In Person option
Residential and online extras
Need solid uninterrupted focus?
Our updated In Person option offers you the best of both worlds: online learning before and after an intensive five-day residential school.
Your preparation includes webinars and individual Zoom coaching. We then take you to a beautiful residential venue for five days, so you can focus with no distractions. Throughout you’ll be in a small group, led by a leading UK expert. When you leave your personal coach makes sure that you are clear on the key issues to address and that you have a strong implementation plan. Like our other options every school is different: designed around you and your fellow participants.
The In Person option offers a mix of high-quality online and in-person insight from the expert team, a wide range of learning opportunities, and the focus on practical application to your situation. Imagine what you can achieve with preparation, five days of solid focused thinking and planning, post programme coaching and then three months of support.
For 2025 we are offering an In Person programme happening 29th September – 3rd October 2025.
Book here for the the In Person programme. Not sure? Reserve your no-commitment provisional place to be at the front of the queue if you think you might want a place.
We’ve put together all the info on the In Person School content in one place. Why not download it to review or share with a colleague?
Before the school you’ll have a one-to-one coaching session to establish your aims and interests. Your coach may well be one of the residential tutors. Following the school your coach check in with you to develop your plan and identify the issues you need to tackle.
- About the 28 different modules available
- About our absolute guarantee of success
- About the outstanding programme leaders
- About the beautiful and comfortable venue
- Focus to create that all important strategy, mixing online preparation and no-distraction onsite work.
- Easy contact with the programme leaders for questions and answers.
- The chance to catch up with the programme leaders one to one.
- Recorded access to the online sessions, allowing you to catch up at your leisure.
- A personal coach providing support throughout the month-online and onsite.
- A range of learning opportunities: small groups, video recording, case studies.
- Optional breakfast discussion tables as part of the residential element.
- Your personal 350-page workbook plus the chance to study other materials.
Every NAFS programme is adapted from the results of your pre-programme questionnaire and your initial one to one coaching.
Whichever option you choose, you’ll increase your knowledge and confidence in different sources: individual giving; major donors; legacies; trusts; and commercial sponsorship. We’ll also share techniques and channels: endowments, capital campaigns, face to face, direct mail, proposals and online. Finally, we’ll help you shape all this into a sustainable strategy. Only NAFS offers this integration.
See below for the topics we cover.
Principles of Fundraising
Successful fundraising is underpinned by a number of key principles drawn from disciplines as varied as psychology, sociology and marketing. We’ll share these with you, and show you how to apply them in practical fundraising.
Choosing a Structure
The way you’re organised – legally and from a people perspective – can make a massive difference to your ability to attract funds. We’ll explore the options available and help you establish the best structure for success.
Creating a Value Proposition
To succeed in competitive world of fundraising you need a Value Proposition — a way of distinguishing your offering from others. We’ll show you how to create and share an effective Value Proposition — making your agency or project stand out.
Developing your Strategy
Over the programme — Online, In Person or In Person Plus — you’ll discover how relevant each of the 28 modules is to your own strategy. (You’ll also establish which are not suitable.) The result? An integrated strategy tailored to your organisation and its ambitions.
Writing a Strategy
So you’ve got lots of strategic thoughts, and some good ideas, but how do you shape them into a robust plan that you can share with senior managers or your Board? In this module we help you write a plan to win support and investment and deliver results.
NEW! Donor Demographics
What are the differences between, say, millennials and boomers in terms of attitudes, channels and propensity to give? We explore some of the surprising similarities- and differences- and how to make use of them in your fundraising.
Growing Individual Giving
Central to any contemporary strategy is a powerful individual giving approach — engaging audiences, visitors or users and turning them from supporters to donors. In two modules we show how to build inclusive and sustainable individual fundraising.
Personal Action Planning
This final module will help you crystallise the key learning from the School, and help you identify specific steps for practical action back at work using 5 key focus questions. You’ll have the chance to buddy up with a fellow participant to share ideas.
NEW! Fundraising Storytelling
Stories, our most ancient way of communicating, are a powerful way to share ideas. Neuroscience tells us they’re more memorable than data and create powerful connections to the cause. You’ll learn to shape your ask.
NEW Engaging Major Donors
Major donors, the fastest growing area of giving, are able to make a massive difference to many cultural and heritage agencies. This session explores how to identify potential and engage with High Net Worth Individuals.
Building Supporter Journeys
If you’re going to be successful you need to have a supporter journey and a stewardship strategy for every prospect. These complementary tactics shape how you can align the whole organisation around engaging donors.
Making the Ask – in person
How confident are you at asking major donors and business leaders for money? This session offers skills and tactics which will allow you to influence others in on the phone or in a meeting. You’ll get personal feedback on your impact.
UPDATED Online Engagement
Can Social Media really deliver fundraising success… or a digital diversion? These two linked models offer an insight into what is working in social media terms and how you can make the web worker harder for you — promoting donor and potential donor engagement.
Impactful Personal Pitching
This module offers you the practical opportunity to actually ‘pitch’ for money in front of an audience and then get detailed video feedback on your effectiveness. Before the pitch your coach will offer insights and practical tips on how to make an impact.
Focus on Foundations
Trusts and Foundations contribute £4B to UK charities including significant sums to culture and heritage. But to secure your share you have to understand how they really make decisions. (Not what they say!) Discover the 7 success steps.
Sponsorship and CSR
Companies are still investing in the arts. But the money is proving tougher to get. Over two modules we show you how to maximise your chances of sponsorship or CSR success – and how to turn one-off success into a long-term relationship.
Running Major Appeals
At some point in your fundraising career you’ll have to run a major appeal – a campaign, endowment or capital project. This module walks you through the five phases of a successful major appeal and exposes the five major mistakes to avoid.
NEW! Donor Decisions
Understand the latest thinking on how donors make decisions and the implications this has for you. We’ll be sharing insight from a major six-month research project with 10 UK arts organisations– applying neuroscience to fundraising.
Volunteer Board: friend or foe?
Volunteers can be a huge resource for you – helping bring contacts and ideas to the table. But these boards need careful management and a clear brief. We’ll explore how to recruit a high performing board and keep them on track.
Writing Powerful Proposals
Often the only way you can communicate with a funder is in written form. We’ll share the results of our original research which shows that structuring your proposal differently can increase your chances of fundraising success by up to 25%.
Legacy Programme Bootcamp
If you have an older audience legacies and in memoriam gifts can be a major source of support. But how do you create a legacy programme without seeming too cold and calculating? We’ll show you the key steps.
Crowdfunding: magic & myths
Does crowdfunding really work for the arts? In a fast-paced session we’ll look at examples of what works and what definitively doesn’t work when raising money from the crowd — helping you to avoid expensive mistakes.
Case for Support Playbook
At the core of your fundraising sits the Case for Support. But how do you make yours stand out? We’ll introduce you to the NAFS Case for Support Playbook, allowing you to share you messages clearly and powerfully to different audiences.
Stewardship and Donor Love
Securing donors is only part of the challenge. How do you steward them… and make them feel really loved? In this module we’ll explore how to keep donors and supporters on board for a long-term relationship – discover donor love!
Membership or Superclub?
Old school membership models can actually be a drag on resources and time. To succeed you need to turn your Membership into a Superclub — matching benefits to contribution. We’ll show you how organisations have done this successfully- and you can do it too.
NEW! Measuring Success
How do you really measure success in fundraising? And how do you agree with your boss the most appropriate model? In this module we’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches — Return on Investment (RoI) versus Life Time Value (LTV).
Local Authority Fundraising
Raising money if you’re LA or Leisure/Culture Trust needs specific approaches. But be prepared to be encouraged by what is possible. We’ll share case studies of success from Lambeth to Lincolnshire.
Hard-to-Fundraise Causes?
So you’re a producer, an individual, a partnership, a CiC, unknown or even a touring company… Learn how to adapt your approach and structure to succeed in raising cash.
After you’ve completed the onsite element of the programme you’re ready to move to implementation. The NAFS team will support you to deliver your strategy and offer help with specific challenges:
- You’ll take part in an online next step half-day webinar to ensure you have a clear direction forward
- Your personal coach will again offer you a one-to-one online session to clarify your learning and focus
- You’ll join the exclusive NAFS alumni and have access to regular professional development sessions and updates on sources
- You’ll have access to six months of ongoing support on-demand for queries, questions and consultations
Next available programmes
29th Sept - 3rd Oct 2025
On location at Mere Court Hotel in Knutsford UK. 15 places available.
