# I didn’t know you did that @howardlake

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/
- Published: 2019-06-24T14:50:37+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**I passed this print shop window sign in London recently, just after I’d finished
running a course on how to build your personal brand in the charity sector. It made
me think: is my personal brand still clear? Do existing and potential clients know
what I do, and the different ways in which I might help them?**

Having worked in fundraising for 30+ years, from pre-digital days (yes, I can remember
sending my first email on an Oxfam Volkswriter Deluxe) to today when ‘digital’ is
a superfluous term, my services have changed and developed considerably.

My main focus remains on publishing UK Fundraising, this site, but there are quite
a range of services I also provide, and which I get asked to provide. Some of these
have the same title (consulting and training, for instance) but their nature is 
altered. Others are entirely new areas for me.

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## 14 ways I might help your organisation

So here, partially for my own sense of rationalising what I now do but also for 
those of you who might benefit from them, is my current list of services.

 

### 1. Social reporting from conferences

If you run a major event or conference, how good are you at pulling together all
the content that gets shared before, during or after the event? Wouldn’t all that
content, managed well, offer a useful resource to demonstrate what you do? And be
useful in promoting future events? And is there content that you didn’t manage to
capture yourself because you were too busy running the event?

 

![Blackbaud's bbcon pumpkin](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/06/IMG_8062-
e1561556853861.jpg)

_Coverage of a conference doesn’t just involve pictures of speakers or Powerpoints_

 

That is what I do for organisations like Blackbaud and their bbcon uk event and 
the Resource Alliance where I’ll be covering the International Fundraising Congress
again in October.

It’s a set of skills I’ve honed over 20+ years, reporting on fundraising conferences
for UK Fundraising. Back in 1997 I reported ‘live’ via email updates to the FundUK
email list I ran then from my first International Fundraising Congress in Holland.
Now I combine images, video, sound, and content from delegates and event organisers,
and package them to share or amplify via social channels.

 

![Sketch note by Howard Lake of a session at IoF Convention 2018](https://wfay6x.
infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/06/IMG_2762.jpg)

_Sketch notes of a session Personal Brand from IoF Convention 2018, just one content
type I use to cover conferences_

 

Having extensive reach myself among fundraisers means that this content reaches 
some of the intended audience, perhaps more than the event organiser could on its
own.

I also provide **training in social reporting** too so that you or your colleagues
can make the most of your own conferences and events (see below).

[Ask me about social reporting](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk)
from your event or about training in this skill.

 

### 2. Chairing events

I get asked to **chair discussion panels** at events from time to time, and enjoy
combining learning from other practitioners and helping them share their experience
and knowledge with an audience keen to learn from them.

 

> thanks for being a superb chair [@howardlake](https://twitter.com/howardlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> good discussion, will make a useful article for charities considering text 🙂 
> [@instaGiv](https://twitter.com/instaGiv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@NSPCC](https://twitter.com/NSPCC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> — Jenny Turner (@JennyTurnerPR) [May 8, 2015](https://twitter.com/JennyTurnerPR/status/596705036983476224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

I’m signed up to [the pledge](https://www.owen.org/pledge) not to take part in all-
male panels, so shall decline invitations to do so. To go further, I can always 
encourage conference organisers to choose someone else to chair or take part in 
a panel, and would direct you to the valuable ‘[Great charity speakers](https://greatcharityspeakers.com/)‘
resource.

[Ask me about chairing an event](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 3. Helping companies with their charity clients

As well as working with charities and social enterprises I sometimes get asked to
train or advise a company’s charity clients.

These courses have included for example:

• an **introduction to fundraising** and the role of fundraisers. One tech company
wanted to ensure their new staff had an up-to-date overview of what fundraising 
involved, who becomes a fundraiser, and current issues affecting the sector.

I usually invite guest speakers to these to illustrate a diversity of experiences.

 

![BRC - Romanian bank logo](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/06/IMG_5341.
jpg)

_BCR – Romanian bank with charity clients_

• the **current state of using digital tools for fundraising**. A Romanian bank,
for example, sponsored a day of this to help all its charity clients grasp some 
of the opportunities available to them.

• I also **helped a funder** by training its charity grant recipients in how to 
expand their fundraising from the public, and how to demonstrate impact.

[Ask me about helping your charity clients](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 4. Helping companies with their digital presence

**Fundraising companies ask for advice** on how their website and social media presence
and use can be improved. What are they doing wrong? What could they do better?

I help by looking at their strategy and what they currently do with digital channels
and messages. I help map out the fundraising sector, or the particular niches they
hope to target, and suggest ways in which they might craft their message and content
and deliver it to their intended audience.

Sometimes this work is across all their digital channels. Sometimes it is just advice
on how they can make more of their social media channels.

On other occasions it is **helping senior staff or trustees** develop an online 
personal presence or make more of their social media account(s). Indeed, I’ve been
asked to run a course like this for a few senior fundraising consultants, but haven’t
got round to doing so yet.

[Ask me about help with your company’s digital presence](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 5. Helping companies, especially startups, enter the charity sector effectively

If your company has a product or service to benefit the charity sector, and that
is fundraising-related in particular, I should be able to assist you to **reach 
your audience**.

Sometimes it is simply through editorial on UK Fundraising, but other clients have
benefited from advice on where to get noticed, awareness of competitors, how charities
make decisions, the scale of the market they are focusing on, and other issues. 

[Ask me about help for startups](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 6. Fundraising Camp

 

![Fundraising Camp](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2013/06/fundraising-camp-
logo-final.jpg)

I introduced **Fundraising Camp** in 2013, intending it to be a more **useful and
engaging alternative to traditional fundraising conferences**. Based on the unconference
model, we get 40-60 fundraisers together for the day and ensure that they learn 
and share their experiences with each other on the topics, challenges and questions
that matter to them most.

We’ve run over 25 of these events, in particular in towns that don’t get their fair
share of fundraising conferences and workshops, like Peterborough, Chichester, Llandudno,
Chatham, York, Stirling and Canterbury.

We run these **publicly**, but always look for a donated venue from a partner. Equally,
we can **run them in-house for your organisation** or, even better, a group of related
organisations. Our Fundraising Camp for hospice fundraisers, for example, went down
well. So too did our Fundraising Camp for the Institute of Fundraising Yorkshire
and North East groups in 2018.

We also offer this as an event that can be **part of another conference**. We’ve
run a version of Fundraising Camp twice at the International Fundraising Conference
in Holland, in the first year of which it was rated the most popular session.

[Ask me about Fundraising Camp](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 7. Guest hosting your online community

Some of you run online communities for fundraisers, whether staff, volunteers or
supporters who get involved with fundraising.

Sometimes it can be useful to freshen up your content or introduce another angle.
I’ve contributed to fundraising forums since 1992, and run my own since 1996 – remember
FundUK anyone? It was the first listserv for all UK Fundraisers – beaten to it only
by admin-develop, which was established for higher education development staff.

FundUK morphed from an email-only listserv through various formats, before moving
to a web-based group on this site, and thereafter moving to a [LinkedIn group](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2420938/).

 

![Photo of Howard Lake and details of Fundraising Month on Aviva Community Forum](
https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/03/howard-lake-moderator-aviva-community-
fund-201903-e1551975807622.jpg)

_I guest moderated the Aviva Community Group for a month in 2019._

This year Aviva asked me to serve as a **guest contributor to its Aviva Community
Group on Facebook**, to share fundraising advice, ideas and inspiration, to encourage
questions and to interact with the members. This ran throughout March.

[Ask me about guesting on your online forum](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

## Training

I run a range of training courses, and have been training charity staff and charity
sector agency staff in aspects of digital fundraising since 1996. I do this in various
formats.

 

### 8. My current courses

I run my own public courses, which are also **available in-house**. You can find
these on [Eventbrite](http://ukfundraising.eventbrite.co.uk). Having run dozens 
of different topics over the years (_Fundraising using Twitter, How to curate your
charity’s content online, How to run a charity email newsletter, How to use Mailchimp
as a charity, How to get started with WordPress for your charity’s website, How 
to fundraise online on a shoestring_, and more) I currently tend to focus on offering:

• **How to make the most of digital fundraising** (one day)

• **Graphic Traffic: how to create and use fundraising images and video on social
media** (half-day)

• **How to build your personal brand in the charity sector** (half-day)

I also run these as in-house courses. They work well as for a staff team-building
day, and several charities have booked them for that purpose.

> Fantastic course yesterday I attended in London conducted by [@howardlake](https://twitter.com/howardlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> from [@fundraisinguk](https://twitter.com/fundraisinguk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) –
> Graphic Traffic, learnt so much. Can't wait to put new skills into practice. Met
> great fundraising colleagues dedicated to their causes. Thank you Howard[https://t.co/3yibieLqoq](https://t.co/3yibieLqoq)
> [pic.twitter.com/JnstTaQV4c](https://t.co/JnstTaQV4c)
> — Fundraising World Chris Herron (@fundraisingAU) [June 6, 2018](https://twitter.com/fundraisingAU/status/1004237197405491205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[Ask me about running an in-house course](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

### 9. Online courses

 

![RSS (really simply syndication) icon](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/
06/rss-feed-icon-rectangle-pixabay-300x225.jpg)

I’m also working on offering my training courses online. Currently there is just
one, on [How to make the most of RSS feeds in your digital marketing](https://www.udemy.com/rss-feeds/).
But I’m working on adding several more.

 

### 10. Training for other training providers

I also provide or have provided training on elements of digital fundraising for 
other organisations over many years e.g.

 * the [Institute of Fundraising Academy](https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/events-and-training/qualifications/)
 * [Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy](https://artsfundraising.org.uk/courses)
 * National Arts Fundraising School (2012-2017)
 * and the former Catalyst-funded training programme for heritage organisations 
   run by the Institute of Fundraising and Heritage Alliance.

### 11. Other courses by other trainers

For the past 12 or so years I have been offering training by other trainers. I tend
to spot a topic that deserves a wider audience amongst fundraisers and an expert
trainer and then offer that.

Current events, many of them kindly hosted in London by Blackbaud/JustGiving, include:

• **Bereavement training for fundraisers: how to engage with bereaved donors**

• **An introduction to Gift Aid** (plus lots of specific courses on elements of 
Gift Aid e.g. retail Gift Aid, how to prepare for a HMRC Gift Aid audit, and Gift
Aid Small Donations Scheme)

• **How to fundraise using Facebook’s advertising and fundraising tools**

Available course dates are also published on [Eventbrite](http://ukfundraising.eventbrite.co.uk).

Most of these are available in-house too.

[Ask me about an in-house course from one of these expert trainers](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk)
for your team and colleagues.

### 12. Consultancy with partners

As well as my own consultancy services, **I also work with larger teams** including
[Charity Consultants Ltd](http://www.charityconsultants.co.uk), [Wootton George Consulting](http://www.wgconsulting.co.uk)
and [Win That Pitch](https://www.winthatpitch.win/).

 

### 13. Speaking at events

![Howard Lake inspiration](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2014/10/howard-lake-
inspiration-ifc-2014-800.jpg)

Howard Lake’s source of fundraising inspiration – at International Fundraising Congress,
Holland

I have been **speaking at events about digital fundraising** since 1995, in the 
UK and further afield. There aren’t many people who have a 30 year perspective and
understanding of how digital has been harnessed by the charity and social good sector.

[Ask me about speaking](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk)
at your conference or event.

 

### 14. Last-minute services

Working for myself I have more flexibility, with the result that I have been asked
to **stand in at very short notice** to run a training course, present at a conference
and provide some other type of emergency support. 

I’ve helped run a SEO for charities course, presented keynote speeches, run some
training for companies on content development, and helped out organisations facing
public reputation challenges.

[Ask me about urgent support](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk).

 

## More

I suspect there are other ways in which I might be able to help your organisation.
I do relish doing something new and challenging, doubly so if it involves working
in new ways and with talented people. If any of the above strikes a chord and makes
you think that I might be a source of help, [do ask!](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/06/24/i-didnt-know-you-did-that-howardlake/hl***@************co.uk)

 

## Am I any good at this though?

Fortunately plenty of people and organisations have responded publicly with praise
for how I’ve helped them so don’t just accept what I say: [see what others say](https://wakelet.com/wake/a8c3f47e-de7c-4e76-a6ac-e6aaac88ba0c)
about me and my services.

 

## Some responses to this post

> I “didn’t know that!”
> I have been on Howard’s training excellent courses and use [@ukfundraising](https://twitter.com/ukfundraising?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> on a weekly basis as the go-to resource for the sector.
> But did you know [@howardlake](https://twitter.com/howardlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> did all of this ⬇️ as well?? [https://t.co/jr4bp2tDAz](https://t.co/jr4bp2tDAz)
> — Claire Warner (she/her) (@ClaireWarner) [June 25, 2019](https://twitter.com/ClaireWarner/status/1143618722168545281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

> And all of them are terrific! [https://t.co/g0JhdanfX3](https://t.co/g0JhdanfX3)
> — =mc consulting (@bernardrossmc) [June 25, 2019](https://twitter.com/bernardrossmc/status/1143424283546443776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

> We didn't know you did all that either [@howardlake](https://twitter.com/howardlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)!
> What a vast range of services to help fundraisers. [https://t.co/yf3CV5VIZy](https://t.co/yf3CV5VIZy)
> — Arc Data (@Arc_Data_UK) [June 27, 2019](https://twitter.com/Arc_Data_UK/status/1144192343391768576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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