Louise has been working in the nonprofit sector for more than 15 years. Louise joined The Smith Family in 2018 working on their Direct Marketing Campaigns and Community Fundraising before stepping into a leadership role overseeing their mass marketing campaigns. As Fundraising Manager for Caritas Australia Louise oversaw the full suite of fundraising activity including the annual Project Compassion campaign. Prior to that she led the Events Team and Community Fundraising Team at Cancer Council NSW. Before joining the not-for-profit sector, Louise worked in design and marketing for some of Australia’s most iconic brands including Speedo and Bonds.

“There’s never been a more crucial time to sharpen our insights and explore where potential lay and what growth levers we can maximise. The depth of analysis that The Benchmarking Project is able to produce goes from strength to strength, and the next year will be no different.”

Louise’s LinkedIn Profile

With 20 years’ experience in fundraising, Tom is passionate about using data to inform strategy and innovation in fundraising. Having started as a face to face fundraiser, he is has worked for environmental, health and development organisations. He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and sits on the board of Climate Action Network Australia.

Tom is Head of Fundraising at MSF Australia and New Zealand. He is responsible for raising $100m each year from Philanthropy, Gifts in Wills, Corporate Giving, Regular and Cash Giving.

Tom’s LinkedIn Profile

Maisa is a “Geek Adventurer” as comfortable leaping over scalding volcanic streams as she is navigating algorithmic optimisation for social good. Born in Brazil and a Sydney local since 2003, she has spent 15 years at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA), now as the Head of Digital Fundraising, where she has worked with teams to raise over A$525M for people with disabilities.

Maisa is a leading voice on “people-led AI,” tinkering with technology and data as collaborative forces to augment human capability. A 2023 nominated FIA Fellow, Benchmarking Project Advisory Committee member, and an Advisory Committee Member to the Board for Bush Heritage Australia, she is dedicated to sector-wide knowledge sharing through her contributions nationally and internationally via FIA, F&P and the Resource Alliance.

When the laptop closes, Maisa believes balance is everything, finding it in early morning long-runs, Manly swims, or weekend cocktails in Newtown. She manages a lively “stakeholder group” including her 9-year-old daughter Alice, 12-year-old Jimi (the Ragdoll), and two 90-day-old bunny “grandchildren,” Oreo and Caramel. All while maintaining her status as a proudly Clumsy Baker.”

“Benchmarking is our collective map for innovation. I like the challenge to explore how we can expand our view of data from transactional performance tracking to a blueprint of our relationships with donors, supporter, and beneficiaries. As AI rapidly evolves, I’m want to see benchmarking data becoming more of collaborative force to turn insights into always evolving supporter-centric journeys and impact products to augment charities missions and achieve lasting positive change, together. I’m optimistic and excited about the future!”

Maisa’s LinkedIn Profile

Sara Lefkovic is the Senior Manager, Fundraising and Supporter Services at The Lost Dogs’ Home where she leads their mass-market fundraising, supporter engagement, and database teams. With a background in direct marketing across commercial and not-for-profit sectors, Sara is a passionate fundraiser, who loves data & analytics and taking a donor-insight led approach to fundraising. There’s nothing that Sara loves more than connecting supporters with the causes they care most about.

Sara’s LinkedIn Profile

Rachael is a career fundraiser with 15+ years’ experience across leading charities in Australia and the UK. As Head of Supporter Mobilisation at WWF‑Australia, she is obsessed with enhancing the supporter experience and leads innovative, data‑led approaches to inspire supporters to act for nature. She is co-founder of the Australian Philanthropy Network and recognised as a Fellow of the Fundraising Institute of Australia.

As a self-confessed data nerd and champion of sector collaboration, Rachael is an advocate for benchmarking.

“I’m most looking forward to the forum discussions and case studies from other sectors. As much as I love diving into our Power BI dashboards (and I really do!), it’s the shared stories that bring the data to life, translating strategy into real-world results.”

Rachael’s LinkedIn 

Ally has 17 years’ experience in purpose-driven organisations leading fundraising and operational teams to grow fundraising and impact. She loves data, especially visualisation and data-related puns, and has been a passionate advocate of The Benchmarking Project since its inception. 

Ally holds an MBA (Social Impact) and a MA (Communications Management); and as well as her day job as Head of Fundraising at World Animal Protection ANZ, she sits on the boards of For Wild Places and Rouser Inc. 

If you want to hear all the reasons I love benchmarking, please read my article here!

Ally’s LinkedIn Profile

Katie joined The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ as their Philanthropy and Communications Director in January 2024, coming on board with over 23 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector.

She has built a career in fundraising & marketing through her work with not-for-profits across the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and has played a pivotal role in the strategic development and growth of many high-profile charities.

This includes over eight years at The Fred Hollows Foundation Australia and for Amnesty International in both Australia and the UK. Katie has experience across the many disciplines of fundraising and is passionate about building successful and sustainable programs with a diverse fundraising and marketing mix. She has built small organisations from the ground up, as well as managing established multi-million dollar programs.

Katie’s LinkedIn Profile

Cath’s LinkedIn Profile

Tim has a passion for harnessing the power of data to enhance fundraising practices. For the last eight years he has worked with Australia for UNHCR and has helped the organisation improve its fundraising outcomes through the power of data, having previously gained experience within the financial sector.

Tim’s LinkedIn Profile

Greg has worked in the NFP sector since 1987 and has gained experience in almost every market in the world.

He is a member of the Board of Aotearoa for UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and FINZ (Fundraising Institute NZ) and is currently the National Manager Fundraising for IHC New Zealand in Wellington.

Greg’s LinkedIn Profile

Linda leads Mission Australia’s fundraising and marketing data, insights, and analytics team whose role is to educate, support and challenge strategy and decision making with the common goal of working towards ending homelessness in Australia.

She is a strategic and visionary thinker with over 30 years of diverse industry experience, from clinical trial data entry and validation reporting in the pharmaceutical industry to working with client, marketing and sales analytics, eCommerce and subscription product data, insights, and reporting in the financial and professional services industries, as well as leading marketing teams.

“I value the benchmarking project because it shows how powerful our sector is when we learn from each other. Openly sharing perspectives, seeing how we’re tracking, and learning from peers helps my team deliver clearer, more meaningful insights to our fundraisers—supporting better decisions and greater impact for everyone.”

Linda’s LinkedIn Profile

Over 25 years’ experience as a professional fundraising and marketing manager and leader within the charity sector in the UK, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific.

Career goal is to use the skills, knowledge and expertise I have gained from my senior leadership roles in fundraising and marketing management to directly grow the income, profile and success of world leading charitable and philanthropic organisations.

“One of the things I value most about The Benchmarking Project is not just the data, but the shared learning it enables across the sector. By turning complex data into practical insights, it provides a collaborative forum where fundraisers can learn what’s working, what’s not and help raise the bar together.”

Steve’s LinkedIn Profile

Prior to Donor Republic, Andrew led Guide Dogs SA/NT to experience significant fundraising growth from $1m to $9m over seven years. Andrew also led and launched a social enterprise by building a Guide Dogs Pet Hotel at the Adelaide Airport. Due to his leadership in fundraising, he chaired the Guide Dogs Australia Fundraising Committee where annual income grew from $53m to $87m.

Andrew is a past national winner of the Fundraising Institute of Australia’s Young Fundraiser of the year award, a Pro Bono Change Maker and an F&P Mover and Shaker. He is now Co-Founder and Director of Donor Republic, one of Australia’s leading Fundraising agencies with a team of over 50 amazing fundraisers partnering with over 120 NFPs.

Andrew’s LinkedIn Profile

Jonathan is a 25-year veteran of direct marketing and fundraising. Currently Senior Manager, Fundraising at Uniting Vic & Tas, he is responsible for developing the fundraising strategy across all channels and leading the fundraising team that delivers it.

He loves a data driven and story led approach toward raising funds, and always has an eye for innovation.

Jonathan’s LinkedIn Profile

Sean Triner is a professional speaker, philanthropist, and published author with a passion for empowering charities through data-driven fundraising. As the founder of Australia’s first charity data benchmarking project, Sean understands the transformative power of data in unlocking growth and impact.

He co-created Moceanic with a vision to train, support, and inspire fundraisers worldwide to become extraordinary changemakers. With decades of experience and a commitment to helping nonprofits thrive, Sean believes in the potential of data and benchmarking to fuel meaningful change. Together, we can harness these tools to transform fundraising and create a better world.

Sean’s LinkedIn Profile

Christina’s LinkedIn Profile

John’s fundraising career began as a community organiser at the Australian Red Cross over 25 years ago.  Since then John has also held fundraising roles including at Amnesty International Australia and as the Director of Fundraising at Médecins Sans Frontières Australia. After a stint as Executive Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Bush Heritage Australia, he joined Plan International from 2017 to 2021as Director of Fundraising.  

John was also Director of the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association From 2014 to 2023, was chair from 2014 to 2018, and currently sits on the Audit Finance and Risk Committee of the Emergency Action Alliance. He has worked with Marlin Communications and currently at the North Melbourne Football Club. In 2025 John joined with Paul Tavatgis to form the specialised consultancy, Really Good Regular Giving. 

John’s LinkedIn

Karl started Marlin with a mission; to use advertising and communications to impact the way that our society behaves. It was a very deliberate choice that he and Dan made to only work with charities and cause-driven organisations: organisations that served a truer and more worthy purpose.

Inspired by Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Karl’s worldview was shaped by the belief that people need something greater than themselves to fight for. Disillusioned during his business studies, this idea became a personal turning point—driving his decision to found Marlin Communications.

Karl has deliberately built an agency dedicated to cause-driven organisations, believing that both his team and clients have the power—and responsibility—to inspire meaningful change. For Karl, Marlin is more than a workplace; it’s a shared idea, a purpose-led community, and a privilege to be part of.

Today, he often looks around and is truly humbled by those that have been similarly attracted by that choice.

Karl’s LinkedIn