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Episode 1

The simple workflow that funds our charity

20 March 2026 — Katie Potter

In this episode of Bigger Slice, we’re joined by Katie Potter, Education and Fundraising Co-ordinator at Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust.

Katie shares the story behind Buxton’s iconic Crescent, how the Trust was created to ensure public access to this restored landmark, and how they’re bringing history back to life. She even joined this episode from their "hot air balloon" experience!

We dig into the realities of funding a small charity that looks, from the outside, like it must be “sorted” because it sits alongside a major heritage asset. Spoiler: It's not always as it seems.

Katie breaks down the true picture: no core pot of money, and the constant challenge of building a sustainable income mix through sponsorship, and grants.

You’ll also hear practical lessons on measuring and communicating impact: moving beyond “this activity happened” to the deeper “why it matters,” collecting impact evidence from across the organisation, and using accessible frameworks to stay on track.

Katie’s message to funders is clear: core funding keeps the legacy of project funding alive, sustains the essential work that can’t pay for itself, and helps small teams keep innovating and serving their communities. But please, please, please...Funders. Fund the boring stuff! Not just the fancy projects. Charities still need funds to employ staff, not just break out big new events.

If you wear multiple hats in a small charity. Delivery, fundraising, planning, reporting, and everything in between. This one’s for you.

Be our guest

Bigger Slice isn’t only for listening. We want to talk to the people actually running small charities — not about them from a distance, and not through the lens of organisations ten times your size.

If you’re leading a small charity and have something worth saying — a hard lesson, an unexpected win, a funding crisis you survived, a question you can’t stop turning over — we’d love to hear from you.

You don’t need to be polished. You don’t need a comms team or a rehearsed story. You just need to be honest about what it’s really like to do this work. That’s the whole point of the show.

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