Arch North Staffs

Arch is a social welfare charity in Stoke on Trent , running services for homeless people, including accommodation, a women's refuge and a learning centre.

The charity has used our services since 2001, to advise on fundraising strategy, to develop a trust fundraising programme and to help create a legacy campaign. However, the main focus of our support has been to help Arch establish its own fundraising department.

With experienced fundraisers thin on the ground in North Staffordshire , Arch was fortunate to recruit an enthusiastic graduate working in local radio, who had good transferable skills. Over the years, we have provided training and mentoring support to the Fundraising Manager, who has proven highly successful in her role.

Not only has Arch been able to secure strong support from trusts, the National Lottery and from companies, but the charity is now embarking on an individual giving programme and has also recruited a community fundraiser.

Simon George of Wootton George Consulting says: "This is a good example of how a local charity has been able to start a fundraising programme from
scratch, while training up its own fundraiser. In its last financial year, Arch raised £461,000 of voluntary income, which was an excellent result and shows what can be achieved by a competent person, with mentoring support."

Amanda Bailey, Arch's Fundraiser says: "Fundraising wasn't really something I had considered as a career option while at university, but, for me, it is proving to be a rewarding and varied profession, using skills I'd been using in radio advertising. When I joined Arch, the organisation was going through a challenging period financially, having recently taken on several new projects. In my first year at Arch, I raised almost £80,000 in voluntary income, which has steadily risen year on year. This means that we now have much less fire fighting to do and are able to plan long-term fundraising approaches, such as individual donor acquisition and a legacy campaign. We have also recently invested in community fundraising by employing a Community Fundraiser who was also a student at Keele University . I believe that Arch's experience goes to show that successful Fundraisers can actually be found in almost any walk of life."