Supporter Experience Special Interest Group

Steven is an experienced researcher and communication strategist with 25 years in the field, the last 15 of which have been working primarily with charities in the UK, Europe and Australia.

Prior to Beautiful Insights, he worked extensively in communication agencies, helping guide the development of successful campaigns and brands. Central to this role was understanding the use of research in the creative and innovation process, and how brands can build strong emotional connections with audiences. He also worked client-side, with senior fundraising roles in Australia and the UK.

Sean Bishop is Deputy Chair of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Supporter Experience Special Interest Group. He has over 20 years’ experience across the charity sector, specialising in supporter experience, insight, data and operations. He has held senior leadership and interim roles, leading multidisciplinary teams and helping organisations strengthen supporter journeys, engagement and operational effectiveness. Sean is passionate about putting supporters at the heart of decision-making, using insight and collaboration to create meaningful experiences that build long-term relationships. He also runs Connect & Deliver, providing consultancy and strategic support to charities and purpose-led organisations.

Nicola Fickling has worked in the charity sector throughout her career, spanning health, international development, environmental and membership organisations. Today, she is Head of Supporter Experience at the Ramblers, leading teams responsible for supporter recruitment, retention, supporter journeys and supporter care.

Outside of her role at the Ramblers, Nic is a trustee at MedicAlert, where she is helping the charity take some of its first steps into fundraising.

Nic is the Communications Lead and Co-Social Media Lead for the CIOF Supporter Experience SIG. If you've received one of the group's emails or seen a LinkedIn post, there's a good chance she has played a role in creating it.

Nic's interest in supporter experience began with Ken Burnett's Relationship Fundraising and was further developed through Lisa Sargent's Thank You Clinic. She is passionate about helping charities build meaningful connections between supporters and the causes they care about most.

Debra Chand, MBA CIPR, is Senior Supporter Experience Advisor with The Leprosy Mission Great Britain, a global development charity supporting people affected by leprosy. Debra has served in a range of fundraising, communication and services roles in the not-for-profit sector, and as a trustee. She currently leads on the charity’s thanking and supporter insight initiatives. Debra says: “Our brilliant, kind supporters are so inspiring that it’s a joy show just how appreciated they are.”

Working as the Supporter Engagement Manager at Yorkshire Cancer Research, Rebecca is passionate about ensuring supporters are at the heart of the charity’s decision-making. Rebecca plays a key role in embedding a supporter-centric approach, ensuring supporter experience considerations are reflected across multiple touchpoints and throughout the supporter journey. With over five years’ experience in the charity sector, Rebecca is driven by the hope of positive change and inspired by the kindness and generosity of supporters. She is committed to sharing the impact of that generosity, helping supporters understand how their support contributes to life-saving research and advances the charity’s mission.

Leigh is a senior fundraising and supporter experience leader with over 10 years’ experience across individual giving, retention, stewardship and supporter engagement. At Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, she leads a portfolio of more than 320,000 regular giving and lottery supporters and is currently on secondment, leading work to develop the charity’s approach to supporter journeys and experience. She is particularly interested in audience-led strategy, behavioural insight, loyalty and lifetime value, and how organisations can embed great supporter experience across teams, systems and culture. Leigh is passionate about sharing learning across the sector and creating experiences that build stronger, longer-lasting supporter relationships.

David is a fundraising leader and generalist fundraiser with over a decade of experience across the charity and hospice sector. His experience spans major donors, corporate fundraising, individual giving, appeals, events, digital fundraising and supporter experience.

He is passionate about developing sustainable income, building strong supporter relationships and creating collaborative, high-performing teams. David holds the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Advanced International Diploma in Fundraising (MCIOF AdvDip) and is passionate about sharing knowledge and developing the next generation of fundraisers.

James Davies-Hale is Head of Supporter Experience and Fundraising Operations at Tŷ Hafan Children's Hospice. Having spent much of his career working in fundraising events and supporter engagement, he is passionate about understanding and improving every stage of the supporter journey. James combines operational expertise with a supporter-first mindset to build lasting relationships, deliver excellent experiences, and support sustainable fundraising growth.

Working as the Senior Partnerships Executive for The Leprosy Mission, Sarah is passionate about ensuring supporters have an incredible time as an integral part of The Leprosy Mission family. With over 20 years working in the retail sector, predominately within customer service leadership roles, she can use this wealth of experience (and a bucketful of enthusiasm) to help connect our family members to people affected by leprosy. She loves showing them how they are transforming lives through their kindness, love and generosity. 

Sam is the founder of Verdantly, a supporter insight and experience practice working with grassroots to medium-sized charities across animal welfare, conservation, health and international development. Her 20+ years span large and small organisations, and international and local causes, across individual giving, supporter care, and marketing and communications. Her MSc dissertation explored experiential marketing and supporter experience, including building her own supporter-experience measurement tool, which still underpins her work today. Sam joined the Supporter Experience committee to help champion practice that treats supporters as people first.

Charlotte has worked in the charity sector since 2023, after many years of working within customer service in various industries. She is currently the supporter relations and engagement manager for Moorfields Eye Charity, supporting on stewardship across a wide range of supporter audiences. Charlotte is the social media co-lead for the supporter experience committee. 

Amanda is Senior Marketing Manager at UNICEF UK, where she is the current Loyalty Portfolio Lead, leading on automated, multi-channel supporter journeys. She brings 15 years of end-to-end marketing experience across the charity sector to the role, with a particular focus on getting supporter experience right. Amanda holds qualifications in marketing and is currently pursuing a CMI Level 5 in Leading Human-AI Teams.

Amanda recently joined the Supporter Experience SIG as Treasurer. She’s excited to get involved, deepen her own understanding of supporter experience, learn from the wider sector, and share what she’s learned working across loyalty programmes along the way.

Originally from the Åland Islands (Finland), Amanda now lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Phil recently joined Alzheimer’s Research UK as Head of Supporter Experience based in Cambridge. He has held a range of direct marketing, strategy, leadership and innovation roles.

Phil is leading on Innovation within this Special Interest Group.

Margaret joined The Leprosy Mission Great Britain in September 2023 as a Supporter Experience Advisor, and this was her first job in the charity sector. Her focus is on developing and supporting the regular giving programme. Before moving into the charity sector, Margaret built her career in the fresh produce and horticulture industry, working with businesses supplying fresh food, plants and cut flowers to major UK retailers.

Although new to the charity sector, The Leprosy Mission is a natural fit for me as its work aligns with my passion. Motivated by a desire to make a positive difference, I am inspired by the organisation's work with some of the world's most vulnerable communities. I am passionate about helping supporters feel valued, connected and informed about the life-changing impact of their generosity.

Edward is a Senior Marketing Manager in Mid-Value & Legacies at Save the Children UK. Over 20 years he has worked at a variety of causes centred around children, disability and international development in fundraising and communications roles, and holds a Diploma in Fundraising from the CIOF.