Fundraiser of the Year

Howard Lake | 5 July 2007 | Blogs

For the fundraiser who, in the view of their peers, has shown consistent excellence and best practice in achieving high-quality fundraising through either their own efforts or their vision and strategy.
The shortlisted nominees are, in alphabetical order
Nikki Betts
Head of national events, Clic Sargent
Nikki joined Clic Sargent two years ago, and has grown the national events department income by 453 per cent, from £650,000 to £3.6m.
Proposer Clare Gallie, head of fundraising UK at Clic Sargent, says of Nikki: ‘her vision, strategy and leadership have inspired the creation of new successful events, which have been grown year on year. She has seized opportunities to develop income streams through add-on activities such as the sale of merchandise, which has led to an additional £100,000 being raised for the organisation.’ Nikki has also used the media successfully.
She is willing to take risks and try new tings and has paved the way for the introduction of two new challenge events. Her team now has more volunteer support than ever before and she sets an example in the sector to which others aspire.
Joanne Dunsford
Corporate account manager – Tesco Charity of the Year, Whizz-Kidz
Joanne came to Whizz-Kidz to assemble and deliver the charity’s 2006 partnership with Tesco. She prepared a fundraising programme that challenged Tesco convention and led to Whizz-Kidz raising a campaign total of £2,650,000, against a target of £1.5m.
She developed a strategic planning approach to maximise the Tesco communication system, built relationships with Tesco communications team and accessed all parts of the business including Tesco Distribution. She ‘revolutionised’ the Tesco Collection process from Express stores, leading to the establishment of a new banking system. Cause related marketing initiatives raised £500,000.
She managed a dedicated project team of three full-time executives and two part-time staff who worked on the national collection. Her proposer, director of fundraising Steve Crump, says she is one of the fundraising community’s most effective practitioners. From her work on the Tesco partnership, Whizz-Kidz has cleared its waiting list of 391 disabled children who needed mobility equipment.
Andy Harris
Head of regional fundraising, Sue Ryder Care
Andy successfully leads a team of over 70 people. Over the course of 12 months revenue has increased from £2m to £4.9m with business practices and profitability improving at the same time.
Described as ‘an enthusiast and super-professional’, Andy is committed to providing his team with the resources, training and leadership that lead to excellence. He leads by example, consistently striving for perfection.  He has proved to be ‘wise and intuitive’ with his recruitment, finding people with talent and experience to interlace their skills with the existing workforce.
Director of fundraising Eric Grounds says: ‘I cannot commend this man highly enough. He is an inspiration and will one day become the director of fundraising of a Top 10 charity.’

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.