Fundraising
Mini
Conference
2025
Our Conference in Numbers...
50+
attendees of the 2025 Mini Conference
100%
found the workshops useful and relevant
100%
found the speakers informative and helpful
100%
came away with new ideas to help their organisation
100%
would attend a future conference
"The speakers were informative, helpful, and very enthusiastic!"
CONFERENCE ATTENDEE
"All were really strong presenters which was very unusual! The variety of speakers was brilliant and they gave lots of practical tips."
CONFERENCE ATTENDEE
"Funders were very informative and had us leaving with new knowledge."
CONFERENCE ATTENDEE
"It was a really useful conference with lots of good information."
CONFERENCE ATTENDEE
Our Theme
'Fundraising'
We were pleased to announce a very special Fundraising Mini Conference would be taking place on Tuesday 14th October 2025, held at the wonderful Wilfred Noyce Centre in Godalming. With a line-up of fantastic speakers, workshops and networking, we brought together fundraising experts and funders for an inspiring session of learning, sharing, networking and connecting.
The conference was perfect for both seasoned fundraisers or those just starting out, and offered fresh ideas, practical tools, and new partnerships for our voluntary, charity and community sector organisations. To ensure the event was a rewarding experience for all attendees, we limited the capacity of the conference to 60 attendees. The event consisted of three workshops and discussions, networking opportunities, and ended with a brilliant 'Meet the Funder' panel discussion involving funders and bid writers.
Schedule
The Mini Conference consisted of three main elements: guest speakers, a panel discussion, and networking opportunities
Workshops
The crux of the morning programming consisted of a series of workshops and subsequent discussions from a range of amazing guest speakers. The event started with a proposal and grant writing workshop led by Helen Stanley, before we were joined by Naomi Miller for a workshop on corporate fundraising. Our third workshop was led by Kate Whittaker, looking at events and challenges.
Panel Discussion
Our event concluded with a panel discussion involving funders and bid writers, with the opportunity to raise questions. The panel discussion, led by Helen Stanley, was an opportunity to 'Meet the Funders' and understand what the funding process is like from all perspectives.
Networking
As our conference was being attended by a variety of individuals in the Charity and Voluntary Sector, it provided a great opportunity for delegates to meet new individuals and network over a drink and snack!
Speakers
View our brilliant workshop speakers from our 2025 Mini Conference.
Helen Stanley
Naomi Miller
Helen has spent the last 21 years working as a Senior Fundraiser, mainly at Management and Director level, which has involved managing communications and fundraising teams, writing successful funding proposals, running social media and crowdfunding campaigns and developing community fundraising and individual giving programmes.
She has successfully secured and managed funds for UK and Overseas NGOs from a wide range of statutory and non-statutory funders including The Henry Smith Charity, The Masonic Charitable Foundation, Children in Need, FCDO, The National Lottery and Heritage Lottery Funds, The Ministry of Justice, Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner Surrey, Whitley Fund for Nature, NEXT PLC, Landfill trusts, Community Foundations, Coles-Medlock, The Betty Riseley Trust, Bernard Sunley Foundation, the Mercury Phoenix Trust and a wide range of other charitable trusts, along with running five successful Big Give Christmas Challenge campaigns raising over 200K for her clients.
Helen runs her own consultancy, ‘Eclipse Fundraising’, with clients ranging from overseas development, youth mental health, women's empowerment, community venues and wildlife NGOs to UK primary and SEN Schools. Helen is also currently the Fundraising Manager at RASASC (Surrey).
In addition, she is an Institute of Fundraising Mentor, highly experienced in project management and development and delivers fundraising training and project development advice to third sector organisations. Apart from that, she is an experienced open water swimmer, swim teacher and beginner triathlete and spends most of her life in the sea or running along the promenade where she lives to get away from it all.
Working at Social Research Builders (SRB), Naomi helps charities and social impact organisations unlock funding and opportunities through the power of data, storytelling and strategy. Our Senior Team have over 50 years of collective experience in all types of fundraising, from trusts and foundations to major philanthropy and corporates.
We’re on your side. We’ve done the all-nighters when a grant application is due, we’ve cried tears of joy when we’ve secured that funding, and we’ve spent countless hours poring over spreadsheets to find the stats that matter. https://socialresearchbuilders.com/
Kate Whittaker
Kate has worked in media, PR, and brand for the charity sector since the early 2000’s for charities working in international development, and both domestic and sexual abuse.
She has designed and overseen campaign materials and merchandising for WaterAid at Glastonbury Festival, run and managed charity presence at several events including The London Marathon and Chelsea Flower Show and dressed up in a variety of costumes including a toilet and a cow all in the name of raising funds and awareness!
Kate is currently the Communications and Engagement Manager at the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Guildford, as well as running her own freelance business, Kate Whittaker Communications.
Opening welcome from Caroline Keith, Joint CEO at Voluntary Action South West Surrey.
Workshops
View our diverse programme of workshops from our 2025 Mini Conference.
Workshop 1
Bid to Succeed: Proposal and Grant Writing 101
Helen Stanley, Eclipse Fundraising
The basis for any successful fundraising approach is a strong, well researched proposal that will elevate your application to the top of a funder's list. In this workshop, we will go back to basics and provide you all you need to plan your applications, structure your proposals and hit those funders priorities in a concise, passionate and well researched way.
The workshop will cover:
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Who, what, why and how? - Top tips for structuring your application questions
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Why you - The importance of evidencing need and demand
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Impact and Outcomes
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Measuring Success
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Where to go to access funding
Workshop 2
Pollinating Partnerships: Unlocking Corporate Fundraising Potential
Naomi Miller, Social Research Builders
Are you wondering about building relationships with businesses? In this practical workshop, we'll be giving you an introduction into Corporate Fundraising, exploring how it's different, how to stand out and giving you some top tips for you to take away into your organisation.
Workshop 3
Events and Challenges
Kate Whittaker, Kate Whittaker Communications
Events and challenges are crucial for all size of charity, because they raise vital (often unrestricted funds) and can link you with your wider community. They also offer a fun and interactive way for supporters to connect with your cause, potentially attracting new donors and volunteers.
With a huge rise in health and wellbeing post pandemic, and a resurgence in mass sporting events, now is a good time to get on board. In this workshop, Kate will take you step by step through building a good events and challenges programme, including:
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Materials for your events - essentials and what to plan for
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Best practice tips for successful events – including case studies of her own experiences
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How to ensure your participants feel supported and raise as much as they can
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Post event – what to do to ensure supporters come back time and time again
Gallery
Enjoy some of the highlights of our 2025 Mini Conference!
