And try and share this asking with a colleague. Doing this entirely on your own is especially hard.

I hope that is of some use. Best wishes!

You’re focusing on the right reason someone should want to invest in you - investing in fundraising, to build growth and future resilience.

Some might have a stronger emotional connection with the work you do and the outcomes you have achieved. So there are two messages you might put out.

Sorry to hear that. I’m sure you’ve thought of it already but start by focusing first on people and orgs who know (value) you and the nonprofit. Current donors, frequent donors, board members, past staff etc. If it’s a no from them, then how about their friends, family, work contacts….

Chairty Meetup - Future-Proofing Your Charity. Speaker: Sarah P Corbett (pictured). Unpicking the Status Quo - the Art of Gentle Protest. Hosted by Oliver Wyman.

The next Charity Meetup from Dawn Newton takes place in London on 30 April.

The theme is Future-Proofing Your Charity, and the keynote speaker is award-winning activist, author and founder of the global Craftivist Collective, Sarah P Corbett.

Details & tickets
www.tickettailor.com/events/chari...

Save £400 - super early bird ends 31 March for the International Fundraising Congress 20-23 October 2026.

[ad] Mobilising resources is getting harder.

More noise. More pressure. Less clarity.

At #IFC2026, you will step out of your day-to-day & get the space to understand what actually matters for your work right now.

Save £400 on your ticket. Book by 31 March:

bit.ly/4uOXMWU

Biddy Baxter helped make me a fundraiser Find out all the fundraising skills that Biddy Baxter, long-serving Blue Peter editor, taught me as a child, and made me into a fundraiser.

Biddy Baxter helped make me a fundraiser.

Biddy Baxter, long-serving Blue Peter editor, is one of a small number of people in my childhood who, with hindsight, I can say helped steer me to becoming a fundraiser.

Imagine the lives that could have been saved had we managed to delay the next wave until after our population was vaccinated.

Actually, we don’t need to imagine - countries that avoided significant waves until after their populations were vaccinated saw far fewer Covid deaths.

17/19

Thanks Julian. Just spotted it on LI so shall share there and on UKF.

Jingle Jam 'open now' graphic. Text also includes 'expressions of interest' and 'charities, we want you!'. Smaller text at the top reads: 'more info on jinglejam.co.uk'.

Want to be one of our charity partners this Jingle Jam? Now is your time to apply! We've officially opened our Expression of Interest form (EOI) for 2026.

Know a charity you'd like to see apply? Tag them below!

Greenpeace UK humorous legacy ad.

Greenpeace has long had a creative and darkly humorous approach to encouraging people to leave a gift in their will.

Their current one invites you to push the agenda while pushing up daisies.

Enhanced by a strapline underneath ‘we won’t rest in peace’ with the last word in Greenpeace’s green font.

Rhubarb growing in our allotment. Taken from ground level.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb - and thank goodness for that.

Visually AI by Heather Cooper | Substack Your weekly dose of AI news, tools, and innovation with a visual twist. Breaking down barriers to make AI content creation accessible to all. Click to read Visually AI by Heather Cooper, a Substack pu...

Having run Graphic Traffic training courses and then a Substack on the wonderful world of presenting information and stories graphically I can certainly recommend 'Visually AI' by Heather Cooper for enjoyable and extensive inspiration:

heatherbcooper.substack.com?r=qvt6&utm_c...

Muddy path in Great Tey, with view ahead obscured by most. Filtered with Prisma.

With plenty of muddy and slippery paths to navigate after weeks of rain.

A railway viaduct in mist with a weak sun in the top right just appearing above an evergreen tree.

Chappel viaduct (Essex) nearly obscured in the heavy morning mist as we started out on our run this morning.

Let's Talk Fundraising logo - CIOF's podcast

The @ciofundraising.bsky.social has started a new series of its podcast, Let's Talk Fundraising.

The first episode features Alan Clayton @revolutionise.bsky.social talking with CIOF Chair Harpreet Kondel on why fundraiser wellbeing can't wait.

open.spotify.com/episode/0MCq...

GSK Community Health Programme | The King's Fund The GSK Community Health programme is open to small charities working in the UK to tackle health inequalities. Successful charities will receive up to £10,000 of unrestricted funding.

Each charity will receive a £10,000 donation plus a training and development programme delivered by The King’s Fund worth an additional £5,000. Our congratulations to all of these organisations.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/49Iz80t

Great Fundraising Masterclass 26-28 January 2026

@howardlake.bsky.social is joining Nassau Fundraising again next week to co-present the Great Fundraising Masterclass to a group of Dutch fundraising and charity leaders.

Inkrite Multipack Ink Cartridge for Canon PIXMA (4 packs of five inks) | in Colchester, Essex | Gumtree The Inkrite Multipack Ink Cartridge is specifically designed for use with Canon PIXMA printers, including models like the MG5450, iP7250, MX925, and MX725. This ink cartridge set includes five indivi...

Need some new and unused ink colour cartridges for a Canon PIXMA?

I'm selling quite a few on Gumtree:

www.gumtree.com/p/cartridges...

#GotStuffGetCash

Amuses me how when this was first mooted, the ‘cynical’ objection was all ‘Oh no! The Tube is the one place I can get away from having to hear everyone’s else’s tedious phone conversations!’

A decade on and making a phone call isn’t even listed as a benefit by the Mayor, cos no one does it anymore.

Dear Friends and Supporters, It is with a very heavy heart that we are writing to let you know that, effective from 9th January 2026, RoadPeace will sadly have to stop its crucial work for road crash victims and close permanently.

Sad news from RoadPeace today.

Loved The Unexplained magazine. Still have all the copies. Lovely mix of odd, enlightening, unnerving and downright terrifying!

Donate to Support for Renee Good’s wife and son, organized by Mattie Weiss Please support the wife and son of Renee Good as they grapple with the devastating … Mattie Weiss needs your support for Support for Renee Good’s wife and son

The organizer is a partner and trainer at The Management Center, a progressive nonprofit based in Minneapolis. She was seeking $50,000 and has so far raised $893,000.

www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Dozens of people walking on Frinton beach on the afternoon of New Year’s Day 2026. Wind turbines on the horizon in the distance. A blue filter has been applied.

Frinton beach on New Year’s Day 2026.

Great Fundraising Masterclass, Netherlands, 26-28 January 2026. Large colour photo of the North Sea coast at Nordwijk.

Do you have the ambition to grow your fundraising income substantially and structurally in 2026, so that you reach your goal faster? Become a Great Fundraising organization and sign up for the Great Fundraising Masterclass (January 26 - 28).

It's delivered in English

www.nassau.nu/great-fundra...

I knew the composer of the Carol Symphony was Victor Hely-Hutchinson.

But I’ve only just discovered that his full name was Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson!

There’s some seasonal nominative determinism for you!

open.spotify.com/track/7xRG1C...

Warning sign of bears. Nikko National Park, Japan.

Triangle warning sign in yellow and black for "volcanic gas warning". Hakone, Japan.

Two memorable warning signs on our trip to Japan. From Nikko National Park (beware of bears) and Hakone (beware of volcanic gas - and other volcanic activity).

A bare branched oak tree silhouetted against a last light and reflected in the water in a garden table.

Root and branch?

Our garden oak tree reflected in the dying light.

To arrive sooner leave faster.

Travelling on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima with the family.

I’ve enjoyed the low-cost and easy to use Suica card, with its penguin mascot, on my family’s holiday in Japan.

“It got its name from the onomatopoeic phrase sui-sui, meaning to glide smoothly (through the turnstile)”.

But farewell penguin.

spoon-tamago.com/jr-east-suic...