Ten fundraisers you should know about

As you all loved our ten charity digital people you should know about, we thought we’d share ten fundraisers you should put on your radar too. Ok, we’ve cheated a bit in that there is one couple, so here are (technically) eleven fundraisers you should know about! This is the second in our three-part series.

Lesley Pinder and Lucy Caldicott

Lesley is Head of Supporter Experience at British Red Cross and Lucy is CEO of UpRising. Together they run the hugely popular Fundraising Chat Facebook group, which has over 7,000 members from around the world. With decades of fundraising experience between them, they are the perfect pair to help connect fundraisers and facilitate discussion. Twitter: @Skipinder and @LucyCaldicott

Nikki Bell

Nikki is the Fundraising Relationship Manager at British Heart Foundation and recently completed a secondment within the charity to work on their brand refresh as the Fundraising Brand Campaign Project Manager, where she learned a bunch of new skills. Nikki also helps organise the annual conference for the Institute of Fundraising’s North East group and spoke at this year’s Fundraising Convention. When she’s not speaking about all things fundraising, she’s writing about the subject on her blog. Twitter: @CharityNikki

Joe Jenkins

Chair of the Institute of Fundraising’s Fundraising Convention, Rogare Fellow and Trustee at Refugee Action, Joe is one busy fundraiser – and that’s just his voluntary roles! In his day job, Joe is Director of Supporter Impact and Income at Children’s Society and was voted number 13 in this year’s 25 Most Influential Fundraisers list by Civil Society (nominated and voted by peers). Twitter: @MrJoeJenkins

Meredith Niles

Meredith began her career working in investment banking for Goldman Sachs and then moved into the charity sector by working for a venture philanthropy funder. When the fund successfully closed, Meredith moved to Marie Curie UK where she started as Head of Innovation in 2013 and is now their Executive Director of Fundraising and Engagement. Meredith is, like Joe Jenkins, a Fellow of Rogare, the fundraising think tank, and serves on the Institute of Fundraising Standards Advisory Board. She also holds numerous trustee positions. Twitter: @MeredithNiles

Liz Tait

Liz has been Director of Fundraising at Battersea since 2010 where she has transformed fundraising. A quick look at their accounts shows that the charity has doubled their income from 2012 and with the recent rebrand, is likely to go from strength to strength. Liz is also a trustee of the Institute of Fundraising and Chair of their Standards Advisory Board and always generous with her knowledge and expertise. Liz was voted in 6th place in the 25 Most Influential Fundraisers list. Twitter: @LizTait

Marcus Missen

With over 20 years’ experience developing successful communications and fundraising within UK and international charities, Marcus is the Director of Communications and Fundraising at Wateraid and has a global remit. Prior to working at Wateraid, Marcus was Head of Strategy at NSPCC and Head of Donor Development at British Heart Foundation. In the last four years alone, Wateraid’s income has increased by around £15 million. Twitter: @MarcusJEM

Tufail Hussain

Tufail is the Deputy Director of Islamic Relief UK and was previously CEO of Orphans in Need. He has contributed to shaping the organisation’s new 5 year strategy with a particular focus on fundraising. In February 2017, the charity ran an emergency appeal using WhatsApp and raised £180,000 – a lot in part to Tufail’s focus on developing closer connections with 15 key donors, and moving their communication to more digital and informal channels, like Facebook and WhatsApp. Read the whole case study of the WhatsApp fundraising campaign on SOFII. Twitter: @TufailH

Paul Stein

Paul is the Director of Fundraising and Engagement at MQ: Transforming Mental Health where he has worked for the last four years. Paul has many years’ experience of fundraising at charities of various sizes, including seven years at World Jewish Relief. He has consistently exceeded budgetary targets, raising up to £5.5m annually and was voted amongst the top 50 most influential UK fundraisers.

Danielle Atkinson

Danielle is the Head of Individual Giving at Plan UK and Chair of the IoF’s Policy Advisory Board. She’s an active member of Fundraising Chat where she’s always happy to give advice and share her knowledge. As you can see, she’s also not afraid to be vocal and stand up for fundraisers everywhere. Danielle was voted in 20th place in the 25 Most Influential Fundraisers list. Twitter: @RoxyMartinique

Susie Green

Susie is the CEO of Mermaids, a charity which supports transgender and gender non-conforming youth in the UK. The charity doesn’t have a paid fundraiser but from 2016 to 2017, they increased their income by around 50% thanks to Susie’s strong leadership – even in the face of harassment from a certain newspaper. The charity continues to go from strength to strength. Twitter: @Green_Susie100

Which fundraisers do you think we should know about? Tweet us at @Lightful