A key aspect of sustaining fundraising over time is to develop and sustain productive relationships with funders and donors.

Think about the relationship from the funder’s point of view: if it was your money you were handing over, what would you expect in return? To be kept in touch with progress? To be told if there are problems? To hear about progress made in the longer term? To be invited to the occasional event or Annual General Meeting?

Different funders vary in how they expect you to report formally – and obviously making sure you meet their criteria in full is vital to establishing a good relationship. A lot of charitable funders and donors do not ask for much in the way of formal reports. But keeping in touch can make a real difference to their perception of the group, and their willingness to fund again in the future.

Many successful groups set up a system or file to help them to keep track of who has funded what, when and when the funding was received and when they were last in touch. This helps to identify who might be interested in news about the group, or about particular activities the group is involved in doing.

For example, if a funder or donor has contributed to the cost of taking a group of young people to an adventure park, buying postcards from the park and using them to send a ‘thank you’ from those young people is a simple way of ensuring that the funder or donor knows that their gift has been appreciated and well used.

Many funders say that they often do not get a thank you. Remember: funders are people too!