‘What advice would you like to give to a charity, but never have?’: Our experts answer

Forget about the ‘edge cases’ and focus on the stuff that will make a difference. Donor X is not going to thank you for building a process/system that satisfies them but drained the cash from delivering the mission and impact.

J Cromack, Chief Revenue Officer

Don’t forget that tech is only ever a tool. It’s there to help us do a job, not take over and do it for us. I often hear how organisations want to get X shiny new product or Y new CRM (which is fantastic!). But never forget that, unless you’re driven by a plan on what you’re going to practically do with that tool/product, it’ll only ever be as useful as you make it. Never get sucked into the sales pitch of someone selling the dream if you’ve not got a plan in place on how to use it.

Tech is only ever a tool – only we as people have the power to make decisions.

Kayleigh Philps, Consultant Analyst – Data Science

Stop treating your audience as a monolith – start treating them as people.

The smartest approach isn’t to outspend – it’s to outsmart. Too often, organisations still chase volume over value (often driven by agency renumeration structures or outdated planning practices), relying on broad demographics or emotional clichés to drive response. But understanding why people give – their motivations, needs triggers and emotional context – is far more powerful than simply knowing who they are.

By layering data with behavioural insight, charities can reach the right people at the right moment, with messages that resonate and media that converts.

Campaigns succeed not because they shout louder, but because they listen better. This is about precision, not pressure. It’s about creativity that connects, not guilt that guilts. The smartest organisations are already moving in this direction, treating their audience not as a single block to be broadcast at, but as individuals to be understood. That’s how you build deeper loyalty, better performance, and impact that lasts.

Ben Briggs, Managing Partner – Join the Dots

If you want to succeed, you absolutely must focus on three key variables: people, process, and product. The three Ps, as they’re often called, provide the highest return for your efforts because they act as the cornerstone for everything you do:

• People represent the talent, leadership, and collaboration that drive innovation and execution. Without the right individuals, even the best ideas can falter
• Process ensures consistency, efficiency, and scalability – it’s the framework that transforms vision into reality through repeatable and optimised workflows
• Product, whether it’s software, platforms or digital services, must be intuitive, scalable and secure. The right product will drive real value

Aligning these three elements is key to success.

Matt Cann, Practice Lead – Apteco +

Don’t completely cross something off the list because it didn’t work the first time. Many charities will test a new media channel once and not revisit it for the next five years, without considering all elements that could have impacted results over and above the media channel just “not working” for them.

Before testing a new channel, make sure you have your ducks in a row: Do you have budget for a meaningful test? Are you able to work closely with your media and creative agencies with plenty of time to execute a meaningful campaign without being rushed? Are the media recommendations backed with data? Do you have a solid measurement plan in place for tracking results? Have you considered seasonality and other competitor activity? What are your campaign targets and are they reasonable?

‘Bigger picture’ over isolated campaign results will always provide long-term optimisation and growth – really get under the ‘why’ with in-depth post campaign analysis and learn from every optimisation you make for continued growth and exploration of new channels.

Jodie Hanrahan, Head of Media Planning – Join the Dots

There have been a few occasions where I’ve wanted to tell not-for-profit organisations to ‘stop being so nice’! Whether we like it or not, AI is going to lead to the biggest disruption we’ve seen since the widespread use of the internet 20 years ago, and that will mean tough decisions need to be made.

It’s frustrating to see charities spend time and money creating sub-optimal process flows and custom technology, just to avoid having difficult conversations with team members who are reluctant to adapt to change.

Alex Holt, Strategic Consulting Director – CRM and Marketing Technology

If you don’t know what marketing is working, just stop doing it, refocus the time on identifying how you might better measure its effectiveness and then start with experiments and tests, before deciding whether to ramp it up. Too often I have heard, ‘This is what we have always done – its critical’, without the evidence to back it up.

Gary Arnold, Managing Partner – Advisory & Consulting Practice