Aspire Fellows benefit from Workshop
Receive training in Fundraising and Donor Engagement
Financial resource mobilisation is a critical tool in ensuring the sustainability of the Barbadian civic sector. The ASPIRE Incubator Programme sought to strengthen its Fellows’ capacity in this area by hosting a Fundraising and Donor Engagement Workshop. The workshop aimed to ‘introduce ASPIRE Fellows to fundraising and donor engagement strategies and international best practice, so each participant is equipped with the knowledge base for accurately identifying and developing the most appropriate and feasible fundraising program to meet their mandates and maximise social impact value.’ It was hosted on Thursday, 20th October 2022, at the Barbados Red Cross Building. The training was provided for nine participants: seven women and two men.
We hosted the workshop with Andrea Rennie, Fundraising Expert, as the facilitator. Ms Rennie has a wealth of fundraising experience and is currently leading the mid-level and major gift program at The Kidney Foundation of Canada. In addition, Ms Rennie generously donated her time and skills to us.
The topics covered were the Major Gifts Fundraising, Donor Engagement, Transactional and Relational Philanthropy, Understanding the Value of Social Impact and Change, Understanding Your Organisational Value and Fund Development Programme. It was a resounding success, with the majority (83%) of the participants indicating that the workshop and their personal objectives were met. The material provided was strongly relevant to their work responsibilities and thus will enable them to overcome their challenges in this area. The two most useful topics were donor engagement and transactional and relational philanthropy. 100% of the participants indicated that the workshop was timely and necessary.
Next up, we will undertake the institutional assessments to create their Institutional Improvement Action Plans.
