Will Connolly

Consultant

Will is a specialist high value fundraiser, with expertise covering: partnership management, new partnership development, and corporate engagement; events management, programming & production; stakeholder management, strategy & business development; prospect research, development and proposition testing.

Will led the high value fundraising and business development teams at Anthony Nolan, Make-A-Wish UK, and Bond, where he developed multi-year strategies, grew multi-million pound income from corporate partners and events, and developed value propositions and pipelines of opportunities. At Nesta and The Alan Turing Institute, Will developed partnership development plans, commercial partnerships, and international partnerships.

Since 2011, Will has been supporting a wide mix of charities, NGOs, and social enterprises with their business development, corporate partnerships and high value fundraising, including working as an independent consultant at three COP summits (COP26, COP27, COP28). With Philanthropy Company, Will has worked within the fundraising team for the National Emergencies Trust, supporting the Coronavirus Appeal to raise over £80m. For the Coronavirus Appeal, Will personally secured £3m of new income from corporates and trusts, and managed key partnerships with NatWest (£10m), Barclays (£2m), Tesco, Co-op (£2m), BT (£1m), and HSBC, in 2020, with a total value of £18m+. Will has also worked on Philanthropy Company clients, Business in the Community, and UK National Parks (DEFRA).

Will’s voluntary work has included being a member of the Finance, Fundraising and Risk board committee for LGBT+ youth homelessness charity, akt (Albert Kennedy Trust); supporting an orphanage in Cambodia; an innovation lab for young people in Denmark; homeless and rough sleepers with Crisis at Christmas; and Stonewall’s Sports Summit.