# Fundraising know-how sought by majority at IFC's First Friday

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/06/09/fundraising-knowhow-sought-majority-ifc039s-first-friday/
- Published: 2009-06-09T17:52:57+01:00
- Author: Kevin Baughen

Last week I attended [IFC’s First Friday Fundraising](http://www.internationalfundraisingconsultancy.co.uk)
sessions and was interested to note that the same questions seemed to be coming 
from a wide range of organisations.

The idea of the sessions is for any charity team members to come along for free 
and ask questions of the gathered experts as well as of each other. The paln was
for a drop in/drop out discussion but the majority of attendees seem to stay and
listen to others’ issues and questions as well.  This in turn seemed to reinforce
the old adage that we learn as much from other attendees at meetings as we often
do from the experts (in this case John Baguley, David Marfleet and yours truly).

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Or is it just about solidarity in tough times? Positive either way, I feel.

Whilst the names will remain confidential to protect the innocent, charities in 
attendance ranged from multi-million pound organisations to small community projects
serving beneficiaries in a number of countries and across various causes.  But, 
in spite of the apparent diversity, we ended up discussing the same issues of building
and implementing an effective fundraising strategy for pretty much every attendee.

The surprise for me was not that all parties are struggling to fundraise as effectively
in the current recession, but that fundraising within their organisations simply
isn’t taken seriously as a discipline or a strategic function.  How exactly do founders,
field teams, trustees and other service providers think the services are actually
enabled?  Does the money for the electricity bill get found behind a sofa or desk?

Forgive the flippancy but until charity leadership teams accept that fundraising
is a key means to their noble ends rather than a necessary evil, their organisations
will continue to struggle.

For my part, I now have a better appreciation of how the same challenges manifest
themselves across a wide range of organisations and the resultant importance of 
strong advice and personal development in this area. Neither will I be taking smart,
effective fundraising ideas for granted any time soon (as if I could).

**PS.** If anyone is interested in helping a founder to build an organisation which
seeks to provide innovative play areas in deprived parts of the world, just let 
me know. The fact that local communities are involved in the projects, run the simple
building aspects using locally sourced labour and materials and benefit from the
end results made for a truly compelling case.

Kevin Baughen is the founder of [Bottom Line Ideas](http://www.bottomlineideas.com)
and works with charities to ensure their marketing and communications activities
deliver maximum, real-world benefit.

 

 * **[Return of the Capital Appeals…](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/06/11/return-capital-appeals/)**(
   11 June 2009)
 * **[Guernsey Register of Charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/06/12/guernsey-register-charities/)**(
   12 June 2009)
 * **[Do you have trouble accessing the Sunday Times Rich List online?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/07/09/do-you-have-trouble-accessing-sunday-times-rich-list-online/)**(
   9 July 2009)