Fundraising inspiration from around the world: Survivor’s guide to the IFC2026
Last month, the team from Hynt headed to the Netherlands for the International Fundraising Congress (IFC). Held annually, this year’s event brought together 700 fundraisers from around the world across emerging and established markets - fundraisers from all different disciplines, ways of working, ways of thinking, and ways of sharing the life-saving work they do.
Despite their differences, the thing they share is that they’re all building programmes that give people meaningful ways to engage and actively become part of their mission. IFC can be a bit of a whirl so if you missed any of our sessions, we’ve got you covered.
The Digital Engine Room Masterclass 👩🏫
We’ve delivered workshops at previous IFCs but this year, Josh and Sarah hosted their first two-day masterclass, six hours total, with 15 participants from every continent alongside Dog’s Trust Ireland Director of Fundraising, JoAnne Donovan. People came from a diverse mix of charities including environmental, human rights, animal welfare, medical charities, children's charities, and more. Everybody was ready and willing to learn about the digital engine room: focusing on Meta, Google Ads, and email marketing, but also TikTok, lotteries, ecommerce shops, and all of these new, experiential, and experimental types of fundraising products.
We also turned our masterclass into a 75-minute workshop that was live-streamed to about 1,300 people online. This time we looked at just one part of the engine room: the email lead generation and welcome journey process.
We focused on filling the funnel, growing your file and prospect list, navigating the restrictions and political ad bans happening across social media, and generating cash donors at a really solid rate - essentially finding new and exciting ways to execute the traditional fundraising practices we know work, but in a totally new landscape. Catch the replay on the Resource Alliance’s Vimeo channel.
Key takeaways:
Get your engine room in order, before you try to scale upwards and outwards. Meta, Google and Email are your friends, get to know them first before you try TikTok
Your team, your budget and the basics are how you'll win. Build the right skills, get the right support, and get the right investment
‘'Digital' isn't scary, it's everywhere. Individual Giving is happening online now, it's moving quickly, and it's constantly changing. Are you ready?
A huge thank you to our participants who got stuck in and made this a really fun session to facilitate.
The Big Panel Discussion - AI in fundraising 💡
Next up Josh and Sarah joined Dataro to host a session on AI in fundraising. With panellists, Josh Hirsch, Danielle Rice, and Erica Waasdorp representing different agencies, disciplines, and charities from across the world. A standing room only event with what must have been 100 eager fundraisers, everyone was keen to discuss what it means to use AI in the charity sector.
We dug into ethical storytelling, easing pressure on fundraisers to increase income and profitability by reducing workload, and the potential risks to public trust and brand integrity that come with adopting these tools.
The panel was so popular the organisers hosted it a second time the next day to make sure even more people had a chance to join the conversation and share their thoughts on AI and the future of fundraising.
Key insights:
AI is coming, whether we like it or not. And maybe that's not a bad thing? We may need to be brave and embrace it! (Or at least, navigate it cleverly)
As fundraisers, we need to remember what we're feeding into these AI engines. Our storyteller's personal lives are not fodder for an AI to eat, let's keep ethical about it
Trust. Is. Everything. And if you lose your donor's trust, you may find it hard to win it back. Let’s make sure we're using AI in the right way, without compromising on the one thing we can't stand to lose: TRUST
All about the community 🫶
The biggest win of the week was really the networking: having the opportunity to meet and discuss fundraising with people from all over the world, and have meaningful conversations about what digital and individual giving can do for an organisation's programs, no matter the cause area, budget, or team size. It was all about making sure teams can resource, plan, and execute digital well in this new fundraising landscape.
We speak at a range of both free and paid events throughout the year, if you’d like to see us in action make sure you’re signed up to our mailing list.
