Craig Linton - What Fundraising Taught Me About Running A Business

We sit down with Craig Linton, co-founder of Thread Fundraising and co-author of Donors for Life, drawing out practical steps for a low-risk move into consulting.

Across this candid chat, we dig into the skills that transfer directly from fundraising to business ownership: clear storytelling, supporter care reimagined as client care, and evidence-led decisions. We also grapple with pricing: where generosity meets boundaries, and why working for free can undercut your impact.

Craig explains how to build private AI brains from your proven frameworks, using a “critical friend” prompt to catch blindspots, and turning blank pages into first drafts without losing the human aspect that wins trust. 

Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe, share with a colleague who’s considering the leap, and leave us a review. Your feedback helps more charity professionals find a path to meaningful, independent work.

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You can connect with Craig on LinkedIn, or check out the Thread Fundraising website. 

Jane Curtis, founder of The Charity Freelancing Course, host of The Other Side Podcast and Co-founder of The Rich & Restored Movement. 

Jane has spent 26 years in the charity sector, is a former events fundraiser, and now supports over 100 charity sector freelancers to build businesses that make more money with joy and integrity.

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Transcript

Welcome And Episode Setup

Jane Curtis 0:30

Welcome to the other side, a charity freelancers podcast. I'm Jane Curtis, and this is where we explore the journey from charity professional to thriving freelancer or founder. Each week I chat with people who've made this week from the charity sector, sharing invaluable practical tips and incredible insights firsthand. So whether you're considering making a move or you're already on your self-employed journey and want to know what goes on behind the scenes of well-known freelance businesses, you're in the right place. So let's dive in to today's conversation. Craig Linton has over 25 years of fundraising experience and has done everything from starting in community corporate and trust roles through to head of IG and then director of fundraising roles. He became a consultant in 2015, mixing a part-time role at Amnesty with other projects. Last year, Craig co-founded Thread Fundraising, an agency that puts supporters at the heart of fundraising. Craig is co-author of the critically acclaimed book Donors for Life, a Practitioner's Guide to Relationship Fundraising, and a longtime contributor to the fundraising community through blogs, webinars, and thought pieces. And I also thought, Craig, you used to host a podcast, or have I got that wrong?

Craig Linton 1:39

No, I've never hosted a podcast. No, that's not okay.

Jane Curtis 1:44

I thought you were I thought I was going to be asking you for advice on this one, but um no, obviously not. Um nice to see you, Craig. Thanks for joining. I just wanted to start by asking a bit about your motivation from working in-house to becoming a consultant and what was the kind of push, if you like, or the driver to kind of set yourself up as a consultant.

The Leap Toward Consultancy

Amnesty Offer, Pay Cut And Side Projects

From Hybrid To Full-Time Consulting

Craig Linton 2:06

Yeah, thanks, Jane, and thanks for having me on. Pleasure to be here. And um, I think for me it was always in my sort of goals and plans, and I always had an idea of where I wanted to be at 30 and at 40, 50, not quite there yet, but um you know what I wanted to do. And consultancy was something that you know always interested me, and I thought would suit my style of work and personality. Um, I'm I'm very much, I think, a doer, and it really gets me down and drains my energy, lots of meetings and bureaucracy and um all those things when you're working on the charity side that can there's something actually being a fundraiser, and it's it's being a fundraiser and working with um great charities and supporters that that that's what brings me my joy and and uh that I really uh get motivated by. So consultancy I thought would always fit my skill set well and was always the long-term plan. Always the real world gets in the way of some of that sometimes. But I I I remember applying for a job at the management centre, you know, when I left Sue Rider in 2010. I it was probably a little bit too early, a little bit too soon, but um I got down to the last interview and then had a horrible cold on the day. But I always remember Angela Clough, who incredible fundraiser, she she took the time to go for a coffee meet with me afterwards, the interview, and you know, why I didn't get the role and the experience I needed to do to maybe make me a better fit in the in the future. And that was sort of really invaluable advice. And you know, I've tried to copy that with with people I've interviewed and not given the job to, but I thought did did really well. Um you know, the fact that she took the time to to do that and and to to share her knowledge and experience and give me some guidance really helped me, give me the confidence that when I did have a bit more experience and uh and and it was right that it was the right thing for me to do and I did have the right skill set to do it. Um and then it came about a little bit differently than I expected, because I I got what I thought was my dream job at Amnesty International. Um, you know, human rights is something I've you know, if I hadn't been a fundraiser, it's probably the area of work I would have uh would have got into. And um it was the dream job. Um got off a day, I was so excited, and the job offer came through, and um there'd been a mix-up with the salary bans on the adverts, and actually yeah, the the job that was was advertised at one salary, and then I got an offer that was 25% less. Oh no, um it would have been okay if it was the other way. Well, yeah, that would have been a nice problem to have. So, you know, dream job, you know, it's almost like an in-house consultant, so it'll help me get to the next stage, and um I was gonna have to take a 25% pay cut to do it. And luckily, my wife was you know amazingly supportive and and and helpful, and we did our sums, and you know, we had to sacrifice a couple of things, but you know, we thought we could do it. And the deal I sort of did with Amnesty was okay, I'll uh you know, I'll do it, but can I do it in four days? And then have a day week to do other projects to try and make up that that shortfall. So, in a way, I sort of got that great opportunity, and I've heard a few of the other guests talk about how they you know they didn't just take the leap straight away, they found a way to to to maybe decrease hours and things. So I got the opportunity to um do a day week um on consultancy projects and other work, which you know got my foot in the door and and started really. And then a couple of years in at Amnesty again had a bit of a rug pull there where they again they agreed for me to go down to three days a week, um and um then got the paperwork and was all ready to sign off, and then um HR decided to impose a blanket ban just across the amnesty, not allowing people to do external work. So then I had a decision to make about do I stay or do I go. And um I'd already committed to some projects and didn't want to let let those clients down, so I decided to take the leap of faith and and go for it, really. And and and that's when you know Craiglinton Fundraising Services. I I started off um with that and made the leap to sort of full-time consultancy.

Jane Curtis 6:32

Right. So things could have looked quite different if Amnesty hadn't decided to put that big ban on yeah recruitment. Yeah. Wow, okay.

Craig Linton 6:42

I don't understand why they did it because you know it it did feel like nearly everyone, everybody it was in the international secretariat, you know, nearly everyone had a a side hustle. And so I can understand why they did it, but it was just the timing was was really bad for me personally. Yeah, it turned out really well.

Money Realities And Transition Tactics

Fundraising Skills That Power Consulting

Jane Curtis 7:00

Yeah, absolutely. And um all these things teach us lessons, don't they? About um, yeah, uh on our path, their their important um learnings. Uh I liked what you said about sitting down with your wife and going through your sums. And I think I would expect nothing less from an IG specialist, by the way, uh obviously looking through the numbers. Um, but I think that's really, really key, just sort of for anybody who is thinking, and we'll get into that a bit more bit later, but anyone who is thinking of making the switch is to uh to to look at the money, look at the money side of things, um, and make sure that that's not going to be um, in fact, we I had an interview um a couple of weeks ago with Rebs, and Rebs was saying something very similar. It's sort of um important to know that you're kind of covered in whatever way that means for you. Um so yeah, just wanted to sort of draw that point out and and agree as well on that kind of slight straddling so that you were able to build up one side of what you were doing whilst having the certainty of that ongoing work. I think that's um great. So really good, really sensible. Um so tell me what do you think fundraising has taught you about having your own business or working for yourself? Like what skills have you managed to transfer? Um, what has been useful, what hasn't been useful?

Learning From Good And Bad Agencies

Craig Linton 8:27

Well, I think I think all of it is is is learning, isn't it, without being too glib about it, in that you know, fundraising, you're trying to get people, inspire people to to give, and and you know, the the storytelling aspect of that certainly an individual giving and then good customer service or support care and serving, you know, all those things that that you know, why supporters give also apply to consultancy. You know, you need to look after your clients, you need to offer value, you need to tell the story about why working for you is is a good thing, and um you need to to show the difference that that you can make and the impact that you can make while while you're doing it. So you know, in many ways, the ingredients of what makes a great fundraising appeal and campaign probably makes you um a pretty good consultant as well. And then there's just that experience of working with with people, understanding, you know, different styles and approaches to doing things, and I think um and you know, there's also a lot about not what to do. You know, I've been I employed consultants and I've I've commissioned work and I've had some brilliant experiences. I've also had some pretty poor ones as well, and um I won't name names, but I remember getting a report back from a a quite well-known um consultancy agency that left in the name of the other charity that they'd copied and pasted the report from. No, yeah, yeah. And that always struck me as like, God, when when I do uh do become a consultant, I will never put it in, I'll never, you know, that's one of my you know, you know, principles. Yeah, you'll adapt things that you've done your book, but the idea of copy and pasting something verbatim and then presenting to it, and these were charging you know huge sums of money for the work. I I you know I was absolutely uh appalled by by that. And so I think you learn from the good and the bad about you know what's the principles and the values that you want to take in to your consultancy and and your approach to to business.

Jane Curtis 10:29

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and do you think kind of the charity world set you up quite well for working as a business um owner?

Business Foundations And Confidence

Craig Linton 10:40

I was I was very lucky when I was at St. Teresa's Hospice. I was I was in two minds, you know, I was two months. Do I want to continue down the fundraising path or do I want to um go back to you know what I did my degree in and and you know and and go back to study? And um a lot of my friends were going travelling in that time and I was like getting a little bit of fever missing out. And um my director at the hospice, she was amazing, um, Jane, my also Jane, um the the chief exec, and she said, Right, Craig, how about we give you two months off to go and do some travelling, have a think about you know what course or degree or whatever you'd like to do, and if we can make it work within your role, we'd love to keep you and and love to do it. And so they ended up part funding an MBA for me at um Leeds University Business School, and that that MBA again just give me a lot of those transferable business skills and and it gave me huge, I think more than anything on the technical side, it gave me that confidence that I actually knew what I was talking about, and you know, overcoming some of that imposter syndrome that that we all well, I certainly have, and and and a lot of people have, you know, when I was talking to people who were working for some quite big businesses and corporations, and I was thinking, how the hell are you in that high flying job? You're just talking nonsense, though, you know, I can hold my you know, I could hold my own in debates and discussions and and in the and in the in the court, and so that gave me a lot of confidence that actually I do know what I'm talking about and give me lots of learning and and you know set me up hopefully to to be able to start a business as well.

A Week In The Life And Deep Work

Jane Curtis 12:18

Yeah, great. So you've got the best of both worlds there, really. I think that's that's yeah, fantastic. Um, so tell me what is a normal working week in your world, like and specifically I'm keen to hear how you kind of carve up your current work that you're doing for clients and then that kind of important building, growing your business. How do you sort of manage back that balance?

Retainers, Project Cycles And Seasonality

Craig Linton 12:44

Yeah, it's it I mean, it is a balance as well, isn't it? And I think you know, trying to find the time and and building the time in on top of the client work is is is one of the biggest challenges, really. And again, I'm I guess I'm a little bit unusual in that I I do quite enjoy working seven days a week. So I'd rather probably do seven, six hour days than five, ten-hour days, you know. So I I will so what I tend to do, I try and get my client work done Monday to Friday, and then I use evenings and weekends to try and do the sort of learning, creating stuff, marketing, all the all the rest of it, um, and um develop. So that's roughly how I try and in my head try and do things. I do have some time off and and and time for uh social activities and things, but that that that just seems to work well for me, and I'll I'll take some time off in an afternoon, which is you know normally when I'm not in my most productive, but then I'll come back and um I I find I'm quite productive between about seven and nine o'clock, so that's a slot that works really well for me. Most people I know find mornings really productive. I I probably only have an hour or two in the morning, and then yeah, it doesn't last long that morning um um glow, and then I'll I'll so I'll try and get my key work done and the the stuff that really requires my thinking in that um sort of nine till eleven slot and then normally like the seven till nine pm slot, and then the rest of the day I'll I'll do sort of more admin stuff and and um other bits and pieces and you know maybe some reading and you know doping things going out for a walk, fresh air, thinking time, and all the rest of it. Um so that's how I tend to to to split it into those two periods of quite intense, intense work.

Jane Curtis 14:29

Yeah, so with your client work, you are working a five-day week most weeks.

Craig Linton 14:35

Yes.

Jane Curtis 14:36

And how can you be sure that that is your pattern? Like, do you have just long-term clients that you work with over several months, or how how does that work?

Craig Linton 14:45

So I I mean I'm I'm I'm lucky in that I've got some long-term retainer clients who I might do a day, occasionally two days a week, or a day month, or something like that. So I have that base of retainer work, and then I have project work that that goes on top of that that to fill in the the time gaps that I have um within that. And that ebbs and that you know, the project work is much more ebbs and flows, and as usual, these things they all they tend to come along like buses. Normally, yeah, start the new financial year. Either we've got great, we've got some money to spend before the end of uh end of March or we we've got some budget in the new year, so that those tend to be a busy period, and then the reforecast period, September, October always seems to be sort of busy times when people come and say and you've obviously sorry, I was gonna say you've obviously got the you know that the um benefit of that hindsight now where you've been able to sort of see some of those peaks and flows.

Jane Curtis 15:42

Um how do you kind of manage that time over the over the length of a year, perhaps where you know that you're probably gonna have more work in the autumn and and new year, perhaps. Um yeah, how how do you fit that in? Do you just sort of yeah, tell you tell me?

Craig Linton 16:00

Yeah, well, I think um it's you know, trying to, you know, again talk talk to my wife, she she she works and has her own business as well, and so we try and plan our time off periods to to reflect those peaks and troughs. So um she's very busy this time of year actually, and and we both are. So we very rarely, you know, January actually tends to be one of our busiest months collectively. So we will tend to maybe take more time off around Easter when it it's it's um time to do things, and and again, we normally tend maybe November time as well, or October when when it's it's not quite as busy. And I think for me it's it's having those systems in place that if you are all well and you've got people you can who can help you out and who can you can pass what either work on to or get them to to sort of double check what you're doing and and maybe pick up little bits and pieces of what you're doing. So there's like almost like a built-in overflow system with the the people who I collaborate and work with, and then those quiet periods, you know, in theory, that's where you try and I try and do some of the business development and market. I mean, I'm always behind, and uh you know, I was meant to have a an email and blog post written by nine o'clock this morning, and it's still quite up there to go out this afternoon, and and and still, you know, it you can have the best plans in the world, but you know, the real world does hit them and uh you can have the best of intentions, but you know, we still scramble around a little bit at times as well.

Jane Curtis 17:28

Yeah, absolutely. So talk to me about what happens. Um, you said you've got people that you can pass work on to. Is that um a kind of formal affiliate or associate model? Like what tell me what that is?

Why Thread Fundraising Came Together

Craig Linton 17:43

It's very very very informal, and um, these are just people who um I've worked with over the years, you know, no trust, we we sort of self-refer work to and things. So it's it's like a network. So it sort of started off with a couple of individual giving experts who one who was my head of IG when I was director of fundraising, Emma, and then um Jenny Crowtree, who's introduced to me by by Andy Harris, who's my old boss, and who was going through, and we sort of collaborated on a few projects together, found out we we actually work quite well together, and so we we help each other out, and then um my old um head of community fundraising was going freelance, Leanne, and then she specialised in community fundraising and and sport experience, so we created the Spotter Experience Collective, which was four freelancers, but all you know, we came under an umbrella, so you know, so I think there's sometimes benefits in in sort of almost that looking bigger than you are and and but trying to keep your overhead low and not take on costs and things, and um you know it sort of balances it out. So I you know, I'm I'm always looking for partnerships and people to work with and refer to and people who you can trust and you know are gonna do a good job for clients. Um so I've got this, yeah, and and thread fundraising, you know, again that came around where we had um, you know, I've got fingers and many pies. You know, I've got a uh a data organisation with someone I used to work with uh Amnesty Daniel, we had the Sport Experience Collective, I've got the fundraising training website. Um, I've obviously got my sort of sport experience stuff and then general consultancy and it was just like too much, really. And people are like, Oh, Craig, I didn't know you did that. And if I did, we might have we'd have asked you to maybe help out. Or so that's where the thread came from. And again, it's we're all independent still and we all take freelance work, but again, it's it's it's this model of you know, an agency that can do all these things, and it's all under one brand and one collective now, rather than you know, there's a website for technology for good, there's a website for a sport or experience collective, there's a website for fundraising training, there's a website for Craig Linton fundraising, you know, and it's just yeah, it didn't make sense. So trying to last year was very much a year of trying to consolidate and refine the business plan and and and add to it and look at you know where the next five years of sort of growth and development are gonna be useful.

Challenges: Pipeline And Pricing

Jane Curtis 20:12

That's great. So that's uh your agency, if you like, you were the founder of that, and these other people I'd say co-founders uh I spoke to them and said, you know, I'm thinking of doing this.

Craig Linton 20:22

Are you in? Would you want to be a part of it? And you know, and and and things. So so my idea, but they're they're very much behind you know, creating content and working on projects together, replying to proposals. So it's it's very much a team effort.

Jane Curtis 20:36

Yeah, yeah, great. And is it a company in its own right then, Thread Fundraiser?

Craig Linton 20:40

No, it's it's part of my original Craig Linton fundraising services, and people will contract direct with um you know the lead person. So if you know if Emma's leading on something, they'll you know, they'll deal with her if if um Amy's leading something, you know, it'll go direct, but then we'll we'll collaborate on things together as well.

Jane Curtis 20:59

Okay, yeah, nice.

Craig Linton 21:00

And we don't take a cut or anything or referral fees, we don't keep discussing, you know, we you know it's all done on trust, really.

Jane Curtis 21:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's a really interesting model. Um, what challenges have you faced then? Because it sounds to me like you're very successful and full of you have lots of work, and um so but tell me, talk me through your maybe one or two challenges that you've experienced.

Free Work, Value And Boundaries

Craig Linton 21:24

Well, I think always that that challenge is is finding new work and new business and having the time to to to do it. Um I'm I'm lucky that a lot most nearly all my work tends to come from word of mouth and recommendations and things, but you know, i if people don't know about you and what you do, then you you sort of can can miss out. And you know, there's been times when it's been very thin on the ground, you know, just before COVID, you know, COVID, I was I was days away from calling the bank to say you know, we need a payment holiday, and and luckily on we Had the discussion on the weekend, and then on Monday I got a call from someone saying, Can you do an interim? And you know, that luckily sort of sort of saw me through. So these lean times as well, but um you know it's I think yeah, it's the challenge of of doing that, and then you know, I'm I'm terrible at pricing, you know. So I'm busy, but I'm probably undercharge and I'm uh terrible for a sob story, and um I'll you know, I'll I'll I'll reduce my fees. It doesn't take much negotiate. I'm a terrible negotiator on on some of that, and actually, you know, I have had advice before. Well, you know, if if you if you're busy and you're working all these out, you know, you should pump your prices and do this and all that. And actually, I it's probably sound advice, and I probably should, but actually I've not managed to do that and I've not done that. Um, so um it's something I'm always conscious of that that pricing thing I think is the thing that really um I is the area that I probably really need to do better on and and and think about. Um I tend to sort of do a lot of stuff for and I think free is dangerous for freelancers, and you do it from the goodness of your heart and goodwill, and but it can be undervalued, and actually, you know, I've had times with clients of you know, I've done something for free and and and being really grateful, and then they've gone and paid for someone else to sort of do the next step and paid massively overpaid, and and it it it's not and it's because I'd done it for free, it wasn't necessarily as valued or as appreciated, even though it it was really good work and things. So I think you need to be careful on that as well and not undervaluing and underselling yourself.

Mentors, Sales Frames And Comfort

Jane Curtis 23:41

Yeah, I totally agree with that. I mean, God, it is it's such a minefield, isn't it? And I think part of the issue with pricing is that people feel awkward and a bit embarrassed, maybe or a bit ashamed to talk about it. So even when you know, you get those threads in Facebook or whatever saying, you know, benchmarking day rates or whatever, I mean, I always tell my clients to exercise caution when they see those threads, you know, because it's likely that people who are charging more won't be posting on there, you know, because of that point that I just made, that there's a bit of embarrassment still around money and charging um well for your for your work. And uh, and so yeah, it's it's like, well, if people aren't going to talk about it, how are you ever going to sort of find out where you are and and um and how you're doing? It just becomes this big taboo subject that no one ever really discusses. Um, and I really have taken on a bit of a, I've got a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it. I'm like, why do we shy away from it? Especially so many people that I work with have come out of fundraising as well. And it's like where we have to talk about money and the difference that the money makes. And I really like the point you just made that if you underprice your services or offer things for free, um arguably you're doing a disservice to that organisation, you know, because as you've said, I think people who pay, they pay attention, you know, that is a bit of an old adage, but there is that of kind of you've actually got a vested interest, like literally you have an in, you know, you're invested in it. Um, whereas, and I think I've seen this where I've offered free webinars and things, you know, you don't get people there as off, you know, it's like, oh, it's free. I it can't so I don't know, it's such a yeah, don't know, don't know.

Craig Linton 25:34

Yeah, and I think um one of our values and and mindset is to be generous with content. And I think definitely I found the more you put out there and the more you help people, it it does tend to come back. Um, you know, I had a client the end of last year who said, You might not remember Craig, but 13 years ago you went for a coffee. You know, Bill, because I'd taken that learning from Angela, you went out for a coffee for me and gave me some really great advice, and you know, 13 years later that's led to a paid piece of work, which is incredible, really. But I do find the more I would never want to lose that helpfulness and and and and um generosity, but at the same time, you know, trying to delineate between the paid and the the free and you know just sticking to what you've been doing within a project scope rather than adding in lots of extras because yeah, and not doing that at the cost of actually having a business, because if you're not earning a good good amount of money, you don't have a business, you know, like that's that's kind of core to have key, you know, to having um uh a sustainable business model is um is cash flow, isn't it?

Networks, Peers And Focus

Jane Curtis 26:40

And um, and I always recommend that you know you focus on that bit first because there's a tendency to think, oh, if I offer all this free stuff, that's how I get the word out there. If you spend all your time focusing on the free stuff, it it in my experience again, it takes just as much energy to get people over the line for something free or low cost that it does for something higher. Uh so it's like, well, where's your attention gonna, you know, where's your energy best spent, really? And um yeah, perhaps get the paid stuff sorted. And I had a really good chat with Rob Woods actually, talking about him earlier about just about exactly this.

Craig Linton 27:16

Um, so Rob's been, you know, he he you know, we we collaborate on a couple of projects and things, but he's always been very great and generous with his time and and advice and and support. And um, yeah, he's always yeah, pricing, he's he's robust. And you know, he he talks a lot. I know he did a lot of work with like Tony Robbins, he's been on his courses, and you know, yeah, some of these American goods, Alex Homozi seems to be the one at the minute, and I watched his stuff and it it's brilliant and it's good advice, but I just sometimes can't bring myself to be that sort of it just feels like cheesy salesperson and yeah, um, but it works and it you and need to be better at it and and and and use some of those frameworks and uh and and stuff. But like I say, if I'm asking for anyone else and in fundraising or you know, for the you know, when I was charity side, no problem at all, ask anybody for anything, not think twice. Asking yourself, I think is much harder, isn't it, at times?

Jane Curtis 28:13

It can be, it can be, and there's so many reasons for that. It's just like having to go back to you know, chartered stories and your upbringing and all sorts of stuff we won't get into right now, but um maybe a conversation for another time. Um, and I'm always up for a money chat as well. So um, anytime you want to uh do that, Craig, very happy. Um, so talking about uh networks and kind of people who've supported you, like where have you found useful you know, groups, uh communities as a sort of self-employed person? What's been helpful to you?

Advice For Moving From In-House

Craig Linton 28:47

Yeah, I mean obviously I'm lucky. I've got this sort of cohort of peers that I I I work with and we collaborate together, so that that that's very, very helpful. Um, and and people who you know work with throughout my career as well. You know, we're funny enough before lunch before Christmas I was out for lunch with um some of my old colleagues from Sioux Rider. You know, we've been doing that for sort of 15 years now, and you know, I know I call on on many of those they're all a bit older than me, and some of them are retired now, but you know, they give sound advice and and and things, and then the networks that I've sort of built up through, you know, being a trustee of Sophie, for example, and and you know, being part of Regare and these other groups that you know there's some really bright, smart people on there who've been there, done it. And again, I always find that that people are very kind and generous with their time, and and if you don't be afraid to ask for advice. And you know, we've all our egos quite enjoy getting an email saying, you know, oh really like you've done this, could you could you tell, you know, but don't be afraid to ask, I think is one of the things I've learned. Um I'm I'm probably better at asking for advice than I am sort of raising my fee. So I'm always curious, and I'll I'll reach out to people. I saw this piece of work you did, I thought it was really good, you know, if you fancy having a chat or um you know, well done on that appeal, it seems to you know, to try and try and find I'm gonna say find the bright spots, but you know, tricking off Rob, but um, you know, that that comes from um you know creating those networks and again not not necessarily asking for things but just trying to be mutually beneficial with people and and and you know trying to look at I think for the other thing for me that I'm not managed to quite put out is focus. I try I like to do lots of different things, which is just how I work, but there's something you know I probably could benefit at time and maybe just focusing on one or two things rather than have this this yeah.

Jane Curtis 30:52

Um I think that's quite common amongst um especially sort of founders who are quite entrepreneurial, you know, that sort of shiny squirrel. It's just that's an interesting idea. I don't think anyone's short of ideas in our kind of world, you know. It's um uh yeah, and I am exactly the same. I've tried to set my year out this year, just really focusing on kind of one thing per month, you know, in my business. But even that I'm really finding challenging. It's like well, but I could do that as well. Um, so what advice would you give to someone who is still working in-house but is thinking of becoming a freelancer or consultant? What would you say to them?

Sector Trends, Pressure And AI

Craig Linton 31:32

Yeah, I think it's thinking about why you want to do it. If it's because, and I I've seen people do this, it's because they don't enjoy the job or they're you know they feel stuck in a rut and or you know, it's a bit of a toxic environment that that's not really a reason to go freelance. It's thinking about you know what are your skills and what are what values you think you can bring to to to clients. And I think as well on the freelance side, I think there's there's different types of it, you know. So is it freelance or is it interim or is it consultancy? What what what is it that you think you want to offer and bring? And then and then I think it's it's just thinking about your networks and where where's that first role going to come from? And I wouldn't do it until you've got something lined up in a in a s in effect or one or two things lined up, um, so you can do it and and have that conversation if you are thinking about it, and if you are valued by your organisation, try and find that hybrid way to ease yourself in because it just de-risks it w in a in a way that is um just makes it much much easier, you know. You know, if you can ease your way into it rather than just you know jumping headfirst into it, it probably makes it a l a little bit easier. And then I think it's um you know thinking where yeah, where where where's the value that you can add and and what and I I do think having a sort of medium long-term plan, you know, what what is the reason for doing it? Is it just a bit more like work balance? Is it you know because you you know family life and you you you you want uh to change the way you're working, or is it actually you want to grow a business and you know you want to to to create you know the I don't know the next open fundraising or the you know the the next think consulting or or whatever it might be. Um so I think just understanding your motivations and and being honest around what are your strengths and asking others, I think it's it's a really scary thing to do. But um, I did it a few years ago and it was really eye-opening. You know, how would you dis how would your colleagues describe you or your peers describe you and and what do you what do you what would they say about why they would employ you or hire you as a consultant? And that again, because we tend to be quite modest and and uh you know humble, that that can be a really good way to unpick, you know. Well, actually, this is this is where I could really make a difference as a consultant and freelancer.

Jane Curtis 34:13

Yeah, I love that. Um so what changes do you think we're gonna see this year in the charity sector?

Using AI To Elevate Client Work

Craig Linton 34:22

Um I was uh we were talking, uh I was talking yesterday to someone who's who who's thinking of um maybe coming consultant, and and we were laughing about you know what's the next big thing, you know, when when I start in the 2000s, it was um payroll giving and then SMS and then we had you know you know direct mail's dead, and email's gonna be everything, and you know, direct mail still going strong. And so we do have these fads and phases that um that sort of I guess come and go as as fundraising. You know, it is and you know, everyone always it feels like everyone's always says it's it's hard, but I do think generally there it there are some reasons why it is harder than ever for fundraisers and and people certainly working in charities, you know. You look at cuts in government funding, you look at the political environment and you know um you know where where the country's going to, you know, look how tight finances are. So I think there are some genuine if you if you look at that pest analysis, why why things are tough at the minute for people, um but also people are still incredibly generous. You know, I'm I'm incredibly bullish at AI um and have done you know spent the last I guess year, 18 months trying to upskill myself and looking at the opportunities and how that might change my business model, and you know, because you can ask ChatGBT or Gemini, and if you train it right, it can give you a pretty good strategy that you don't need a consultant for. Um so you know, we need to be aware of aware of that, or it it might not be as good as, but it might be 80% as good, and you can good enough um if your budget's tight. So I think we need to think about that as freelancers, you know. Um, Caroline Dangso, I think, is a brilliant trust fundraiser. She she wrote a really, I think, interesting and provocative anti-AI post last week, and there's a lot I agreed with. Um, but there was a quote I saw yesterday that I thought was really interesting that you love AI for the jobs that you hate doing, and you hate AI for the jobs you love doing. So if you're a writer, you hate AI doing writing because it feels like it's a personal attack on you. But actually, from you know, if if on the on the flip side, if you hate writing, then AI is a godsend because it speeds up and you can get like maybe seven, eight out of ten quality in in in seconds. So it's really interesting how I think AI is gonna change things. And you know, some of the tools that I've been working on and developing, I I just shared something with colleagues yesterday and said, look, I've done, you know, what do you think of this? I I think this is pretty good. And they were like, Yeah, it still needs that human input, it still needs to last 20% polishing, but it's doing stuff that I would have probably taken me weeks, and now I'm I'm thinking about things, getting it from AI, polishing it, and putting my own professional expertise. So I'm not using it to replace me, I'm using it to help and augment my thinking and elevate my thinking. Yeah, and I think that's where the the real exciting opportunity is um with that. Probably slightly off topic and gone down a bit of a rabbit hole, but but yeah, I think that I think AI is when used right, is got huge potential, but a lot of people are using it wrong, not learning how to get the best out of it. And so that's when you see people talking about slop and and shittification and things like that.

Jane Curtis 37:52

I mean, I don't think you can talk about trends, you know, in 2026 without talking about AI. It's got to be the number one thing that should be on everybody's radar, you know, and um and not necessarily just in a way of like, oh shit, you know, like my job is going to be at risk or whatever, but like how how am I working with it, you know, because it's not going anywhere. And um, do you do you how do you see it potentially benefiting um people like us, you know, who are freelancing and consulting? Um, how how could it be, yeah, how would you see it benefiting your role, I guess, as a as a as a freelance kind of business can uh yeah, business owner?

Where To Find Craig And Closing

Craig Linton 38:39

So I I think there's a there's a few ways. The first way is if if you're producing good stuff for clients and have you know you've got a catalogue of good work, you can create a AI brain based on stuff that you know works and which is high quality. And I think that's the leap that a lot of people haven't necessarily made is to create that that brain. So I I you know obviously protecting client confidentiality and and and taking stuff out that you wouldn't want sharing, but my the frameworks that I've developed over the last 10 years, the the exercises that I've done, I can tell AI all about those, and now I can say, right, I've got a client, we're doing a training course on this, we want exercises on ABC, we want to to teach them about copywriting. Can you you know do exercises based on their website, based on storytelling, based on some of their stories, and use the um um I forgot the name of the framework we we use for it. Um it'll come to me in a second. But the copywriting framework that we we use, let's let's say Ada for now, use this to help me design exercises so it can do that in hours and it will help you create better content and training outcomes and things. Um, and the same I I ask it to ask, um I've set something up to ask as my critical friend, and so I I did a report the other week, um uh a strategic report. I said, analyse this is what I've done. I do all the work myself and the thing for myself first, but then you know act as my critical friend and editor. Have I missed anything here? How could this be improved? You know, does it does it make sense? And it'll you know, it just gave me a list of notes, and there was one area that I I completely overlooked, which really helped me then deliver a better outcome for clients. So I think it if used in the right way, it's not to replace. I've been describing it as almost like having like Yoder or you know, as a guide on your back and is in your superpower. Yeah. Um great, but you need you need the good, it's the garbage in, garbage out then. You need to have the stuff putting in there that is good to begin with.

Jane Curtis 40:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I well, we could have we could have filled an entire podcast episode talking about AI. Um, how can the listeners find out more about you, Craig, and about Thread and all the things you're doing?

Craig Linton 41:01

Yeah, so on the website is just threadfundraising.com um on LinkedIn as well, um, Craig Linton, and yeah, drop me an email, Craig at threadfundraising.com. It's always love to chat fundraising and talk to people.

Jane Curtis 41:16

And that's a wrap on another episode of the other side. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a colleague who might be thinking about their own freelance journey or leave a review. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. You can find all the links and resources we mentioned today in the show notes. And if you recognise you want more support to build or grow your freelance business, check out the charity freelancing course, which will take you from feeling stuck to confidently thriving as a successful freelancer or founder. It's a self-paced program designed specifically to help charity professionals launch their life-changing and profitable freelance careers by breaking free from the employee mindset and embracing the abundant world of business ownership. For more information and to sign up, head to my website, Jane CurtisEvent.com. Until next time, keep exploring what's possible on the other side.