FUNDRAISING & SUPPORTER EXPERIENCE, DONE THOUGHTFULLYHelping charities build fundraising that works — for them, and for the people who support them.Flourishing, by design.
Insight-led fundraising and supporter experience support for small charities and grassroots causes — grounded in why people give, stay, and come back.
See how I work →
Why "Verdantly"
Verdant means lush, green, flourishing — but the -ly is doing real work in this name. It turns a description into a way of doing something: not just a flourishing result, but a flourishing way of working to get there. Charities don't grow because someone pushes harder; they grow because the fundamentals — the relationships, the trust, the evidence behind every decision — are right, done thoughtfully rather than forced. Get those right, and growth follows naturally, the way healthy things do.
Why "insight-led" isn't just a tagline
Anyone can call their approach insight-led. Here's what it actually means when I use it.
Most fundraising advice starts with tactics: a better subject line, a smarter ask string, a slicker welcome email. Those things matter — but they're downstream of a bigger question that's easy to skip past: what actually makes someone choose to give, and choose to give again?
There's a growing body of evidence, from donor psychology and behavioural science, that giving isn't purely transactional. People give because it aligns with who they are, gives them a genuine sense of choice, and lets them feel they made a real difference. When a supporter feels that, they stay. When they don't, no amount of clever segmentation will keep them.
So before I build anything, I ask:
What is this supporter's actual experience of giving to you — not what we assume it feels like from the inside?
Where does the journey ask without ever thanking, thank too late, or treat every supporter the same regardless of what they've told you about themselves?
Is the ask, the channel, and the timing built around genuine choice — or built around what's easiest for us to send?
Only once I've got real answers to those do I start on strategy: fundraising audits, journey design, campaign planning, income diversification. The insight isn't a separate deliverable sitting in an appendix. It's the foundation everything else stands on.
It's also why the work doesn't start with a template. Two organisations with the same income target can need entirely different strategies, because their supporters are different people with different reasons for showing up. Evidence-led doesn't mean generic — it means specific to the people actually in your database.
What I do
Ways to work together — usually starting with the one that's causing the most immediate friction.
STRATEGY
Building a fundraising approach that genuinely fits where you are, not where a bigger charity might be.
Fundraising audits, strategy development, income diversification, evidence-led decision-making..
ENGAGEMENT
Making sure a supporter's actual experience of you — the welcome, the thank-you, what happens between gifts — matches how much they mean to you.
Mapping engagement journeys, improving onboarding and retention, building loyalty mechanics.
GROWTH
Growing your income and your supporter base together, at a pace and scale that's realistic for your organisation.
Revenue models, conversion improvement, sustainable growth planning
COMMUNICATIONS
Reaching the right people with the right message, so your cause resonates and grows.
Marketing strategy, messaging, tone of voice, campaign development.
Who I Work With
I work best with small-to-medium charities — typically income up to £1m — and with small, self-funded causes, including organisations that aren't formally registered charities, such as animal rescues, or that are structured as a CIC. The causes I know best are animal welfare, conservation and the environment, international development and overseas aid, emergency and disaster relief, health and mental health, and community organisations — because that's where I've built the deepest experience, and where my own interest genuinely runs. That's not a hard line. If your organisation sits outside those areas but the size and shape of the work feels right, I'd still love to hear from you.
How I work
Verdantly isn't just a name — the "-ly" is doing something. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Collaboratively
I work alongside your team, not above it — listening first, understanding what's already working, and building a joint plan that focuses on exploring what you need.
Curiously
Every recommendation starts with a real question about what actually drives your supporters' behaviour, not what we assume it is.
Practically
Strategy you can implement this quarter, with the team and budget you actually have — not a document written for a charity three times your size.
Rigorously
Grounded in real evidence on donor psychology and behaviour. If the evidence is thin or contested, I'll tell you that too, rather than pretending certainty that isn't there.
Steadily
Not a one-off report and a handshake. I stay close to the work — as an interim lead, a fractional partner, or just someone you can call when a decision needs a second pair of eyes.
About me
Verdantly is a consultancy for charities, nonprofits and other purpose-led organisations, drawing on 20+ years of sector experience across supporter experience, strategy, income growth, and marketing and communications. My Master's dissertation focused on experiential marketing and supporter experience, including building a supporter-experience measurement tool, and I hold a Certificate in Philanthropic Psychology with Distinction, MCIOF and MCIM memberships, and an IDM Award in GDPR (2018). I help teams understand what actually drives their supporters' behaviour, and turn that understanding into practical, evidence-based suggestions — covering fundraising, marketing, communications and supporter experience. I listen first, I tailor your support, I work alongside you — not hand down a plan.
Ready to explore what's possible?
If something here sounds like the conversation you've been meaning to have, let's have it.