Lucy Caldicott appreciates the passion which makes fundraisers keen to ensure they get the credit for their successes, but she suggests sometimes it is good to sit back and just celebrate a success for its own sake.

One of the bugbears of every fundraising director I know is when team members haggle over bits of income.  

"That's my cheque because it's from someone who did a run."

"No but he works for one of our corporate partners."

"But surely it's just a cash gift from an individual."

Tiresome. I've banned those conversations from my inbox long since.

What I've learned, though, is that much as you don't want fundraisers wasting time and energy debating this stuff, you do want them to care. You want them to be driven enough to care whether those cheques come in. You want them to care about meeting or exceeding financial targets.

So I work hard to make sure my teams work effectively enough with each other so they plan for the inevitable crossovers in advance, so they work in support of each others' objectives, not in competition with them. And they get to know each other as colleagues so they feel part of one team with an investment in the whole team's successes alongside individual successes.

Last week a five-figure cheque from an individual was presented to the Clic Sargent shop manager in Fishponds.

Did we haggle? Did we pore over the database to see whose "contact" this supporter was? Did we make a case for it being an individual cash gift not a shop gift? Did the major donor team say: "It's more than £10k, that makes it a major gift"?

No we didn't.

We celebrated. We thanked the supporter from the very bottom of our heart. We congratulated that shop manager who had explained so effectively what Clic Sargent does when asked.

And we were delighted to see a record-breaking 2048.58 per cent increase in year-on-year takings in Fishponds' weekly results. Take that Tesco!