I recently got a chance to speak at the 2025 WA Fundraising Forum on behalf of Dux, with a presentation focused on “Where does fundraising live in your digital strategy?”.
We’d always tried to make the effort to attend the FIA catch ups throughout the year, and the conversation was always around Dux contributing to the conversation, and this year was finally our chance to really get involved – sponsoring and speaking.
The biggest driver on my side was how similar lots of our conversations are in the not-for-profit space, with organisations wanting to improve and have a bigger impact but feeling hamstrung by websites that no longer delivered against these needs.
Being able to get up and summarise these issues was a chance to remind everyone that not only were they not alone in these challenges but there were also a variety of different ways those problems could be solved.
Another really important aspect of this, was that I had not spoken in front of people (beyond a team of maybe 10) since my best friend’s wedding, and in that instance I knew most of the people, and I wanted to challenge myself and share learnings from our perspective on fundraising.
The plan was to get to Perth Convention Centre early and get a sense of the room set up but also make sure I could connect to the projector etc. Nothing worse than having a tech role in an organisation and then not being able to make it work in front of an expectant audience.
After a few nervous moments of settings and adaptors speaking to each other, I knew I could relax and get on with the day.
As always, the networking part of catching up with people from previous events was a big highlight. I love hearing about the wins and tech challenges being overcome. I also really enjoy hearing about problems that haven’t yet been addressed too. My first time at an FIA Forum I was recovering from throat surgery and wasn’t really able to talk much at all, the day was focused around listening mostly.
This time around, I could at least add to the conversation beyond nodding and uncomfortable grunts of approval.
The nerves remained about presenting as we walked into the opening session for the day. Andrew Martin spoke to “A love letter to fundraising – How passion for connection can inspire the transformative power of giving” which was amazing and really impactful.
It also contained two of my worst presenting nightmares – a clicker that initially wouldn’t click and then one of the pull up signs spontaneously collapsing causing a huge bang and distraction. He handled it like a pro but the dread of it happening to me lingered. I did get a chance to speak with him later in the day both about his presentation and how he handled the shenanigans without getting flustered, valuable insights.
I had the privilege of watching “Spilling the tea: lessons learned launching a head-turning regular giving product – Mel Batchelor & Stephen Ellis AMFIA” after that session. I really enjoyed the mix of a real world case study supplemented with some excellent Simpsons memes. Another wave of dread hit me, I was mostly (if not entirely) meme-less…
By the time I was up on stage, I’d over thought the whole thing and was very much ready to crack on. I could see a few friendly faces in the audience which was a big help and go through mostly without fuss.
Once it was over, I got a chance to speak with people who’d been in the room, or had heard about the session and the general feedback was really positive.
The session for me was a great reminder that while I deal with this stuff on a daily basis, for some in Marketing roles for organisations, they’ll only deal with bits from time to time. Sometimes having all these ideas brought to your attention, can help to refocus on things you’ve been putting to one side.
The core takeaways from the presentation were as follows –
- A lot of time is required to run digital audits and this can’t always be done internally.
- Decision making should always be data driven and not based around who shouts loudest.
- Fundraising campaigns should be focused around your strengths initially – is social for example performs below industry bench marks, don’t make it a focus until you’ve worked out why.
- A unified brand and content strategy is essential to your fundraising success and don’t always assume that everyone already knows who you are and what you do.
- Avoid working with data in silo’s and ensure that you invest in tech that is compatible for integration, otherwise you’re creating more headaches.
- The FIA is full of experienced and helpful people, don’t be afraid to lean on people for support.
- Progress is achieved through optimising – release, test, learn, improve, and repeat.
- Go easy on yourself, there is lots to do and you can’t do it alone.
There was a nice symmetry to the presentation, in that I had to apply almost all those learnings and considerations to just produce it in the first place.
I loved the day, I loved how it all came together and was so impressed by how hard people had worked behind the scenes to make the day work.
Speaking with, and learning from, so many likeminded people is a really important reason for us to remain involved with Fundraising Institute Australia. For myself and for Dux, I know that we want to be a lot more active over the coming years and will strive to provide value and support where possible.
If you were there and also picked up our little seed packs, I want to hear from you as and when they bloom!!