Trusts and Foundations Fundraising Live-Chat

Gary Wiltshire is a director of Inspiring Vision, a management consultancy working exclusively in the not for profit sector. He edits and writes for fundinginformation.org, a subscription-based service that for over 20 years has been a leading provider of information for UK fundraisers about new sources of grants, changes to existing giver’s guidelines, and future directions in fundraising in general. He wrote his first grant application in 1972 and has been working with grant making trusts and grant-seeking organisations ever since. He believes that effective trust fundraising is all about preparation and the integration of fundraising into all aspects of an organisation’s other fundraising and its work as a whole.

His approach: “Despite the apparent competition, there is still plenty of scope for organisations to raise new money from trusts and other grant sources. Why? Because most of the applications that grant makers receive are rubbish. (Though, sadly, most won’t admit to that in public at least). Applications are badly researched, poorly written, and do a disservice to the most important people in the process: the beneficiaries of the work the grant is intended for.”