It was almost the first thing that Adrian Sargeant said. That love is the basis for giving. Then a smile and a wry comment to the effect that he bet that I wasn’t expecting that from a British academic.

I wasn’t. But I had more ‘aha!’ moments talking with Adrian, the opening keynote speaker of the upcoming 2025 CBAA Conference in Hobart, Tasmania from 23–25 October that I can recall for a long time. I have been actively using his techniques since and recommend them whether you are a volunteer, employee or any individual seeking to build your reputation and professional network.

Adrian Sargeant is the Professor of Fundraising at the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy and Research Director at Philanthropy and Fundraising International. His career came about because he realised there was no handbook or training about fundraising. It was, and is, something you often learn on the job or get put under someone else’s wing as a guide.

Adrian said:

“I’ve never for a single day regretted it. I’ve met some very talented people. People who could be making a small fortune if they were working in the commercial world. But they’ve chosen to follow their values and their guiding light, and to do the things that they love for the people they love.”

I feel ashamed to admit this, but I went into the conversation with Adrian feeling cynical. I’d recently been in contact with a not-for-profit (NFP) arts organisation that I have been a member and part of, on and off, for the last decade. Some of what they have offered me has been truly life changing.

Afterwards I received an email that said:

Dear member,

It has come to our attention that you have retained access to member exclusive information and benefits without being a current subscriber.

Please pay by x date. After that we will remove you from our system.

I didn’t feel like I had done anything of the sort. I was angry, and disappointed somehow, that their email hadn’t even used my name. I haven’t subscribed again.

I didn’t tell Adrian this, but he did explain core values in any message to a supporter:

• Using their name
• Thanking them for their contribution
• Showing them how their contribution matters and makes a difference
• Making them feel good about that contribution
• Making them feel seen as part of a community

He then added:

“Just to do simple things like a thank you. They can remind you of the connection that you have. They can remind you of the love that you feel for this activity or that station.

We can get a little bit too narrowly focused on what communications are for. You can use a thank you quite strategically. Obviously, you’re going to thank people when they make a gift. Maybe you might thank them again in a few weeks’ time, so that keeps things salient for them.

But maybe you might also thank people before your upcoming campaign. That has been seen to boost giving to the campaign by about 30%. Just by sending them a thank you for their last giving about a month before the upcoming appeal.

It costs nothing to make people feel good. And to have an additional thank you email crafted.”

It hit home the value of building a genuine connection to the donor even if the donation isn’t monetary. Perhaps they have gifted their time, or expertise, which you might otherwise have paid for or perhaps it a lifesaving need, like our volunteer firefighters.

I asked Adrian how you could possibly create feelings of wellbeing towards philanthropy after natural disaster or personal tragedy:

“Sometimes you have to be the bearer of bad news because you have to take the stories that are happening out in front of people who are going to be inspired by those messages, or want to make a difference to the folks that are that are suffering.

Not everything needs to be positive in that sense, but the rest of what they get from the organisation over the coming weeks and months can inspire people. You can tell people the stories from the community, people who’ve made some magic happen. People who save lives, change lives, transform lives. All of that can leave people feeling uplifted. That’s why we have a supporter journey, right?”

The supporter’s journey is an important part of the creation of donor love and wellbeing. It’s not about hitting people up each end of financial year, it’s about always making them feel part of something bigger. You are in this together.

The journey walks hand in hand with supporter loyalty. In these very challenging economic and sociological times we may not be able to contribute to a much loved cause or organisation for a variety of reasons. Or, with so many competing options, we may forget or select elsewhere.

But that’s okay as Adrian describes that it should be an unconditional relationship. To understand and know the giver is to not change who you are, or your actions in response, whether they have or haven’t gifted this time around. There should be no guilt, shame or recrimination.

I’m sure that you have also not been able to give when you wanted or meant to. How you were offered future opportunities could well determine your choice the next time.

Many readers will know Radioinfo’s Wendy J Whalley who manages our admin and updates the On This Day segment. Wendy has been with us 25 years as well as working part time with community station 2SER.

I’ve never met anyone who so embodies the “doing what she loves with a love of the people and industry she is doing it for”. She would never send out a nameless email. She worries when she gets a return to sender and follows up. She knows family details, new additions, movements, promotions and particularly loves your funny out of office replies. Her care in every email she sends out, or phone call she makes, is much of the secret of Radioinfo’s longevity in a competitive media market.

I’ve also just remembered I’ve never actually met Wendy in person at all! The power of our medium is how so many of our listeners and station fans have and will never meet us in person, and yet they feel connected to us and the community our stations create, however the giving and receiving takes place.

Adrian said:

“The Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy see fundraising as the profession that’s responsible for stewarding the human capacity to love. There’s a world of difference between being on the receiving end of communications from a fundraiser who sees their job as raising money for a good cause and being on the receiving end of communications from fundraisers who see their role as stewarding that human capacity to love and remember.

That sounds a bit fluffy but actually, love is by definition at the core of what philanthropy. Its Latin root is love for mankind.”

Adrian Sargeant is the opening keynote speaker at the CBAA Conference in Hobart with his address on Friday 24 October at 9:30am.

You can Register to attend here:  https://icmsmeetings.eventsair.com/cbaa-conference-2025/registration?utm_medium=conferencewebsite

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster. I too thank you for reading and thus supporting my writing dreams. You can join up and subscribe to Radioinfo, celebrating 30 years in 2026 of providing independent news, job opportunities and opinion for the radio and audio industries here.