Top books and resources for fundraising and fundraisers

It’s a challenging time for charities – particularly for fundraising staff who are tasked with bringing in income. Whether you’re starting off in fundraising, or have decades of experience, reading about the subject will increase your knowledge and skills.

 

Books and online resources about fundraising can give you practical tips and guidance on different areas of charity fundraising. For example, developing a fundraising strategy or how to use digital fundraising in your charity. This could help you to boost your charity’s income.

 

There are a number of organisations that publish books and online resources on fundraising. So, we’ve done some research and picked out our top five.

 

 

Being strategic with your fundraising

 

Do you need help with creating a fundraising strategy? The Directory for Social Change (DSC) – in association with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent – has published a book on this topic.

 

The book is written by Claire Routley and Richard Sved, who have both worked in the charity sector for a long time. Fundraising Strategy explains how to put a “robust and dynamic” strategy in place to help your charity succeed.

 

The book aims to help readers:

• Understand the internal and external fundraising environment
• Identify their strategic objectives and key audiences
• Track and measure their fundraising plans

The book also looks at how to establish an ethical framework for your fundraising.

 

The DSC has published a number of other fundraising books. These include The Directory of Grant Making Trusts, The Complete Fundraising Handbook, and The Guide to Major Trusts.

 

 

Helping small charities to effectively fundraise

 

Fundraising for small charities is particularly challenging. They have less resources and time to do the work than bigger charities. Successful charity fundraising: the basics for smaller charities is for small charity staff and trustees who are looking to develop and implement a fundraising strategy.

 

The book guides readers through the different steps to do this, including making sure you have strong governance and good management. It covers a number of fundraising methods, including individual giving, digital fundraising and crowdfunding.

 

This book is part of the Charity First Series, which aims to provide clear, accessible and reliable information on topics about the not-for-profit sector.

 

 

Setting up corporate partnerships for fundraising

 

If you’re thinking of exploring corporate fundraising but you’re not sure where to start, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising is a good place to look. The membership organisation has a number of resources on its website, including an online resource on corporate fundraising.

 

It covers what corporate fundraising is, how to approach companies and carrying out due diligence. The resource also includes the key legal points to think about when setting up a corporate partnership, including having a written agreement in place and tax and VAT issues.

 

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising also has online resources on grants and trusts, legacy fundraising and major donor fundraising.

 

 

Finding funds to carry out your work

 

The NCVO has tips and guidance for charities and community groups looking to find the money they need to do their work. This includes everything from how to find grants to planning your income. For those looking to learn more about the different fundraising methods you could use, there’s a section explaining the different options.

 

The resource also has a helpful section on finding organisations in your local area to help with funding and fundraising. It also contains information on how public sector organisations commission the services they’re going to pay for.

 

The NCVO is a good source of information for anyone looking to find guidance on different aspects of running a charity. For example, it covers topics like how to set up a charity, digital tools and software, and recruiting volunteers.

 

 

Using strong communications to fundraise

 

The Fundraiser’s guide to irresistible communication shows you how to communicate in a way that will encourage donors to give to your charity.

 

Author Jeff Brooks, an experienced fundraising writer in the US, shows readers how to write strong fundraising messages using persuasive writing.

 

He has also written two other books: How to turn your words into money to help fundraisers use the right language to inspire donors, and The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand, which shows you how to use branding to increase your fundraising results.

 

If you’re looking for resources to help increase your communication skills, then read our article on five books to master communication.