Impact on a Shoestring
Small budget, big impact
Sponsored by:
This award recognises fundraising that achieves significant impact when limited investment is available. This includes limited operational budgets, human and other resources that deliver fundraising success. Providing smaller charities the opportunity to highlight and celebrate their fundraising successes, the eligibility criteria for this category is:
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Organisations with annual fundraising turnover of up to $2,000,000
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A campaign budget of up to $30,000 (not including staff costs)
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Applicable types of fundraising
​Including, but not limited to:
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major gifts - including capital campaigns
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community fundraising – including peer-to-peer, supporter events, signature events
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digital campaigns
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individual giving – including gifts in Wills, cash and regular giving
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merchandise campaigns
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grants, trusts and foundations
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corporate partnerships.
Criteria
Executive summary - 20%
a) Tell us how you used limited resources to make a big impact on your fundraising program and organisational strategy. What was the purpose of the activity/campaign and how did it relate to overall organisational fundraising strategy?
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b) Please provide a short (approx. 1-3 min) video telling us about your campaign and what impact it had. This can be a simple video filmed on your phone. The quality of the production will not be considered in the judging process – it’s about the story you tell.
To see examples of some of the videos the judges have rated highly in the past, visit #TopTips | FIA Awards
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Strategy - 20%
What was your campaign strategy? What did you set out to achieve? How did limited resources impact on the type of campaign you ran or decisions you made? How did the campaign team ensure the project reached its objectives while maintaining it’s budget?
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Resourcing and execution - 20%
What resources were used to execute this fundraising activity? This should include human resources (number of staff and volunteers and their roles), financial, suppliers and other resources. How did you maximise these resources?
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FIA Code Alignment - 10%
State at least one way your campaign showed alignment to the FIA Code.
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Impact and outcomes - 30%
What was your return on investment against input and against strategy? How did the outcomes have a big impact on the organisation? What impact did the campaign have for beneficiaries? What lessons were learnt?
Who can enter this category?
Please note that any organisation entering the 2026 FIA Awards must be both a current (2025/26) FIA member and have held FIA membership for a period of at least 12 months prior to submitting their entry.
Organisations from New Zealand are only eligible to enter the 2026 FIA Awards provided they meet the above criteria.
If you require assistance with your FIA membership, please contact us on 1300 889 670 or email members@fia.org.au
Campaigns must be conducted, or partially conducted, during the last 18 months: 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2025, unless otherwise specified.​​​​​
Submission guide
Download the submission guide for full details, terms and conditions and to plan your submission before you start.
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Applications close on Friday 15 August 2025
