Great fundraising in action plays to your charity's strengths. Just. Like. This.

Yesterday, like many fundraisers on Giving Tuesday, I launched a crowdfunding campaign for one of my clients. Now I’ve done a lot of big campaigns in my time, but this is different.

This charity is like a start-up: they rent just two desks and have one full time member of staff. And so we’re running their first crowdfunding campaign like a kick-starter too. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, after all.

The whole team is experiencing a real mix of excitement and nerves, but I am loving every minute of it. Because it’s getting back to something fundraisers from bigger charities have lost touch with: leveraging what you do have, rather than focusing on what you don’t have. Here's how I applied this mindset for this crowdfunder...

We have almost NO brand awareness.

Enough said. We’ve got to pull off something pretty special to win hearts and open wallets.

But we DO have cracking good stories.

Authenticity? Check. Human? Check. Relevant? Check. This stuff was made for powerful storytelling.

We have absolutely NO media or creative budget.

The strategy of pumping lots of cash behind it is just not in our toolbox.

But we DO have the power of our networks.

With some celebrities and a very engaged social media following, we will ask them to share share share and engage with a string of lovely ideas to get the reach we need.

We DON’T have the luxury of a long line marketing experts….copywriters, digital peeps, data geeks, Innovation magicians etc.

Every single creative asset we’re producing is done in-house. I’m the strategist, the copywriter and the joint project manager, with the fantastic Comms Manager.

But we DO have a team of people with an entrepreneurial mindset.

They signed off the campaign story I wrote in a day. They react and respond to whatever opportunities and challenges the day throws at them with grace and integrity. And critically, they know when to say no, and when to say yes - let’s give it a go.

It’s it time every charity took a long look at what they DO have?

Sweat your assets. Whether it’s your networks, your brand equity, your unique stories, don’t we all need to start from what we do have?

Can we make it work? Watch this space.

It’s good to be back on the frontline.