prospect research to develop a ‘pipeline’ of trusts and foundations that Bridges could approach for project and core funding.
At this point, Bridges had all the confidence and tools required to step up their fundraising activity independently. When we checked in 18 months later, we were delighted to see that they’d sustained momentum and enjoyed real fundraising success:
As a small charity, Bridges had never had a joined-up fundraising strategy, instead funding its work through occasional grants and ad-hoc donations and events. However, with the charity growing steadily but unsure how best to secure funding for the work they wanted to do in future years, they turned to us for strategic support, funded by a grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation.
We designed two full-day fundraising strategy workshops for staff and trustees. These focused on reviewing the charity’s current fundraising performance, identifying key audiences to focus on, scoping out different types of fundraising in terms of the potential return on investment and inputs required to be successful, and agreeing future strategic priorities.
We then wrote up a 16-page strategic report report of notes and recommendations, and supported Bridges to use this report to finalise a three-year fundraising strategy and detailed financial forecast.
Dan Green, Managing Director, was delighted not only with the strategy itself but how the process had improved their understanding of different types of fundraising and secured buy-in from the whole Board and staff team. In Dan’s own words:
"I'm delighted that we now have a clear and thought-through strategy to guide our fundraising efforts. I can confidently say that we have assessed our opportunities and our needs, and we know what we aiming for! This gives me and the trustees a great deal of reassurance that the organisation is sustainable and heading in an exciting direction.
"I really appreciated your systematic and personalised approach, and that the entire process felt thought-out, with each element there for a good reason. You were able to understand what we are about as an organisation in a short space of time, then capture what we discussed in each meeting. It was a pleasure to work with you, and I really appreciated your prompt responses as well as your patience - thank you!"
We then provided six days of follow-up support to help Bridges get “fundraising ready”. This involved creating an inspiring and colourful case support that outlined the need for the charity’s work and the impact they were having, and undertaking in-depth prospect research to develop a ‘pipeline’ of trusts and foundations that Bridges could approach for project and core funding.
At this point, Bridges had all the confidence and tools required to step up their fundraising activity independently. When we checked in 18 months later, we were delighted to see that they’d sustained momentum and enjoyed real fundraising success:
"Lime Green have been a tremendous support to us at Bridges for Communities - helping us to develop a fundraising strategy that is now being implemented and has seen the charity's income grow by over 50% in the last 12 months."
Dan Green, Managing Director, Bridges for Communities
Dan Green, Managing Director, Bridges for Communities