Professional and Aligned – The Fundraising Partnership’s Experience with VST Venues

About The Fundraising Partnership

The Fundraising Partnership work with a range of charities to help them connect with donors through face-to-face engagement. Their experienced team supports fundraisers in securing venues and creating meaningful conversations that raise awareness and inspire long-term giving. With a focus on integrity, they’ve built a reputation for helping charities make a real impact in their communities.

Our Partnership with The Fundraising Partnership

At VST Venues, our mission is to create the space for great work to happen. Partnering with agencies like ‘The Fundraising Partnership’, whose values and goals align closely with ours, allows us to work together toward a shared purpose. Through this collaboration, we help fundraisers always have access to the right venues, enabling them to focus on what matters most: engaging supporters and driving positive change.

To showcase the impact of our partnership, we spoke with Kevin Mann – Managing Director from The Fundraising Partnership. Read on to learn how our collaboration has supported their fundraising success.

Tell us a little bit about The Fundraising Partnership and what first led you to choose VST Venues to support your venue booking needs?

We work with several different charities and support fundraisers by helping them get into venues where they can engage the public and raise awareness. We chose to work with VST Venues mainly because of the manpower and resource challenges we faced when trying to do all the venue bookings ourselves. Having a team that could take on that legwork made a real difference, allowing our own team to solely focus on fundraising.

The Challenge

• Before working with VST Venues, what challenges did your fundraising team(s) face when securing promotional spaces?

Manpower was the biggest issue. If you’ve only got one person making calls, they can only work within their own hours, so progress was limited. We also struggled with handling callbacks. It mainly all came down to resources and time.

• Were there any particular goals you wanted to achieve by partnering with VST Venues?

The main goal was to ease the pressure on our own team by outsourcing the venue booking side, so we could make sure fundraisers always had somewhere to go and work. It was about freeing up our internal staff so they can focus on fundraising instead of admin.

Solution

• How did VST Venues provide the solution to your challenge? 

VST provided the manpower and handled all the groundwork for bookings. Things like confirming store details, parking information, and all those small but important details that make a big difference on the day. They essentially took care of everything behind the scenes, so our fundraisers could just turn up and focus on doing their job.

• Are there any specific aspects of their service that stood out?

The communication has always been excellent. We would have a weekly catch-up and use a WhatsApp group, which keeps everything moving quickly. The team is friendly and always honest about what’s going on. They make the best out of a tough market and always put the effort in, even when some bookings don’t go to plan. It’s clear they care about what they do.

Impact

• What results have you seen since partnering with VST Venues?

It’s hard to put a specific figure on it because the results depend on the quality of venues available week to week. But overall, it’s given us consistency. We know that nine times out of ten, our fundraisers will have somewhere to go and do the great work they do. It’s taken away a big chunk of the booking workload and given us reliability.

• Can you share a moment that made you feel confident in the partnership?

I’d say there wasn’t a single standout moment but more about the ongoing relationship. Even when things haven’t gone perfectly, communication has been great and they’ve taken responsibility when needed. That gives you confidence in the people you’re working with.

• Have you been able to achieve your desired goals since working together? Please state how:

Yes, definitely. They’ve successfully provided the resources we needed. The bookings are handled incredibly well, so we can concentrate on fundraising while knowing the logistics are covered.

Testimonial

• If you were to recommend VST Venues to someone, what would you say?

I’d say they’re friendly, professional, and honest. You can tell they genuinely try their hardest to fulfil your requirements, even when the circumstances are challenging. They’re a good team who do their best in a difficult market.

• Please could you write a couple lines here on how you would describe your overall experience working with VST Venues

It’s been a very positive working relationship to be quite honest. The guys at VST Venues are approachable, professional, and transparent. Our ways of working are well aligned, and I have confidence that they’re putting in their best effort, even in a challenging environment.