Introducing: Raising Skills & Giving Opportunities
Students want to change the world, help people and make a difference. Student fundraising, ‘RAG’, raising and giving and charity rags have been central to student life for hundreds of years.
Fundraising is a powerful developmental tool - communication skills; persuasion, advocacy and talking to strangers. Planning & budgeting to design activities that don’t just break even, but make money. Teamworking, delegation… the list goes on.
For students’ unions, there are a few vital things to get right and we’ve seen a decline in student fundraising over the last 5 years, perhaps due to SU staff and boards feeling unsure about what’s OK, and what isn’t.
After a successful pilot with SU colleagues earlier on in 2026 we are excited to share more information about a new training offer from Nick Smith Consulting & Organised Fun. Raising Skills & Giving Opportunities: working with your Union’s purpose, not against it.
The training is written and delivered by Nick Smith of Nick Smith Consulting & Rosie Hunnam of Organised Fun. Nick and Rosie are experienced trainers and consultants, but they aren’t legal professionals. This training is not and should not replace legal advice. We explore the legal black and whites that we know, share the grey areas to be cautious around, and talk about good practice, specifically for student fundraising.
Who is the training for?
The training is open to any staff or sabbatical officers from UK students’ unions. We will tailor the content based on the audience, so we welcome senior managers to coordinators and sabbatical officers are welcome too.
Student fundraising typically falls within a Student Opportunities department’s activities, so we imagine most trainees will work within student opportunities or membership services. We’ve also found that the training can be useful for senior leaders who oversee student fundraising and finance colleagues who want to better understand fundraising good practice and charity law.
What will trainees get out of the session?
We have clear learning objectives for the training:
Understand students’ union as charities and how this impacts student fundraising
Explore common myths with student fundraising
Identify how student fundraising works works effectively
Expand your network of SU staff working in similar roles
The training takes place online over a 3 hour interactive workshop with Nick and Rosie as trainers. There will be a range of activities to do together or in smaller breakout rooms. Trainees can ask questions to each other and to the trainers live in the room. If there are further questions when we’ve finished the session, trainees also have access to twoweeks on-call support from Nick and Rosie.
How much is it?
Each trainee place is £100+VAT
To find out more or to join the Waiting List, email us…