John Grain Email and Phone Number

I have over 30 years experience in the voluntary sector, holding senior leadership positions with Oxfam, Practical Action and Habitat for Humanity International, prior to founding John Grain Associates (JGA) in 2004. JGA is a specialist fundraising and management consultancy working with hundreds of causes large and small including Diabetes UK, WWF, Christian Aid, Compassion UK, Alzheimer's Society, London Air Ambulance, Which, the Macular Society, British Hen Welfare Trust and many others. In 2017 JGA launched The Secret Giver, a leading mystery shopping and benchmarking programme for charities.In June 2023 I was privileged to join Child Bereavement UK as their new Director of Fundraising.From May 2019 to June 2023 I was the Executive Director of the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation (CWGF), leading the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's educational charity. The CWGF engages young people and the wider community in the story of our common sacrifice and tells the stories of the 1.7 million people the CWGC commemorates. In this time the charity has grown substantially funding volunteer programmes that now have over 2,000 active participants as well as other outreach projects.I have experience in strategic development, governance, and business development and particular fundraising expertise in individual giving and donor retention, legacies, major giving, and events. I am keenly interested in creativity and innovation within the sector as well as organisational culture and values.Over the past ten years I have held long-term senior interim leadership roles including CEO and Director of Fundraising & Communications at a range of organisations including Shine, Humanity & inclusion, Y Care International, Mission Aviation Fellowship and League Against Cruel Sports.I am committed to supporting the voluntary sector and led the Thanking and Welcoming Project for the Commission on the Donor Experience following the Etherington Report and I am currently the Vice Chair of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising's Supporter Experience Group and a qualified End Point Assessor for the Fundraising Apprentice Awards. I am a former Trustee of both Addaction (now We Are With You) and the overseas development charity APT Enterprise.Specialties: Strategy, management, governance, business development, budgeting & forecasting, marketing and brand, donor acquisition, donor development, stewardship, market research, legacies, major giving, events, creativity and innovation, training and mentoring.