Interview with Iain Rawlinson, Chair of Global Philanthropic Holdings on Corporate Philanthropic and why the S in ESG is too important for businesses to ignore.

Interview undertaken by Kirsty Lang in 2021.

There are important lessons which have come out of the pandemic for higher education organisations, lessons which are important to keep top of mind as we continue to move forward, and lessons which will continue to be as important post-pandemic as they were during.

Does your board engage in fundraising and take responsibility for your organisation’s revenue and growth? Or are they passive, or even invisible, in this process?

If you feel your board could do more, you’re not alone. The good news is, there are solutions to these challenges.

Donors are already changing. For fundraisers, investing in diversity and inclusion means to change the established fundraising system that caters largely to white male donors and apply more adaptive and empathy-based practices to engage ever diversifying donor communities.

I developed, adapted and continue to fine-tune my presentation on how to strategically use LinkedIn—the free version—for fundraising purposes. I have now shared this knowledge in several countries, and always with very positive feedback. Let me give you the basics.

The Canberra Hospital Foundation sought Global Philanthropic’s expertise in research and fundraising strategy to inform the case for moving to an independent entity. The Foundation needed evidence that the move would be viable and, if it was, how it could be implemented for the best efficiency and effectiveness.

I was previously the director of a rapidly growing fundraising department in a major university, and before that the executive director of a non-profit organisation. Now that I’ve just completed my second year as a consultant, I’ve learnt one or two things along the way I wish I’d known back then. And I’m happy to share!

When you and your organisation are setting goals for your new fundraising endeavours—be it for your start-up fundraising operation, your augmented major or principal giving programme, or launching in a new country or region—you will have many questions, one of which will be, ‘What are our peers doing?’ 

Understanding and articulating your Case for Support to donors can be challenging—we can suffer the curse of too much knowledge or, alternatively, be too close to the coal to see the broader scope of our vision. Yet getting this step right is not only critical to our fundraising success but can make our role as fundraisers so much easier.

Yet while the familiar major gift cycle for principal donors is almost the same as for major donors, it is important to realise there are some subtle but critical differences.