Let me start with something that might surprise you.
A trust fundraising strategy doesn't have to be overcomplicated. It doesn't have to be a lengthy, polished document that takes weeks to produce. It doesn't have to use fancy language or follow a prescribed template.
At its heart, a trust fundraising strategy is simply a roadmap.
A clear, honest plan of what you want to achieve with trust fundraising within your organisation - the realities and the ambitions and how you're going to get there.
That's it!
Yet, so many organisations are running their trust fundraising without one. Chasing applications, responding to deadlines, trying to hit targets - without ever stepping back to ask: where are we actually trying to go with this and how does this income stream fit into the bigger picture?
Why so many charities go without one
In my experience it usually comes down to a few things.
Time. Particularly if you're a one person trust fundraising team - and many people are - finding the headspace to think strategically when you're buried in applications and deadlines is genuinely hard. Strategy feels like a luxury when the urgent is constantly competing with the important.
A lack of guidance internally. Sometimes the message from above is simply "bring in more money", without any real clarity about how the organisation wants trust fundraising to develop, what it's prepared to invest in it or what success actually looks like beyond the income figure.
Not seeing the value. If you've never had a strategy and things are ticking along it can be hard to see what a strategy would add. Particularly when writing one takes time you don't feel you have.
Sometimes - if we're being really honest - it’s just not knowing where to start.
All of these are completely understandable but here's what I see in my consultancy work when organisations don't have a trust fundraising strategy.
They work in silos. The trust fundraiser is doing their best - researching, applying, stewarding but without a clear sense of how their work connects to the wider fundraising plan or the organisation's strategic priorities. They end up being reactive rather than proactive. Chasing opportunities rather than building towards something.
When things get tough - when income dips, when targets aren't met, when the landscape shifts - there's no framework to refer back to. No plan to adapt. Just pressure.
What a trust fundraising strategy gives you
A clear trust fundraising plan gives you something really valuable - space to breathe and build.
When you know what you're working towards, you can make better decisions about where to spend your time. You can prioritise the right prospects rather than the most obvious ones. You can have more confident conversations internally about what's realistic and what's not. You can show your manager and your trustees not just what you're doing but why, and where it's leading.
It also helps your trust fundraising income stream find its proper place within the wider fundraising strategy. Where are the connections with major donor fundraising or corporates? How does it contribute to the organisation's overall income ambitions?
Without a strategy, trust fundraising can end up disconnected from everything else. A separate function, quietly doing its thing, without ever fully integrating into the bigger picture.
With one, it becomes part of something coherent. Something everyone understands and can get behind.
What to put in a trust fundraising strategy
It really doesn't need to be complicated. Here's what I'd always include:
Where you are now.
An honest assessment of your current trust fundraising position. What does your pipeline look like? How warm are your relationships? What's your current income and how does it compare to your target? What's working and what isn't?
Where you want to get to.
Your ambitions for trust fundraising - both this year and looking further ahead. Not just income targets but relationship goals, pipeline development, the kind of programme you want to build over time.
How you're going to get there.
The practical plan. Which prospects are you prioritising? What relationship building activity is planned? How are you going to develop your pipeline? What does your stewardship look like? What resources and support do you need?
How it fits into the wider picture.
How does trust fundraising connect to your organisation's overall fundraising strategy and income targets? Where are the synergies with other income streams?
How you'll measure success.
Not just income but the pipeline metrics, relationship indicators and those activity measures we talked about last month. Evidence-led targets with clearly labelled stretch.
Who should be involved
This isn't something to write alone and present as a fait accompli.
The trust fundraiser absolutely leads it - you're the expert in this income stream and the strategy needs to reflect the reality of what's achievable but it should be developed with input from your line manager, who can ensure it connects to the wider organisational strategy, and someone from finance, who can sense check the income projections and help build a realistic picture of what the programme needs to deliver.
Getting that buy-in at the start makes everything easier afterwards. When targets are set collaboratively - with everyone understanding the landscape and the plan - the internal conversations become so much more straightforward.
A strategy is just a plan
I want to finish with something simple.
If you don't have a trust fundraising strategy - you don't have a plan and without a plan, how do you know if what you're doing is working? How do you make the case internally for what you need? How do you build something sustainable rather than just responding to whatever comes up next?
A strategy doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be finished. It just has to exist - as a living, working document that you return to, adapt and build on over time.
Next time we're going to look at how to actually build one - step by step - but for now - do you have a trust fundraising strategy? And if not, what's getting in the way?
Bring your question to Let’s Chat
Stacey Teece hosts Let’s Chat Trust Fundraising, a free hour on Microsoft Teams where you bring the question you are stuck on, from where to start with a strategy to getting your manager behind it. See the next date and book your free place.