Hello I am Michelle Benson

Today is 1st May 2019 I am sitting at my desk and am starting “Culture of Philanthropy”, after 30 years of working as a fundraiser and funder - from Account Manager to Development Director for charities both big and small. To becoming a director of a Trust fund, creating joint funds with companies, philanthropists and their advisors and other trust funds.

So why the jump? Why leave direct fundraising (after all I was very good at it 😉)?

I have had a great fundraising career, my jobs were varied, full of amazing experiences and equally amazing people.

I worked with and on some incredible partnerships from super high profile to deeply personal, raised millions of pounds towards causes, and led and coached literally hundreds of fundraisers. Several of whom are now leading organisations themselves.

BUT over the years, I witnessed a definite culture shift within charities.  A culture that makes being a fundraiser much harder and much more pressured. Targets have not only gone up but frequently orbit reality, morale among fundraisers generally stays positive, it’s just when it interacts with the rest of the organisation…😉

It seems the job and career I loved and been loved by - is starting to really become more and more pressurised.

But it still has all the ingredients that made it such a wonderful career - it is just getting buried under a pile of ever-growing distractions and demands fueled by a scarcity mindset and short termism, that seems to have got a good grip on the whole sector.

Ultimately, I was running teams, had line reports, was part of Senior Management teams/serving Boards and the wider organisation, stewarding key donors, fire-fighting one urgent request after another, fighting off the never ending emails, running from meeting to meeting, arguing why we needed better impact data, better budget information, more clarity around the case of support, speaking at conferences, overseeing re-brands, overseeing new website development and shielding my staff from the incoming demands from the rest of the organisation.

I was painfully aware that the Senior Management Teams and Boards did not really understand fundraising (apart from one charity I worked for which really understood it - all Board members fundraised and donated personally).

So, I have stepped out and created the service I would have loved to have had when I was up to my fundraising neck in the day to day madness of the Development Departments, I once called home.

I have poured 18 years of fundraising knowledge, 8 years of SMT/Board experience, 6 years of funding and 14 years of coaching teams into a “online courses” to help charities to be found by funders instead of constantly chasing people who do not want to be chased.  I have created the solid foundation every fundraising strategy needs BEFORE you set the goals and the targets, the foundation has to come first.  HOW do you best fundraise for your charity and why.  Once you understand that and have identified what you need to be “fit for purpose” then you can start adding on goals, targets, strategies etc.  BUT if the foundation, the systems, the bedrock is not understood or set up well you will always be on shaky ground and playing catch up. 

This service is:

• How to set your fundraising department up to win.
• What your departmental strategy should focus on and why.
• Identifying your best fit donors, identifying why they care and how to attract them.
• Using LinkedIn to be found by high value partners (because that's what I used as a funder).
• Me, being your “personal guide” as an experienced and successful Development Director – total honest no BS what works, what to avoid and why.

Can’t wait to get cracking now!!  

If you are reading this after 1st May 2019 - I hope to have really developed how non profit fundraisers, leaders, comms staff and consultants can really use LinkedIn strategically to advance missions.  I know the funding and external worlds we all swim in have evolved.  People do not want to be chased, they want to proactively find what they want to fund.  Fundraising and other activities are just getting harder because we have not kept up, we keep chasing instead of putting our energy into being found by people who are proactively looking.  Let's change that. ❤️