Fundraising directors – ask not what your trust fundraisers can do for you, ask what you can do for your trust fundraisers, says Cassie Northam.

Trust fundraisers have been called the unsung heroes of fundraising. There are some wise directors who invest in the personal development of their trust fundraisers and give them well deserved praise. But that’s easy to do and is a no-brainer if you want a motivated team. So why do trust fundraisers continue to feel like members of an esoteric sect?

I regularly hear fellow trust fundraisers commenting that non-trusts colleagues don’t understand what they do. The money they raise is always appreciated, but they are faced with glazed looks when they explain how they got it.

Yes, trust fundraising is at one end of the fundraising spectrum. With its focus on writing and attention to detail, it is very different from organising mass participation events or calculating lifetime value for a direct marketing campaign. Fundraising is as diverse as it is challenging, but what we all share outweighs our differences.

Why is it that trust fundraising is such a mystery?

Directors – ask yourselves, when did you last attend a trust team meeting or meet with your trust fundraisers to discuss something other than targets? Do you spend time with your trust fundraisers at all? Can you name the top three difficulties your trust fundraisers face? Fundraising directors and charity leaders should be active in finding this out. Without this knowledge, how can you encourage growth or recruit effectively? Have you ever given serious thought to what you are looking for in a successful trust fundraiser? Good writing skills? Organisational skills? Attention to detail?

For me, resilience comes high on the list. Life as a trust fundraiser is full of highs and lows. Trust fundraisers need resilience running through their veins. Closest to the people who deliver the services, we experience the effects of success or rejection on the ground. Years ago, I remember pacing the grounds of a hospice trying to regain composure after finding a child bereavement project hadn’t received funding. How could it be that these children could be left to deal with their grief alone? But I picked myself up and in the end it made me more determined. To work in this specialism, fundraisers must have this quality by the barrel-load.

Let’s be clear, trust fundraisers aren’t high maintenance. A little bit of time spent with us will open up a whole new world of possibilities. In fact, those of us in the know are baffled as to why trust fundraising isn’t seen as a leading specialism. Trusts continue to be stable and dependable donors, wisely saving money to support the sector when they face a rainy day. Despite this common-sense approach, trusts are also risk-takers. Great things have been achieved by the innovative projects trusts have supported, which are then replicated again and again. Surely this is the most exciting outcome of any fundraising – making a positive change?

But trusts do want information. Often reams of it. Put yourself in the position of a grant-giving trustee, legally responsible for spending money in the best possible way. Surely you want to see proper planning? Each trustee is an individual human being and needs to be treated as such.

Trust fundraising’s return on investment makes this effort worthwhile. Interestingly, it is frequently only when corporates or individual major donors also start requesting this information, that charities realise they really must make cultural and systematic changes to meet donors’ needs.

You saw it here first in trust fundraising, so let’s celebrate it and nurture it, not box it up. Let’s think about introducing industry awards for trust fundraising and encouraging trust fundraisers to think they can be directors one day.

There is no substitute for directors asking trust fundraisers about their work and needs as these vary by organisation. Sadly though, trust fundraisers are hampered by internal issues more than anything else. If those are overcome, the sky is the limit. And directors, it is in your power to help trust fundraisers do this.

It shouldn’t just be trust fundraisers who are embracing the wonderful world of grantgivers. Charities which want to stand out and be industry leaders should place this type of funder at the centre. 

Cassie Northam is the fundraising manager at Action for Children.