Photos: Jonathan Portillo on Pexels and (insert) Matthew Henry on Burst
The material on this page is for beginners. If you have at least three years’ trust fundraising experience, there are lots of pages on relationships here that you might find useful: https://goodgrantfundraising.org.uk/genuine-gratitude/.
The calls after someone has given can be very nice and warm. It helps you improve the relationship. It can also help you a bit to get into the headspace of being in a relationship with a trust.
You can ask if anything was said about the project in the trustees’ meeting. If you know how the grants committee see your project, it makes it easier to do an impressive report and it can help when you next go back to ask for more money. It will also educate you on what happens in meetings as regards your applications.
This point after the trust has given is a good point to invite them to come and see the work, if you have anything that’s interesting for an outsider to see. They know that you aren’t going to try and pin them down to give you money and it can be very satisfying for them to see the kind of difference they’re going to be making.
With individuals, there’s some evidence that if you thank them quickly they give more often. Presumably they equate the speed of response with how important you see their gift as being. It might be different with trusts as a lot of mail goes to intermediaries, but it might sometimes help.
Most charities have a policy of thanking within two or three days (it varies) of receipt of the gift.
Thank the trust for the difference it’s making to the end users, rather than (or at least, more than) for benefits to your charity. As far as trusts are normally concerned, your charity is a vehicle by which your money enables them to change the world for better. So, that’s the kind of thing they’re looking to hear about
You want to reinforce the emotions they’ll hopefully be feeling about their gift. Something nice from an end user is good – e.g., a quote that illustrates the difference they’ll make.
I like to invite the trust to come and see the work, if there’s something interesting that they can see. Occasionally they’ll come.
Ring up (or if you absolutely have to, email) and ask why they rejected you. Sometimes you can treat the rejection as part of the engagement exercise with the trust. They’ve seen your work now and have formed a view. You can sometimes learn a lot more about their interests, leading to a grant in the longer term.
I’ve sometimes found that staff are also more open in discussing the practice of the trust after a decision has been made. Before a decision, they might get it wrong. Afterwards they’re just explaining what happened, so they might find easier to speak freely.