# Making the most of fundraising from home

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/04/07/making-the-most-of-fundraising-from-home/
- Published: 2020-04-07T12:15:20+01:00
- Author: John Green

**Fundraising is all about relationships, engaging with all sorts of people. With
the coronavirus social interaction has changed drastically, but what does this mean
for fundraising and the relationships it thrives on? How can senior fundraisers 
adapt to ****support their team, supporters and collaborators?**

## Looking after your team and collaborators

At this time your fundraising team will be under much more stress than usual. There’ll
be the impact on their mental wellbeing if friends and family are directly affected
by the virus.

Good fundraising teams will also have a strong awareness of their beneficiaries.
In many cases these are some of the most vulnerable people in society, and perhaps
more susceptible to the virus. The Relationship Manager at Catholic mission charity
Missio knows this all too well ‘we serve 1,100 mission dioceses in developing countries,
and for those communities, this pandemic will cause far worse, unimaginable suffering,
given the widespread poverty, lack of sanitation and weak public services in those
countries.’ Whilst it is vital that fundraising teams have good awareness of their
beneficiaries, managers will need to be aware that their plight will potentially
add to the stress of their teams.

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Previously this stress was mitigated by sharing with staff how the charity was helping
beneficiaries. And of course, there was good old-fashioned office banter and chats
which helped reduce all sorts of stress and built team cohesion. This is now missing.
And with no end to the virus in sight, a new way of supporting staff and collaborators
needs to be put into place. A structured way of meeting virtually as teams and for
one to one conversation is vital. More than ever, even if there’s not much reason
to meet or talk, managers need to ensure it happens, if there isn’t to be miscommunication
and people feeling they are out of the loop. Some staff will live on their own and
work will remain an important social network, as this has changed with homeworking,
good managers need to be aware of the role they play in their team’s wellbeing.

Staff may also be worried about job security at this time, as certain funding streams
may be in question. Even so managers will need to remind their team of the principles
outlined in Section 1 of the Code of Fundraising Practice, to ensure supporters 
don’t face undue pressure at a time when supporters themselves may be more anxious.

In recent years fundraising teams will have increasingly used audio and video conferencing,
in my time at Stella Maris seafarers’ charity we used Skype across time zones for
staff fundraising for seafarers’ centres around the world. Now it’s vital to step
back and see if we are really using these tools effectively. Harvey Duthie CEO of
the University of Limerick Foundation recommends a variety of online courses to 
consider and improve various [skills for homeworking.](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/remote-working-setting-yourself-and-your-teams-up-for-success)

## Looking after your supporters

As well as staff relationships, relations with supporters will now change. Good 
fundraising always focussed on the long term, involving supporters as part of the
mission, part of the charity family. Now is the time to be more aware of the anxiety,
loneliness and stress some supporters may be facing. And as one would with family
members, now is the time to check in on them. Again, at Missio they have sent a 
letter and are ‘telephoning them for a little chat to see how they are faring, aware
that some of them live on their own.’

In my own work at The Jesuits, I’m taking time to reach out to supporters with a
considered personalised email with no ask, just thanking them and assuring them 
of our thoughts and prayers, always conscious of the consents to contact them that
we’ve been given in this post GDPR age. For more on thanking supporters well, see
[How to create a culture of thanking in your charity fundraising team](https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/how-to-create-a-culture-of-thanking-in-your-charity-fundraising-team.html).

## 5 tips for great fundraising with a home-based team

### 1. Check the IT won’t break!

Even if it’s working fine now, a failure with a dispersed team will be more disruptive
than usual. So, ensure it’s being backed up remotely and staff aren’t saving work
to home PCs both for security and GDPR. Check with your IT support what provision
there is for a system failure.

### 2. Get organised

Review your fundraising plan and make sure it takes account of the changed situation
for staff and supporters, you may need to update it and ensure the team is aware
of the changes. And of course, if you’ve not got a plan, write one! Individual staff
plans will be more important than ever, for themselves and fundraising managers.

### 3. Get personal!

Diarise time to phone or video conference staff, keeping the formal and informal
conversation going will maintain good will and team cohesion. Make time to phone
or email supporters and other funders, both to thank them but also to let them know
you’re thinking of them.

### 4. Keep up to date

With fewer office interruptions now is the time to schedule a little daily CPD; 
look at UK Fundraising or other fundraising resources online. Most fundraising databases
have free online training or user groups to upskill you and your team. It’s also
a chance to review contracts and service agreements to make sure they’re working
hard for you.

### 5. Switch off

The temptation to keep working past your normal hours can be greater when you’re
home working. So, make sure you do something completely different to switch off;
do some exercise, read a book to your children, or perhaps if you’ve been inspired
by [Howard Lake on LinkedIn](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwAHrkp_kfsSx2qUPV2n1V_yKHONfe2wl),
play a piano tune:

_[John Green](http://www.linkedin.com/in/john-green-aa213315/) ([@johngreenn](http://www.twitter.com/johngreenn))
has worked in the voluntary sector for nearly 20 years. After 17 years he recently
left seafarers’ charity Stella Maris as their Director of Development. He is currently
fundraising manager at The Jesuits and has a Masters in Voluntary Administration
from South Bank University. In 2012 he founded the networking forum ‘Catholics in
Fundraising’ and has been a trustee at various charities including Field Lane, Aberdeen
Seafarers’ Centre and has served on the grant making body of The Plater Trust. He
also plays the trombone._