Highlights from the first virtual European Fundraising Tour

In EFA’s first virtual European Fundraising Tour on 27 November 2020, speakers from across the continent came together to showcase best practice and inspire their peers with a series of short but insightful presentations. Ranging from market research to delivering practical digital fundraising tips, delegates explored a wide variety of topics, trends, fundraising channels and cultural influences.

Beginning with a joint presentation previewing the findings from EFA’s multilingual survey on the impact of Covid-19, the first session also presented insights from Salesforce.org’s Nonprofit Trends report. The session articulated the importance of digital for nonprofits, particularly in pandemic times, and of being transformative.

Market research drove the content of many of the sessions, with the latest charitable giving and philanthropic trends in the Czech Republic, Poland and Brazil, helping to build delegates’ understanding of the international fundraising environment.

Jan Kroupa of the Czech Fundraising Center, illustrated the long-term growth of philanthropy, celebrating the news that entrepreneurs are now starting to become more open and more vocal about their giving. Meanwhile, João Paulo Vergueiro of ABCR – Brazilian Fundraisers Association, explained how the pandemic has shone a spotlight on charitable giving in Brazil and inspired the biggest generosity movement of all time.

Other highlights included a session on virtual donor engagement during Covid-19. Delivered by Tomasz Kierul and Tanja Sarett of the Polish Fundraising Association, the presentation offered insightful and practical tips for building a successful online donor engagement programme.

And Katarína Bartovičová of the Slovak Fundraising Centre explored how important storytelling has become in driving donations in Slovakia, particularly when it comes to emergencies, which often yield a highly emotional response.

All speakers kept delegates engaged with short presentations, responding to questions and sharing their tips at the end of the session.

The European Fundraising Tour forms part of EFA’s flagship Skillshare event programme and, after positive feedback from delegates, will be repeated in 2021.