The Liberal Democrats have received a £1m gift from one of Britain’s richest men, … Greg Nasmyth, whose family made its fortune from Argus Media, the energy information business… Mr Nasmyth is understood to have been motivated by the party’s position on the EU and also on green issues… Mr Nasmyth is an environmentalist and former journalist who has supported Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Shelter, Save the Children and other charities. [Financial Times]

This is a continuation of a very impressive fundraising track record, principally but not solely by Liberal Democrat HQ, which means that the party regularly raises as much from private donations as does the Labour Party. When you add in trade union money the totals become a different matter, of course, but that does show how well the party’s fundraisers have been doing for the last several years.

That said, there is still huge scope for the party to up its fundraising, especially at local party level, and to move to a more investment-focused approach to growing the party’s membership.

The total amount spent each year on investing in recruiting new members is tiny, for example, even though there is a clear net financial benefit from each extra new member, let alone the non-financial benefits. Limited measures have been hugely successful but they are just that, limited.

Of course, now I’m on the Federal Board also the party’s Federal Finance and Resources Committee, you can blame me in part if this doesn’t change…

UPDATE: