Our 2022 With You

Written by Nikki Bell

We’re big on building things in the open and including you in our decisions. So this is our honest review of 2022 before we kick off things for 2023.

This might not be the most exciting read for many of you. But, for transparency, I want it to exist somewhere so you can see behind the curtain.

Before I get into the stats though, I want to say ‘thank you’.

We couldn’t have achieved any of this without you.

Whether you’ve joined as an attendee, have chosen to push your professional development forward with us as a member, shown your support on social media, or partnered with us as a sponsor; it’s all noticed and appreciated.

Speaker and event EDI: How did we do?

This is something we’ve kept a close eye on in 2022, especially as we’ve handed over more of our event curation to our community.

I’m so happy that we overachieved on our goals to represent people of colour (+15%), people from the LGBTQIA+ community (+24%) and gender representation (63% female / 32% male / 5% trans and non-binary split).

However, there is more to do.

Disabled speakers

We didn’t meet our goals for representation of disabled speakers* (-11%) and I would love to platform more new-to-the-sector fundraisers to make sure we’re hearing more new ideas.

Tracking EDI information

I’m also embarrassed to say that we only started tracking EDI information for attendees in 2022. Considering this is a core reason why Fundraising Everywhere was created, I can’t believe it took over 2 years for this requirement to click and I take full responsibility for that.

The data we do have on attendees is promising and reflects much of what we see in our speakers, with the exception of young people that are better represented within our attendees.

Similar to our speakers, however, our reach to attendees with disabilities is low with just 9% of the 444 responses given* saying they’d consider themselves to be disabled. Our current goal is to reach 19% so there is work here to be done.

How we want to improve in 2023

A priority for 2023 is to understand more about the disabled community within our own and what more we can do to support disabled people to engage with our work.

How we plan to do this:

• Understand more about disability within the UK charity sector; representation, how these people identify, and how comfortable individuals are in sharing this information.
• For new/young voices, utilise our Fresh to the Sector participants for shaping our work and featuring at our events.
• Work proactively with organisations and charities that work with the disabled community.
• Work with people with lived experience, including existing team members, to improve our communications and activities.

Speaker pay

For those of you that have been with us since 2019, you may have noticed the amount we have paid out to speakers has gone down. This is a combination of fewer speakers in 2022 compared to 2021, and many speakers choosing to waive their fees to provide bursaries to events.

*our EDI form is not compulsory. Data reviewed and reported are from people that chose to tell us about their experience.

Team diversity

We’re a team of only three people so I don’t want to go into specifics to protect the privacy of my colleagues, but I will confirm that non-visible diversity is strong on team FE.

However, we need to improve visible diversity in the team.

I worked with the belief that using our networks and platform to support the growth of people in our sector was working in an equitable way to create opportunities. However, I understand and recognise that without that representation in the team itself, we are missing out on big talent opportunities - as well as the insight that helps us approach our projects and marketing in an inclusive way. We want to improve this in 2023 and it’s a big priority for us.

In January 2023 we will be reviewing our EDI goals and updating them where needed.

Events and webinars

2022 was a varied year for Fundraising Everywhere events and we’re constantly learning and adapting. Your needs as a fundraiser are constantly changing and it’s important we don’t churn out the same topics and speakers every year for the sake of fitting into a calendar.

It’s exciting to see attendee numbers go up (and that you’re coming back to re-watch after event day!), so we want to make sure that you’re getting what you need at the right time.

Feedback and acting on that feedback will continue throughout 2023 and we’re excited to have you on that journey with us.

The hits

Our top three conferences* in 2022 (in no particular order) were the:

• Individual Giving Conference
• Legacy Fundraising Conference
• Grants and Major Donors Conference.

Top webinar topics in 2022 (in no particular order) were:

• Making TikTok Work for Your Charity
• Trusts & Grants Fundraising During the Cost of Living Crisis
• Charities and NFTS: the next step for online fundraising or digital distraction?

Our full programme of 2023 conferences are up on our website so you can book onto those right away. We have kept a couple of conference gaps for anything responsive that pops up and our free monthly webinars are available on a rolling monthly basis.

*based on attendee numbers.

The events we need to look at

We tested the very first ‘open mic’ fundraising conference, Over To You, in July 2022 to give a platform without ‘rules’ to people that had something they wanted to say. The content was exceptional, with challenges made and solutions given for improving pathways and inclusivity in our sector. But, attendance was really low. I’m talking under 20 people low.

We know it’s hard for fundraisers to justify taking time away from work when they’re not sure what they’re going to learn but it’s a real shame that an opportunity was missed to really dig into the problems in our sector and work collectively to fix them.

We still believe in this intention but we’ll change how we approach it in 2023 with more structure to support your decisions on where to spend your time.

You might also have noticed that the Small Charity Conference isn’t returning in 2023. This isn’t because we don’t cater for small charity employees  - it’s because we don’t want to focus our support for these people into just one month.

Instead, every conference throughout 2023 will include support for small charities and there will be a specialist chat room for any representatives wanting to network and discuss the sessions. This is in addition to the exclusive free workshops held for Members every month throughout the year.

What’s happening in 2023

In short, we’re going to build on 2022’s successes and add more depth to make sure every fundraiser, everywhere, has everything they need to do their job.

In addition to training through our conferences, events and Membership, following extensive chats with our community, we will be launching projects to support our Manifesto. 

Here are some other things to look forward to from team FE:

Improved event experience

Attendance to virtual events have increased since 2021 and we want to make sure that every time you log onto a Fundraising Everywhere event you’re completely blown away.

In 2023 we will be:

• Launching a speaker academy to make sure our speakers deliver the right content in the best way
• We’ll work to have event programmes confirmed three months prior to an event
• And, you’ll be able to access the event site and materials from the point of registration

We have already brought in ‘free-choice’ breakout rooms at our live events that enable you to chat with speakers and attendees after every session, certificates to track your progress, and in-person watch parties where you can network in real-life whilst enjoying the virtual conference together in a shared location. We’d love to see more of those in 2023!

As well as the above, we give you the opportunity to rate our conference sessions and give your feedback live so we can keep on improving after every event.

North America

A large part of our community has hailed from North America even from the early days; but the sessions we host and the times we host them aren’t accessible for our Canadian and American friends.

In May 2023, we will be hosting the first North American-specific fundraising conference, using our popular Individual Giving Conference as the topic, with local speakers, partners, and in a North American-friendly timezone.

We’re still in talks with businesses and individuals about co-leading this project (we want the event to be led and represented by local people) so watch this space…

Manifesto Projects

We launched our Manifesto in September 2022 and have spoken to many fundraisers and organisations since.

The final projects are yet to be finalised but it’s already clear that to build a better sector for fundraisers, not only do they have to be skilled and supported, they need to be led by leaders that know what they’re doing and do it in an ethical and empathetic way.

We’re planning a three-pronged approach that aims to support fundraisers through;

1. Training, accountability and community
2. Supporting their leaders with practical coaching and upskilling in the core leadership essentials
3. and, interactive workshops that dig into sector challenges (which will produce support in whatever format is necessary).

We’re big on collaboration so we’re working on bringing in external experts, partner organisations, and even fully funding other people to lead on this work. So if you’re reading this thinking, ‘I like the sound of that’, please get in touch.

Growing our team

What better way to get new and exciting ideas by growing our team!

We’re currently recruiting for a Growth Marketing Executive and have plans to expand with customer experience roles in the future.

We’re investing in our current team by increasing their pay by 10% and working towards full implementation of a 4-day week that sees staff working 30hrs on a full-time wage.

If you’d like to join our team, please get in touch!

We encourage people from all communities to apply for jobs with us. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, disabled, male identifying, trans and young people because we want to improve representation of these groups in our workforce.

Giving back to our sector

In 2022 we trained 212 fresh to the sector employees for free, curating a programme of training from our events and webinars that covered the fundraising fundamentals.

We also held free 1:1 coaching calls and Q&A sessions to anyone that needed a bit of adhoc help.

We’re keen to continue this support into 2023 and want to make sure that what we offer and when is right for charities. Your feedback and ideas are much appreciated!

Growing our community

We listen to our attendees and Members. You are our eyes and ears of the sector.

What you tell us shapes what do do, who we platform, and what we provide.

To make sure we include as many voices as possible in these conversations we want to grow our Fundraising Everywhere community and weave you into our activity and curation at every opportunity.

There are many ways you can do this,

1. Speak at our events (paid): Share your idea here.

2. Join as a Member (individual or bring your whole organisation): Email mandi@fundraisingeverywhere.com.

3. Join our team: Find our live vacancy here.

4. Give us feedback: Email nikki@fundraisingeverywhere.com and/or fill in the forms during and after every event.

5. Partner with us (we’re being selective with partner opportunities in 2023 - word got out about how awesome it is and we want to make sure our community receives majority non-sponsored content): Email nikki@fundraisingeverywhere.com.

Thank you again for everything. Now, onwards to 2023!