The Stepping Stones Fund makes £500,000 available for London charities with social investment
The scheme offers organisations funding, advice and learning opportunities to help develop their ideas, bring in new technical assistance and get products ready for market. There’s a deadline of 10 May.
News from the Fundraising Regulator
The Fundraising Regulator has now opened registration to registered Charities under the £100,000 fundraising levy threshold (meaning, to all registered charities in England and Wales) and has released guidance on donor consent, purpose and transparency.
11 charities fined for misusing donors’ personal data
A total of 11 charities have been fined between £6,000 and £18,000 for misusing donors’ personal data, as reported by Third Sector. NCVO has created guidelines on donor consent in fundraising in order to ensure charities are always on the right side of the law.
The Charity Digital Toolkit launched
Skills Platform and Zoe Amar have produced a very helpful toolkit to help charities take the next step on their journey with digital. Among the excellent chapters is a section focusing on digital fundraising.
On the charity and fundraising blogs
- Stronger Charities Report on Funding and Finance – Michael Birtwistle of NCVO writes following the publication of the House of Lords select committee on charities’ report titled ‘Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society’. And Dan Francis focuses on governance in this follow-up piece.
- Why being a fundraiser is more than a job – by Lizzi Hollis
- How to be a better donor in one easy step – by Emma Beeston
Other fundraising and sustainability news
Free guide on data protection for charities
Tim Turner has written a free guide to fundraising and data protection.
Dragons’ Den style funding for projects in Hertfordshire
Involved in a social change project in Herts? Applications are now open for the next Funding Network event, with a deadline of 20 April.
How can start-ups scale-up?
Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has launched an inquiry, ‘From start-up to scale-up: Support for growing businesses’, to investigate how to help UK start-ups and potential high-growth small businesses overcome hurdles to become ‘scale-ups’. Could you contribute from a social enterprise perspective?
Garfield Weston Foundation launches new website to simplify fundraising
The Garfield Weston Foundation has launched a new website designed to make the process of applying for funding as straightforward as possible for potential applicants.
Training and events
Go to the training and events section of our website to see all our upcoming events, or you can always contact us about training or consultancy support. Upcoming training highlights include:
- Data protection reform – 25 May, London
- Certificate in Sustainable Funding Strategies – 18-19 July and 8 September, London
Have you looked at Funding Central lately? Subscription is free for organisations with a turnover under £100,000.
If you have anything you think we should include in next month’s round-up, please do drop me a line.
Richard Sved is an NCVO sustainable funding consultant. He has worked and volunteered in the charity sector for 25 years. He has led the fundraising function (in-house and as an interim) for six national charities, including National Literacy Trust, Leap Confronting Conflict and Girlguiding. 
