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Persuading Organisations to Invest in Development

May 14th, 2026

Recently, I participated in a Chartered Institute of Fundraising podcast focusing on professional development. In addition to exploring emotional intelligence in depth, I made my aversion to the term; ‘soft skills’, known, not least because they are often the hardest to develop, the strongest aides to resilience and the ones most likely to keep you employable in a world of AI.

We also discussed how individuals could persuade their organisations to invest in their professional development. One approach I didn’t have time to raise was what I term the ‘pragmatist’s thought experiment’. To keep the maths simple, let’s assume a charity has a team of three fundraisers. It is quite possible that due to staff turnover, three, perhaps even four recruitment cycles will be required in this team during a three year period. Let’s assume that there’s a training course costing £1,500 per person, which each of the three fundraisers in the team would like to go on. On the basis that the team is performing well, I think you only need to believe two things for it to make sense to fund all three training course places:

(i) The motivation to learn and the sense of feeling valued could reduce the number of departures from 3-4 to 2-3 during the three-year period.

(ii) Each round of recruitment costs the organisation £5,000 (a quick google search suggests this is a very conservative estimate).

On this basis, even if the training does not make the fundraisers better fundraisers, investing in the training would save the charity money: £4,500 spent on training, £5,000 saved on recruitment equals a net saving of £500. If the training only makes each fundraiser 1% better at fundraising and you only see this benefit in the final year, training will increase the charity’s income by several thousand pounds (based on annual fundraising income of at least £300,000, which again is very conservative).

I’m always wary of equating an outcome (in this case reduced staff turnover) to a single variable (in this case development opportunities). In my experience, no amount of training can withstand poor management or a toxic culture. Anecdotally though, there does seem to be a strong correlation between organisations continuing to invest in staff, even in tough financial times, and long-term organisational performance. If anyone has any hard data to back this up, please do get in touch. It would be great to have my anecdotal hunch confirmed and it could help others to get the development opportunities they need.

Another point I wished I’d stressed in the podcast is that some of the most valuable development opportunities come without any financial participation fee – becoming a charity trustee being a prime example. Another is simply allowing staff to read books/listen to podcasts during work time on topics they’re interested in developing.

If you’d like to listen to the full podcast, click here.

Six questions you should always ask when negotiating

December 17th, 2015

Negotiation is viewed by many as a ‘Dark Art’. It is something that many approach with a sense of trepidation. The cynic in me often feels such perceptions are perpetuated to justify the five figure fees of many negotiation courses. This is because in my experience, comfort and success in negotiation can be greatly improved by answering some very simple and practical questions:

1. Is this the right time to negotiate?

Have you ever had the experience of someone phoning you, as you’re rushing to get ready for an important event, or as you’re trying to get food on the table for a hungry family? How receptive are you to the call? For most people, it’s ‘not very receptive at all’. In such circumstances, it is often best not to get involved in a conversation and instead reschedule for another time.

A negotiation is simply a specific type of conversation and so follows the same general rules as all conversations. If it starts well, it often finishes well. If it starts badly, it can be very difficult to ‘get it back’.

Consequently, it is worth asking yourself whether now is the right time for negotiating and explicitly asking the other party whether it’s the right time for them too.

2. Is this the right location to negotiate?

Many a fundraiser will tell you that asking for a donation is often easier when the would be recipients are physically in the background and visibly benefiting from the charity’s work. Far more practically, choosing a location where distractions are kept to a minimum can greatly increase negotiation success.

3. Is the person you’re negotiating with in a position to decide?

I have seen some outstanding examples of negotiation completely wasted because upon reaching a ‘deal’ one of the parties says; “I’m just going to have to OK this with my boss.”

When this happens the negotiation often has to start all over again with the boss and much of the time already committed is wasted. Consequently, it’s important to check that your counterpart can make a decision. If they can’t, it is perfectly reasonable to insist that the negotiation does not start until the decision maker is present.

4. Are you the right person to be negotiating for your organisation?

In an ideal world, issues such as your age, gender, nationality and status would have no bearing on your perceived capability to negotiate. However, we do not live in an ideal world, and the preconceived ideas held by your counterpart may mean that someone else in your organisation will get a better deal than you.

5. Is it worth negotiating?

It may be that your counterpart’s preconceptions/discriminatory views are sufficiently contra to your and/or your organisation’s values that continuing negotiation becomes untenable. Even, when such preconceptions do not exist, it is still worth asking yourself whether negotiating is worth the effort. Essentially, you should consider negotiating when doing so can potentially provide you and your negotiating partner with something better than a non-negotiated outcome. However sometimes the alternatives to negotiating are preferential. In such circumstances saying ‘No’ to negotiation is the right answer.

6. Have you devoted sufficient time to your BATNA?

The styles, processes and skills for negotiation are best developed through training and practice rather than through a blog post. However, a stand-out requirement for any negotiation is a good BATNA: Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.

Taking the time and effort to develop a strong BATNA is crucial to successful negotiation. Psychologically it can have a profound effect, as a strong BATNA allows you to approach a negotiation knowing that, even if it fails, the alternative is still OK.

To quote the late publisher Felix Denis (a renowned negotiator);

“You have to persuade yourself that you absolutely don’t care what happens. I absolutely promise you, in every serious negotiation, the man or woman who doesn’t care is going to win.”