Why I set up PartnershipBee
I’ve been in fundraising roles where I’ve had to start with a completely blank page. For me, this was an exciting prospect. I had the freedom to explore new ideas. But this also comes with the pressure of figuring out the right direction to take. I’ve also been in roles where team structures and ways of working were bedded in well. With the comfort of this came a different pressure - working out what to keep doing and how to innovate.
Those two examples taught me that fundraising looks different everywhere but the pressure feels the same.
What made the biggest difference in my own development as a fundraiser was the support I received people who had been there before. People who helped me see things from new perspectives, who encouraged me to be curious. They showed me that fundraising isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about understanding people and working with what you already have.
That learning has really stuck with me and it’s exactly what I want to offer charities now.
Over the past six months, I’ve been listening closely to people in different roles across different sectors – from business owners to charity leaders. I’ve heard the same challenges time and again - limited resource, rising expectations, and the constant feeling of trying to “catch up” with fundraising. Sadly, nothing is going to change. These difficult times are not going away.
Charity leaders very often don’t have the luxuries of time and capacity to step back and think about doing things differently. Their priority is doing the incredible work they do to support people with their essential services every day.
Out of many valuable insights shared with me, one thing came through loud and clear. Funders need to know that the organisations they support are sustainable. They want reassurance that their investment is part of a wider, resilient income mix — not the single thread holding everything together. And diversifying income through partnerships is one of the clearest signals of that commitment. It shows that a charity is building relationships, thinking long-term, and creating multiple routes to impact.
That’s why I created PartnershipBee. Not to add more noise but to bring clarity. Not to reinvent everything, but to help charities make the most of what they already have.
Fundraising can feel overwhelming but at its core it’s about people. What do they care about, what motivates them and how what your charity does connect with their values. Whether someone works in a corporate business, a community group, a trust, or a local business, the basics are the same.
Relationships are built on purpose, understanding and shared belief in the change you’re trying to make. Folk are folk, after all.
This is where partnerships become a powerful way to crack the fundraising nut. Not as a siloed income stream relating to particular activities. It’s a mindset. Partnerships help charities shift from “we need money” to “what problem are we trying to solve, and who might want to solve it with us, and how?
This new mindset opens doors. It brings confidence. It turns fundraising from a reactive task into a strategic, people‑centred approach — and it strengthens the sustainability story that funders are looking for.
With PartnershipBee, I help charities map their opportunities, understand their communities and see their strengths clearly. My love of design helps me turn complexity into something clear and manageable — mapping relationships, challenges and opportunities so teams can see where they are, where they could go, and how to get there. Often the biggest breakthroughs come not from huge leaps but from seeing familiar things in a new way.
My new business model is being shaped around the needs of the charities I work with — flexible, accessible and designed to help them at the stage they're at right now.
If you’d like to explore how this approach could support your organisation, I’d be delighted to arrange a discovery meeting and talk through what sustainable, relationship‑centred fundraising could look like for you.