19. Ben Swart – How to inspire supporters in spite of the pandemic

With nearly everyone now staying at home and worried about their health, income and families, its hard to know how to keep and build relationships with supporters, especially for causes not directly linked to the coronavirus. In this episode of the fundraising bright spots podcast, Rob Woods discusses responses to these problems with Ben Swart, Head of New Business Corporate Partnerships at the NSPCC and part of the Bright Spot training team. Ben talks about what he sees as the most important fundraising activity he and his team are engaged in right now – proactively talking to supporters. He explains why being brave and calling / face-timing your supporters is more crucial than ever, not so much to seek a gift, but to show that you care (about the supporter) and to let them know about the challenges faced by your beneficiaries right now, and how your charity is responding. Ben and Rob acknowledge this is an area many people find difficult, and so offer ideas and examples to help you take a deep breath and manage to enjoy more conversations with supporters anyway. We hope you find this episode helpful. If you’d like to get in touch or share it so other people can benefit, we’d be really grateful. We are both active on Linked In and our twitter names are @benswart and @woods_rob. To see the episode notes and details of the Bright Spot Members Club, go to www.brightspotfundraising.co.uk