35. Andy Watts – Trust fundraising ideas for chaotic times, Part 2.

Though some funders keep relationships with charities very formal, many of them really appreciate it when charities go the extra mile to create a deeper relationship. But how do you go about building these relationships, both with existing funders, and indeed, with ones that are not yet supporting you? This is the second half of my recent interview with Andy Watts, Head of Trusts and Foundations Fundraising at Sue Ryder. In his first year at the charity, trusts income increased by 349%, largely thanks to the strategy of proactively building more inspiring, personal relationships with funders. And during the chaos of 2020, this approach has helped generate valuable donations that have been helping to fund the charity’s work during the crisis. In this episode, we discuss a range of things Andy and his team have been doing; and are planning to do over the coming months, including ways to steward and re-inspire existing supporters, as well as a way of increasing your chances when approaching prospective supporters. If you want to share this episode because you think it will help other charities – THANK YOU! - we are both on Linked In and on twitter, where Andy is @andywatts27 and I am @woods_rob. If you’d like more powerful strategies to help you raise funds during the pandemic, then there are lots of different approaches, including some of Andy’s tactics, in my new free E-book: Power Through The Pandemic – Seven ways to raise money with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now. You can download it for FREE here: www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk/power