Episode 103: Crafting the perfect email with Alex Fearon

'Why don't you just shut it down?"Emma Cantrell MBE is a visionary leader, consultant, and social entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the charity sector. She’s the founder of First Days Children’s Charity, where she built a thriving organisation from the ground up, ensuring financial stability, growing a dedicated team, and supporting families in need. As its CEO, and now Chair of Trustees, she has been instrumental in shaping its strategy and vision. Kenneth meanwhile, recounts his experience as the organiser of a recent stag do, we join James for the New Financial Year celebrations and we review punting in Cambridge. Things get a little heavier as we discuss how childrens’ needs are not being met and peek behind the curtain of middle-class fly-tipping. We’ve got the differences between small and large charities as well as small businesses and charities. We’ve got social media pressures, the importance of trustees, where the money in the system is heading, plus the hope and enjoyment behind all the above. This episode comes packed with references to a recent report ‘Breaking Point: The Mental Health Crisis in Small Organisation Leadership’ conducted by Fair Collective in partnership with NCVO and with funding from The Talent Fund which can be found on our Do More Good website.---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

"The most important person in the organisation is the Database Manager"James is getting excited about a new financial year and Kenneth has spent four days in the big smoke, avoiding the jabs from his kids. We revist our GCSEs and the question of whether face to face fundraisers make the best fundraisers. There's getting a reality check early, meeting your heroes, selling a cookie, an outcome and a cause. Our guest describes the subtle difference between a digital approach to fundraising rather than a fundraising approach to digital, where inspiration for a company name comes from and making a million in the first month. Then we round up with a sensible approach to a side hustle bearing in mind three kids, a mortgage and thirteen needy chickens. It's Rob Green, the founder of Bridgit. ---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

"All behaviour is a form of communication"We kick off with tales of multiplying Australians and Christmas Day parkruns, trips to the football and a short-lived, pre-ban career as a TikTok influencer before delving into fighting for the underdog, the call of teaching, and how very few things in life are truly original. We get into how supporting a child, then a class and finally a community, all began with a bulk order of toasters. We use a trojan carrot to save the planet, use food to create connections and trick parents into learning by seeing people as a whole. ---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

"I learnt there is so much kindness in the world."It’s the Christmas Special so we’re joined by the self-made entrepreneur responsible for £100m of gifts to good causes, Mark Constantine OBE.Obviously, we’re straight in to advent calendars and mutual admiration for Snickers Bars, before we delve into Mark’s early life experiences, including being made homeless at sixteen and the reasons why LUSH will always accept cash. There’s the journey from Bond Street to Bond Street, styling Anna Wintour and travelling to New York on horseback. We talk through aligning business and environmental philosophies; the tricky business of avoiding the grant-giving process; and who ensures the money ends up in the right hands. We find the entrepreneurial spirit, seek a virtuous circle and bask in the delight of recipriocation.---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

“I still bleed orange¨This week Kenneth is flying solo on a nostalgic episode, reminiscing with former Director of Communications, Brand and Digital at Alzheimer’s Research UK. They get into growing up with an organisation, being in the right place at the right time in a risk-averse charity that needed to take risks to garner attention and becoming BFFs with Samuel L Jackson (yes, that one). There’s the weight of an orange and the size of Wales, connecting with your audience, pitching to the trustees, removing the jargon and learning to listen. ---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

“Sod it, give it a go¨As one of our favourite past guests, we were delighted to catch up with PR mogul, podcaster, documentary producer, author and champion of women's sport, Sue Anstiss. So much so, that Kenneth dialled in from prison. We talk hyrox and alcohol detox; sweating like a chicken; repeating the golden age; and finding the joy in play. There's writing your own introduction, the power of consistency and the importance of language - something that Lilly (aged seven) would undoubtedly appreciate. ---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

“I'm not chasing, I'm going to be found¨As a confirmed Big Deal on Linked In, Michelle Benson joins us to talk us through the site's shift from job site to relationship building forum. We get into the opportunity to bypass the Comms Team, how everyone is a lurker and the sad death of the giant cheque. Michelle goes back to her humble first gig - working on a disruptive Nike campaign in Manhattan - and subsequent career built upon doing things differently. We pick up a shopping trolley, adapt to our environment and pick up some tips on breaking out of the echo chamber. Pour yourself a bubble bath, turn off your air con and build a proper network. ---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

We are back north of the border for the Scottish Fundraising Conference. Part of our three-part series from Glasgow, this summary episode features lost notepads, learnings from the world of football, dealing with tricky colleagues, falsely advertised sessions and LinkedIn updates.1:40 Gary Kernahan details the Committee’s hopes and dreams.9:50 Fiona McIntyre on the Scottish Women’s Premier League.17:36 Nadia Aslam gives up tips for Impact Reporting.24:58 Claire Warner talks the dark art of dealing with difficult people.32:33 John Brady and Lorna McCafferty turn one appeal into four.54:36 Michelle Chambers on a simple six-step strategy.63:56 Helena Sharpstone and Emma Ishan give us their highlights.Many thanks again for the invitation to join the Conference. This is part three of a three part series from the Scottish Fundraising Conference.---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

"Stories are a blend of information and emotion"It's breakfast on day two at the Scottish Fundraising Conference and we're joined by Ishbel Smith to talk through the power and importance of storytelling in everything we do.Thanks to her experience as a commercial litigator turned third-sector consultant, we've got competitive debating on the world stage, distilling our connection to a cause, immersing yourself in knowledge and forest-eating rabbits. We talk about being curious, how to persuade, listening effectively and the three reasons we tell stories. There's just enough time to squeeze in the stories we tell ourselves, the comedians we are officially funnier than and (if you've got this far) our shortening attention spans. All delivered laden with Ishbel's passion shining through - impressive for such an early start.This is part two of a three part series from the Scottish Fundraising Conference.---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod

"We need to talk about what goes wrong so we can learn"Anna Fowlie, the CEO of the SCVO took to the stage on Wednesday morning in Glasgow, kicking off day two of the Scottish Fundraising Conference. We caught up with her the night before to talk through her journey to the plenary stage. We found a passion for mediaeval Islamic and European art and architecture, references to Oscar Wilde and tips for first-time conference attendees - but we also strayed off-topic into the pressure of representing thousands of organisations, taking up the big seat as chief executive, making policy decisions which affect lives and dreams for the government to do the same. We meet the posh kids from school, discuss our first gigs and make a call for investment in the sector before it's time to get dressed up for the awards.This is part one of a three part series from the Scottish Fundraising Conference.---You can support the show through Patreon and find us on www.domoregood.uk or follow us on Instagram. Get in touch if you'd like to feature or star on the show. It goes without saying really but the episodes contains our opinions - essentially things we overheard in meetings, stole from presentations and read in magazines. Thanks for listening.patreon.com/domoregoodpodinstagram.com/domoregoodpod