‘Is it still too late to wish you a Happy New Year’, is the phrase we’ve been using most this month. January and February in New Zealand can be those tricky months where we drip back to business slowly but surely at different stages with work ebbing and flowing as the country wakes back up from its Christmas and summer break.
Luckily for us, scheduling our annual planning meeting at the beginning of February was the perfect opportunity for our team of consultants to take time to reflect on the year just passed and start to plan for a very exciting year ahead. We wanted to share with you a little of what we discussed as we talked about the lessons of 2024 and what we’re looking forward to in 2025.
What did we love about 2024
2024 was a rollercoaster year. With three of our consultants formally taking on ownership of AskRIGHT at the very end of 2023, 2024 was a steep up and down learning curve; learning how to manage the new format of the business, learning about new clients we began flourishing relationships with and getting to grips with the nitty gritty of running a small business. We also welcomed a new team member – Kora the dog – who joined our South Island based team as Head of Happiness. Early reports indicate she’s doing a stellar job!
Working with amazing causes
We have been lucky enough this year to work in nine different sectors across 23 projects and liaised with clients in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Each and every project has been briefed and designed bespoke to client needs, and our consultants take great pride in understanding what the core need is that our work is designed to support.
“As I reflect on 2024, it was a huge privilege to work with organisations who are doing amazing things in Aotearoa New Zealand. I had the joy of working with Bellyful New Zealand on their grants programme; ultimately supporting their amazing group of over 750 volunteers to provide nourishing meals for whanau with babies and young children in need of support, supporting SPCA with their campaign to fund their most ambitious building project to date which will allow them to be there for the animals who need them now and in the future and feeding into a number of smaller projects.”
Clare Bridle, Managing Director and consultant
Delivering a diverse range of projects
This past year we have been lucky enough to have driven outcomes focused pieces of work across our client portfolio, including:
- Delivering seven fundraising strategies
- Working on four capital campaign projects
- Managing campaign implementation for four clients
- Running coaching and workshops for three causes
- Creating two specialised Gifts in Wills strategies
- Managing grant programmes across two portfolios
- And recruiting one exceptional fundraiser for a key partner
“I think the variety of the work is what makes working at AskRIGHT so exciting. No one day is the same. When I look back at 2024 there were some incredible moments that stood out for me. Taking calls at ten pm at night to present work back to a UK based client was one of the more unusual days! Visting the campus at New Zealand College of Chiropractic and meeting an incredibly passionate group of stakeholders there. Or even the simple things, such as regular weekly huddles with the AskRIGHT team to chat through what work we had on and how to support each other in delivery.”
Fi Riley, Director and consultant
A team of top consultants with local, national and international impact
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to fundraising and we’ve really appreciated having a range of charities to partner with this year. From community groups seeking to fundraise in their local regions to national and international charities building strategies to work across boundaries, we have loved every single project that has called on our expertise across our three senior consultants and their depth and breadth of experience.
“It’s been such a privilege working alongside and supporting a variety of national and regional charities throughout 2024, including Riding for the Disabled Groups based throughout New Zealand, SPCA, St Peter’s Heritage Church, and Q Theatre in Auckland. It has been immensely rewarding developing and implementing fundraising strategies, undertaking feasibility studies and coaching passionate fundraisers. Bring on 2025!”
Louise Walters, Director and consultant
What are we excited for in 2025
The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice this is a new format for our newsletter as we are now into our second year of business and starting to think about changes and tweaks we can make to offer even more value for our clients and partners.
“This year has started with a bang, focussing on how we can help our clients to reach their fundraising goals in 2025 and beyond. We are incredibly lucky to work in such a caring and passionate sector and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.”
Clare Bridle, Managing Director and consultant
From bringing you more client case studies to sharing more behind the scenes of what we’re working on, we’ve been chatting about the sort of content we can provide to help you and your fundraising goals go further. If there is a particular topic you would like to read about in 2025 we would love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] to let us know the burning areas of fundraising you’d like to know more about.
Our team is your team
One of the biggest take outs from our 2025 planning meeting was the power of a team.
“When you work with any of our AskRIGHT consultants, you have the whole team standing behind you.”
Fi Riley, Director and consultant
Even if we don’t get to see each other all the time, our consultants always have each other to lean on, use as sounding boards, and to ensure another pair of eyes sits across all our projects. When we reflected on how we like to work with the clients we are lucky enough to partner with, once again, the most important thing was becoming an extension of the teams we’re supporting.
It’s what makes us proud to do our work, what motivates us to strive for the very best outcomes for clients, and what makes us feel we are continuing to grow and develop as individuals and as a business. From all of our consultants, we want to thank you for all the trust you have placed in us over the course of the past year. We can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring, and we hope we can continue to be part of your amazing teams.