Fundraising strategy that starts from the inside out

“Great fundraising doesn’t start with searching for funders. It starts with a search for clarity. Right within your own organisation.”

I started Third Sector Funding to help NGOs build mission-led fundraising strategies that protect their people, their programmes and their reputation.

I’m a linguist by training which means I see fundraising a little bit like I see translation: I take what your Country Director in Nairobi or your programme team in Peru knows to be true and help your fundraisers make it legible to Trusts and Foundations.

But translation only works when there’s clarity. That’s why I don’t start with a funder list. I start with your organisation: your goals, your true costs, your community’s priorities and help make those goals legible to capital. I predominately work with UK-based internationally focused organisations and have worked on programmes focussing on health, education, sustainable agriculture, climate change, gender equality and biodiversity. 

Even in this difficult funding landscape, I am successfully helping organisations access funds for their vital work and assessing where improvements can be made.

“Hi Jaymie, we won the bid – our biggest win to date! Thanks for your help in that”

— Money for Madagascar, 2025

“Jaymie’s support was invaluable. She conducted a thorough fundraising audit for us, offering clear insights into what was working well and practical ideas for improvement.”

— Bats without Borders 2026

• Trust Fundraising Audit – An independent review of your funding strategy, positioning, pipeline and materials. We’ll have a free introductory call first, then I deliver a clear, walked-through set of recommendations covering your programme story, prospect list, income risk and cases for support. You’ll receive a written audit report with prioritised recommendations.

• Prospect research –I provide a set number of days to search for funders from my own and online databases, based on criteria we agree. You’ll receive a top prospects list and a tailored approach strategy for each donor, including Invite-Only funders.

• Full proposal management – If you already have donors in mind with set deadlines for bids, I can manage the process of creating the bid for you, including ensuring a budget, theory of change (if required), workplan and narrative are all in place and ´speaking to each other´. Importantly, I´ll ensure your bid meets the donor´s criteria. Ideally, I would work with your programme and finance teams to ensure the background details are in place and to iron out any issues and would then personally write the narrative myself.  This is where I shine, and whilst it´s tough, I´m great at turning technical, programmatic ´jargon´ into compelling content. Although, don´t take my word for it. See what my clients think here.

• Case for support creation – Something all charities ought to have! A Case for Support/Action is an internal document describing the need for funding and the proposed solution. It can help to inform so many external documents. Think meeting briefings for donors, written proposals for major donors, trusts and foundations, campaign content, website copy or key marketing/ PR messages. Organisations generally have more than one.  For example, they might have one covering the organisation-wide strategy and then create others from it for different elements of their work and/or stand alone projects they can then use as a template to present to funders. I love doing these, they allow me a little creative freedom to get your message across in the more effective way possible.

• Proposal review – If you´ve already done all the leg work and written your proposal and just want a fresh pair of eyes on your bid, I also provide this and it´s someting I really enjoy. I will review your concept note or full proposal (including logframe, theory of change, workplan and budget, as required) and provide comprehensive feedback on strengths and weaknesses and, most importantly, make recommendations to ensure it meets the donor´s requirements. If I were back charity-side, I´d definitely use this kind of service. An external and experienced point of view can be really invaluable when you´ve been looking at a document for too long and can take your proposal from ´great, but…´ to ´funded!´

• Grant management –  If you´re looking for longer term support for a bid you´ve won, I can provide grant management services for work such as narrative and financial reporting  and being the ´bridge´ between your programmatic and fundraising departments. A hat I´ve worn many times in my time charity-side.