# Diversity Access Fund: how it helped three fundraisers and their respective charities

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/05/13/diversity-access-fund-how-it-helped-three-fundraisers-and-their-respective-charities/
- Published: 2019-05-13T09:50:53+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**As the Diversity Access Fund is open again for bursaries for this year’s Fundraising
Convention, three fundraisers explain how the opportunity to attend Fundraising 
Convention through the Diversity Access Fund benefited their own personal development
as well as strengthening the work of their charities’ own fundraising.**

 

## Khalid Sadi, Trust Fundraising Manager at Personal Support Unit

The Diversity Access Fund was a brilliant opportunity for me to learn from industry
experts and network with fellow BME fundraisers. The workshops were not only inspiring
but also hugely insightful and I can already see the difference in my approach to
fundraising following the event. I have since taken on additional responsibility
in my department and look forward to growing in my role.

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As a BME fundraiser the charity sector can sometimes feel alienating due to the 
lack of diversity so it’s great to see the IoF doing more to help promote the sector
to diverse groups. I was also impressed with the organisation of the event, clearly
a lot of thought and planning had gone into it to make it a welcoming and wonderful
learning experience.

 

## Emma Lynn, Fundraising Officer at Tall Ships Youth Trust

I’ve been up to so much since the convention and have plenty more left to do! I 
am a sole fundraiser and the sessions I attended have given me that little boost
I needed to really get our individual giving programme off the ground. We’ve run
a really successful membership upgrade campaign and are about to launch another 
regular giving product too. A few of the sessions also really helped with some ideas
to explore for our capital appeal later this year to help us buy a new tall ship!
This ship will double our capacity to help young people, so it’s huge for us.

The charity I work for doesn’t have the budget to send me to convention so being
able to receive this grant was incredible and we are all eternally grateful! My 
disability has never held me back before and thanks to this grant, it still hasn’t!
I’d encourage everyone to apply for any form of help that they possibly can to progress
their career, be a better fundraiser and ultimately, help more people!

 

## Zoe King, Funding & Projects Manager at Diverse Cymru

Fundraising has always been a part of my career in project management, however I
have recently moved into a full-time development role, working for an equalities
charity that I absolutely love.

We are a small charity with smaller budgets meaning that we have to be creative 
with training and personal development and I was so happy to be awarded a bursary
to Fundraising Convention 2018.

The programme was amazing and inspiring, as was the commitment to diversity that
was a thread running through so many of the sessions that I attended.

Fundraising Convention helped to demystify legacy giving, and we now plan to develop
in this area. Fundraising Convention let me look closer at event fundraising and
we are now planning our half-marathon team. It encouraged me to tell stories, influencing
our external communications.

These are small steps that I hope will make a big impact to us in 2019 and I hope
to be successful with a bursary again this year.

The [Diversity Access Fund is now accepting donations](https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/accessfund)
for 2019 bursaries. Your support will help bring more BAME, LGBT+ and disabled fundraisers
to this year’s Fundraising Convention, ensuring it truly reflects the communities
we serve. If you are [able to donate](https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/accessfund),
you can do so now.

If you are interested, you can apply for a [Diversity Access Fund bursary](http://www.fundraisingconvention.uk/bursaries)
now.

 

_**David Mbaziira**. Since writing this blog, David has gone on to become a culture
and communications consultant for the sector and a member of the IoF’s [Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee](https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/championing-fundraising/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/)._

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