Your data tells the story

The Benchmarking Project is a respected source of truth in the charitable fundraising sector. We aim to simplify and humanise data for Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand fundraisers.

Fi McPhee, Peter Coleman, Paul Tavatgis and Adam Watson have teamed up to bring charities, agencies and peak bodies the data and insights they need to make the best possible fundraising decisions.

We help fundraisers, fundraising leaders and their boards make informed decisions and uplift their programs. We do this by providing data-driven knowledge, practical guidance, and community support. We are also supported by fundraising experts who offer valuable thought leadership and know-how to our members.

The Benchmarking Project benchmarks transactional fundraising data from 50+ charities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. We run this data through hundreds of metrics to identify trends. We use this data to formulate a wide range of fundraising insights, from the macro down to the micro. We share these insights with our community through reporting, forums, workshops, and articles.

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Our Pillars

The 4 pillars of
The Benchmarking Project

We understand that charity fundraisers need trustworthy information to make good decisions. The Benchmarking Project will provide the data, detailed insights, practical know-how and forum for discussion, through our four pillars:

Data

We will provide comprehensive analysis of all key areas of fundraising with a deep dive into regular giving, and create a single set of terms to describe donor retention.

Community

We will bring the sector regular opportunities to discuss the data behind the programs with all those responsible for them and the industry’s experts.

Insights

We aim to provide fundraisers in Australia & New Zealand access to standardised data-driven insight about the performance of their fundraising programs.

Decisions

We will give boards & fundraising leaders access to the right information to govern their fundraising programs, and managers the information needed to improve their programs.

Advisory Panel 2024

We are nothing without our people, their experience and their expertise.
The Benchmarking Project has built a panel of some of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s most talented fundraisers, who each bring their own perspective on what insights fundraisers like you need to drive your most successful fundraising campaigns.

Lisa Allan

Head of Marketing
The Smith Family

Lisa is a direct marketing professional with over 25 years of experience. Currently the Head of Marketing at The Smith Family,

Lisa is responsible for leading the overall strategic direction, development and management of their individual giving portfolio.

Over the course of her not-for-profit career she has led teams that have raised more than $520m from the Australian public.

Katie Hart

Philanthropy & Communications Director
Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand

Katie has over 20 years’ experience as a fundraising & marketing professional for not-for-profits across the UK, Australia and NZ. She’s played a key role in the strategic development and growth of many high-profile charities, including The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia and Amnesty International in Australia and the UK.

Katie joined Orange Sky New Zealand in August 2021, to help build a sustainable future and long-lasting, meaningful relationships with their supporters, as the services and awareness of their work continues to grow in Aotearoa.

Sean Triner

Founder
Moceanic

A professional speaker, philanthropist, and published author, Sean knows it’s the hard work and dedication of nonprofits like yours that can make that good happen.

He has a vision to train every nonprofit in the world to be superstar fundraisers.

Together we could change the world. They co-created Moceanic to train, empower, support and embolden a worldwide “tribe” of fantastic fundraisers. People like you.

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Your data tells the story