Fundraising & Philanthropy Consultants
Our expertise, knowledge and professional experience means we can help you develop actionable and practical solutions across any of your key areas: annual program, major gifts and philanthropy, and gifts in wills and planned giving.
Our deep commitment to innovation means we bring to you the latest global insights and advice on how best to maintain your fundraising effectiveness in a rapidly changing digital environment.
Our Team
Lawrence Jackson
Managing Director
Lawrence Jackson is an experienced executive and management consultant specialising in strategy, general management, fundraising, philanthropy, social marketing and corporate social responsibility. He has undertaken consulting and/or management assignments over the last 20 years for over 80 organisations including University of Melbourne, National Heart Foundation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Vision Australia, University of Sydney, Multiple Sclerosis Limited, Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, Cochlear Ltd, Sydney Community Foundation,
Epilepsy Action Australia, Endocrinology and Diabetes Research Foundation (University of Sydney), Australian Graduate School of Management (University of NSW) and many more.
Previously he held full time executive roles including General Manager, Revenue & Brand, National Heart Foundation, Chief Executive Officer, NSW Jewish Communal Appeal, General Manager, Development, Benevolent Society of NSW and Funding Development Manager, Royal Blind Society of NSW.
He holds an MBA (Executive) from the Australian Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of NSW. He has also undertaken an international project in Not for Profit Marketing at the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA and a Certificate in Direct Marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).
He has also served as an adjunct member of faculty at the Australian Graduate School of Management where he has taught Marketing and Organisational Behaviour courses to MBA (Executive) students. He has also taught Marketing for the Arts and Sales and Marketing for Call Centre Managers for University of Technology and Macquarie Research Ltd respectively.
He is the founder of the Philanthrocrat user group for fundraising, social marketing and corporate social responsibility professionals and a member of the Industry Advisory Board, Centre for Business Analytics at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne.
He has also served as an arts producer, agent and consultant.
Nicholas Cochrane-Ng
Data Scientist
Nicholas is an experienced data analytics consultant who has worked in multiple different industries including retail, insurance, education and government.
He manages, oversees and helps deliver analytics projects for clients. The types of projects include machine learning, computer vision, business intelligence, robotic process automation and geospatial analysis.
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As the Lead Data Scientist at Dahlsens Building Centres, he worked with all the different departments in the business to help them extract the maximum amount of value from their data. Some projects included designing tools to measure the performance of their fleet, advising on the types of data to capture as the organisation moved to the cloud and using predictive analytics to optimise the inventory reorder system.
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As a Data Scientist at Lumi Interactive, he worked on projects to improve the experience of profitability of the video games they developed. This involved using external and game generated data to provide insights on customer lifetime value, activity based in-game offers and image classification for auto censorship.
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As a consultant at Ernst and Young, he worked with many clients with different levels of capabilities in data analytics. This allowed him to be involved in cutting edge projects while also having the skillset to communicate simply with less advanced businesses.
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Nicholas has Bachelor of Science in pure mathematics, a Masters of Business Analytics and a Diploma of Music in classical voice.
Barbara Brangan
Foundations & Trusts Specialist
Barbara is a specialist in creating and managing grants and she brings a depth of experience and success from 10+ years in for-purpose organisations within education, mental health and youth employment pathways, in both Australia and Ireland. She has a personal passion to empower charities and social enterprises to catapult to their next level of financial growth and impact.
Barbara was a founding member of the Partnerships Team with Raise Foundation and key contributor within a significant period of financial and geographic growth, with a focus within philanthropy, trusts and foundations. Prior to this, she supported the formation and delivery of cross-sectoral partnerships between schools, community organisations and businesses as a Partnerships Broker with the Business Education Network.
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She has also supported the growth of partnerships for Junior Achievement (Ireland), where she was responsible for engagement and account management of corporate partners such as KPMG, 3 Mobile, Vodafone and Accenture. She also possesses strong leadership and mentoring skills, through team management and peer-to-peer coaching.
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Barbara holds a BA with first-class honours BA in Business Studies from Dublin Business School and frequently undertakes professional development within the notfor-profit sector. Volunteering is a key passion of Barbara’s and each year she undertakes a commitment to volunteering which range from youth mentoring, President of Parent & Teachers Association for St Kevin’s Catholic School, pro-bono grant writing and mental health advocate.
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Duncan Knox
Senior Associate/Digital Fundraising Strategist
Duncan is the founder of the UK's largest provider of digital fundraising technology in education, introducing crowdfunding and giving days to the sector. His expertise has transcended borders, as he has provided strategic counsel to institutions worldwide, elevating their digital fundraising efforts to new heights.
Duncan's passion lies in empowering fundraising professionals to create impactful campaigns, making a real difference in the world. His commitment to enhancing community engagement led him to establish School Window, a cutting-edge mobile app that enables institutions to better connect with their communities through their existing digital content.
Duncan holds a Master's degree in Physics from the University of Oxford. With a keen eye for innovation, Duncan has made a significant mark in the world of digital fundraising and education technology.
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Vic Zacharias
Director, Focus Fundraising Consultants Partner firm
Vic is a Director of Focus Fundraising, a specialist Direct Marketing (DM) agency founded in 2008, and partner firm of Catalyst Management. Prior to Focus, Vic served in senior fundraising roles with Epilepsy Action Australia and Vision Australia/Royal Blind Society and helped deliver strong growth.
He has a passion for DM fundraising and is credited with the development and implementation of many award-winning DM campaigns (ADMA, CASE and FIA).
Vic served on the FIA NSW Committee for 5 years and also has presented at numerous events and conferences over the years, including the FIA International Conference.
He is a Fellow of FIA and holds BCom and MCom (Marketing) degrees from the University of Wollongong.
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Redina Kolaneci
Managing Director, Christian Fundraising Consultancy Ltd
As an international consultant, fundraising trend-spotter, trainer, and researcher Redina has helped hundreds of Christian fundraisers, marketers and church leaders in the UK, Europe, and Australia to sharpen their fundraising skills and to multiply their income.
She is the author of ‘Why Christians Give: Understanding the hearts and minds of the 21st century evangelical donors’ and of numerous articles and blog posts on effective communications and fundraising.
Redina is passionate about equipping Christian charities and churches to build lasting partnerships with their supporters and to develop fundraising strategies that combine best practices and knowledge derived from biblical principles and sound research.
Over the last 20 years, she has helped hundreds of Christian charities with strategic planning, creating integrated fundraising campaigns, major donor fundraising, and effective church partnerships.
Some of her past and present clients include Mercy Ships UK, Release International, Samaritan Purse UK, Africa Inland Mission Europe, Godzone Slovakia, Church Mission Society Australia, FEBA UK, Operation Mobilisation USA, Derek Prince Ministries, TWR International, and many others.
In addition to consulting, she enjoys training and supporting Christian ministry leaders and fundraisers who want to build their fundraising on strong biblical foundations.
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Natalie Treisman
Executive Assistant
Natalie is an administrative professional with 30+ years’ experience providing executive support predominantly in the software industry. Highly-organised and detail-oriented, with a proven ability to manage business office functions, provide board and C-Suite support, and facilitate smooth operations and successful project deliverables. Natalie thrives on diverse challenges.
As a new challenge, Natalie is bringing her finely tuned liaison and communications skills to the events space within the fundraising and philanthropy sphere.
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