Find out who won here
Fundraisers and charity groups were honoured this week at the Scottish Fundraising Awards 2024.
The event, sponsored by THINK, celebrated fundraising excellence in Scotland and took place during the Chartered Institute of Fundraising's annual flagship Scottish Fundraising Conference.
The winning fundraisers, charities and organisations were announced at the Glasgow Doubletree by Hilton.
Virginia Anderson from the Scottish Fundraising Conference and Awards Committee said: “The provision of essential services by charities hinges on the work and dedication of fundraisers. As the world continues to evolve and present new challenges, we proudly recognise Scotland’s incredible fundraisers and celebrate their achievements with our annual Awards.
"The judges were impressed by the outstanding quality of the entries. Huge congratulations to all who were shortlisted for the awards and to all the winners.”
Charities and individuals were honoured in eight highly contested categories. The winners of the categories are:
Fundraiser of the year - Louise MacLeod from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
Louise is an outstanding fundraiser who always puts supporters at the centre of all her work. Since joining the team Louise has nearly doubled her region’s annual income target.
Louise ensures supporters feel engaged and recognised, has introduced a new corporate volunteering strategy, created a peer group for professionals, and has developed new events such as the Arrochar Alps and a top-secret flagship event due to be launched in 2025.
Best Legacy Campaign - Worldwide Cancer Research’s ‘Be The Spark’ campaign
This campaign demonstrated how being bold and thinking outside the box can reap rewards within a legacy fundraising campaign. Generating 1,117 leads overall on Facebook at an average cost per legacy lead, the campaign leveraged storytelling as a means of engaging supporters and leveraging the legacy ask but was innovative in its use of a celebrity ambassador
Best Marketing and Communications Campaign - Children's Hospices Across Scotland’s Precious Memories Christmas Appeal
By taking a rigorous approach to analysing previous campaigns, using these learnings on which to build, and by investing in new creative for TV and radio, the Precious Memories Christmas Appeal secured the charity’s highest ever awareness and propensity to support scores, and smashed their income target by 47% - a 17% increase in donations on last year.
Best Individual Giving Campaign - Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) for its Cairnryan puppies crowdfunder
The aim of the campaign was to raise £25,000 to care for 24 puppies rescued from a lorry. Through swift action and compelling storytelling, they surpassed the goal and raised £39,844 from 2,100 donors. The campaign highlighted the illegal puppy trade, engaged the community, and ultimately found loving homes for all the puppies. This campaign exemplifies the power of urgent, heartfelt appeals and the importance of a seamless donor experience in successful fundraising.
Best use of Event or Community Fundraising Initiative - Children's Hospices Across Scotland’s Knit Every Day in August 2023
The virtual event had over 500 active fundraisers, who raised an incredible £79,646.05. They have since recruited 126 of the participants to the ‘CHAS Knitting Army’, who knit items for craft fayres and other fundraising events all year round. This has raised over £9,000 so far and is continuing to grow!
Best Partner Relationship: Corporate Fundraising - Children's Hospices Across Scotland and Loganair
The partnership between CHAS and Loganair is a testament to the power of collaboration in making a difference. By providing unlimited free flights to CHAS at Home nurses, Loganair has extended vital support to families in remote areas, ensuring access to essential respite care and support. Loganair’s employee engagement through fundraising and volunteering further strengthens the partnership, fostering a deeper understanding of CHAS’ work and creating meaningful support for families across Scotland.
The Rising Star Award - Emma Donald from St Vincent's Hospice
Emma is new to the sector and is embracing her new career as corporate and events manager with vigour and passion. She embraces learning, has an intrinsic understanding of gentle and sensitive relationship management and is making a financial impact on their fundraising. Emma also manages the community fundraiser and is doing a wonderful job of coaching and being a role model. Together they’re a strong team and are working on shared development plans; working out who is best to take forward opportunities and buddying up on tougher tasks.
Fundraising Team of the Year - The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)’s Scottish Engagement Team
The RNLI Scotland Engagement Team is an incredibly cohesive team working together with one goal in mind: to raise sustainable income through community fundraising for the RNLI to save lives at sea. In 2023, the first full year of community fundraising post-pandemic, the team raised £2.5 million, supported 161 volunteer teams, recruited an additional 191 volunteers and were successful in launching their largest regional partnership ever, all while delivering a challenging business as usual, offering volunteers a gold-standard level of stewardship and support.
Fundraising Excellence Awards - Isla Campbell Lupton and Stephen Shirres
The judges were delighted to award Fundraising Excellence awards to two very different people. The awards celebrate people who have not only achieved great things as fundraisers over a long period but who have made a significant contribution to the sector.
Isla Campbell Lupton, chair of the Scottish Fundraising Conference and head of fundraising and communications at Cerebral Palsy Scotland and Stephen Shirres, fundraising governance and compliance manager at Cats Protection and co-chair of the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel were recognised for their work and contribution that has benefitted thousands of fundraisers, their charities and supporters.
