Journal

Notes from drawing fundraising years for United Kingdom charities.

These are working observations from commissions — not lectures on how to raise more money.

Calculator, receipts and a notebook on a desk

Elspeth Crane · 13 January 2026

Gift Aid will fatten a bar chart if you let it

A year-end plate that adds claimed Gift Aid onto cash received makes March look richer than the bank statement. Trustees notice. Here is how we separate the two.

Person writing in a notebook beside a cup of tea

Elspeth Crane · 2 March 2026

Restricted funds without frightening a new trustee

A large restricted balance is not a rainy-day pot. It is a promise. The plate should say so in a sentence a newly appointed trustee can repeat.

People holding hands in a circle at a community gathering

Rohan Adeyemi · 21 April 2026

The week after the appeal: writing a close note people will read

Staff want a number for the all-staff email. Trustees want cash versus pledges. Donors who gave on the last day want to know the mailing actually closed. One note can serve all three if you refuse a single headline total.

Friends sitting together outdoors in warm evening light

Rohan Adeyemi · 8 June 2026

Donor pyramids that do not scold smaller gifts

A pyramid with a tiny point and a vast base can look like a lecture. We use bands named after your actual ask levels, and we put the count of givers next to the pounds.

A large group of people standing together at a community event

Meredith Pugh · 27 July 2026

When a major gift lands in month eleven

A single late gift can make every monthly bar look like a failure until November. Annotate the month. Do not redraw the year as if the gift had been promised in April.