Welcome to the Charities Aid Foundation

We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Personal giving From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions. Corporate giving You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals. Services for charities Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient. Insights Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact About us We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work. Donate  
 
 
 

Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

Explore

About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF
Fundraising Fundamentals

Part 2 - Know your donors

Identifying who your donors are is crucial to shaping your fundraising strategy

Identifying your donor base

Every charity has a natural constituency of donors that are most likely to be interested in their cause. To identify your supporters, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Who has given to us previously, what is their age, gender, location, profession?
  • What were their motivations to give to us in the past?
  • Who uses our services or supports our work by volunteering or working in partnership with us? Could they become a donor?
  • Which corporates and trusts are interested in the type of work that we do?
  • Which groups of people do we want to support us? Are they of a particular age, gender, income or profession?
  • What relationships and networks do we currently have - particularly at board level?

Once you know what your typical and ideal donor look like, you can think about where you might be able to connect with these people or organisations.

major gifts fundraising

Take a look at our starter's guide to major gifts fundraising

Building your case for support

Be it a fundraising appeal, website content, social media posts, trust application or conversation with a major donor, your case for support will form the basis for all your communications.

This should be based on your vision, mission and values. 

It should set out what you want to do, the impact you will achieve, and most importantly, why donors should give to your cause. 

Here are a few things to consider when building your case for support:

  • What you do and why
  • Who you benefit and why they need you
  • What would happen if you were unable to reach them
  • How much money you need
  • The impact you will achieve

Do

  • Include information about the needs of your beneficiaries and donors
  • Focus on the strengths of your organisation and your ability to deliver
  • Paint a picture using case studies, anecdotes, data and success stories

Don’t

  • Include concerns such as gaps in provision, skills or budget
  • Use technical language or internal jargon
  • Forget to evidence your ideas with data

Demonstrate impact

Demonstrating the impact of your work helps donors understand what can be achieved when they make a gift and help to encourage regular giving.

When explaining what you do, be sure to include  a mix of the emotive and the rational such as:

  • Stories about the people your organisation helps, both before and after
  • Stories from your team on the front line, who can share the emotion and achievements from their work
  • Testimonials from service users, staff and partners
  • Data presented in interesting and engaging ways, that clearly highlight key results, such as the number of lives saved or changed
  • Maps that show the breadth of your work
  • Photos - one strong image can be a powerful way to highlight your impact

The Fundraising Cycle

All of the information on this webpage is important when it comes to acquiring donors, nurturing those relationships and then maintaining donor loyalty. 

We've put this together in five easy points in our fundraising cycle infographic.

the fundraising cycle infographic
TP30

Fundraising Fundamentals

Multichannel fundraising

The most effective fundraising strategies integrate a number of online and offline channels together.

Go to part 3

Get help with your fundraising plans

Our team of advisers are here to share their expertise and help you build your fundraising strategy.

Find out more

Online donation platform

Grow your income with our donation platform, CAF Donate. No sign-up or monthly fees, branded donation pages and automatic Gift Aid reclaim.

Learn more about CAF Donate

Fundraising tools and advice

Our fundraising tools, blogs, articles and guides are here to help you fundraise more effectively.

Explore the hub