Why attend Big4 Fundraising 2026?
Major Gifts, Grants, Gifts in Wills and Corporate Partnerships each require specialist knowledge, sound judgement and strong relationships.
Big4 gives fundraisers dedicated time to strengthen their practice, learn from others doing the work and identify practical improvements they can take back to their organisations.
Choose the stream, sessions and attendance option most relevant to your role.
Learning relevant to the work you do
Big4 provides dedicated learning across four specialist fundraising disciplines. Each stream focuses on the real questions, decisions and challenges involved in building and strengthening successful programs.
Develop your specialist knowledge
Explore prospect and opportunity identification, cultivation, stewardship, relationship management, pipelines and the organisational conditions that support effective fundraising.
Learn from experience
Hear how fundraisers and organisations are approaching their work, what they have learned and how their programs are evolving.
Turn learning into action
Return with practical ideas, approaches and next steps you can adapt to your organisation’s circumstances and priorities.
Connect with your peers
Meet fundraisers working in similar roles, compare approaches and build relationships with people who understand the opportunities and challenges of your work.
Value for your organisation
"I spent most of my time learning about major gifts and partnerships. I have lots of ideas for how I can improve our fundraising program"
James Atkinson
FUNDRAISING DIRECTOR, aUSTRALIAn YOUTH CLIMATE COALITION
Attending Big4 is an investment in both individual development and organisational capability.
The learning can help your organisation:
- Strengthen how it identifies and develops donors, funders and partners
- Improve cultivation, stewardship and relationship management
- Build stronger and more sustainable fundraising pipelines
- Learn from organisations developing and growing successful specialist programs
- Better understand the internal conditions that enable fundraisers to succeed
- Identify practical improvements and next steps that can be shared with colleagues
If several colleagues attend, Big4 can also provide a valuable opportunity to learn together, develop shared priorities and bring a broader range of ideas back to the organisation.
Choose how you attend
Take a deeper dive with a specialist masterclass, attend the conference day most relevant to your role or attend both conference days by purchasing a ticket for each day.
Masterclasses are purchased separately and can be attended on their own or added to a main conference registration.
F&P members receive 20% off conference registration prices.
make the case to attend big4
Professional development is easier to approve when the benefit to your role and organisation is clear.
Use the steps and manager-approval email below to explain why Big4 is relevant to your responsibilities, what you expect to learn, how your organisation will benefit and the full cost of attending.
Prepare your request
Before approaching your manager:
- Choose your stream, conference day and any masterclass you would like to attend
- Identify three sessions most relevant to your work
- Explain how the program relates to your responsibilities or an organisational priority
- Describe what you expect to learn and how you will apply it
- Explain how you will share useful learning with colleagues
- Calculate the registration fee, F&P member saving and any travel or accommodation costs
Manager-approval email
We’ve prepared an editable email template to help you explain the relevance of Big4, the learning you expect to gain and the full cost of attending.
Download the template, replace the bracketed sections with your details and send it to your manager.
Build stronger relationships. Grow support.
Join specialist fundraisers from across Australia at Big4 Fundraising 2026.
MAJOR GIFTS // grants // gifts in wills // corporate partnerships
Melbourne | 10–12 November 2026