Consultancy Services
Jenni made an outstanding contribution to the successful redevelopment of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, a project of immense importance to Whanganui and to New Zealand’s cultural landscape.
Over many years she provided strategic leadership for the gallery’s revenue generation and fundraising campaign. Jenni played a central role in securing more than $57 million for the project, bringing together central government investment, lottery funding, philanthropy, and strong community support. Her work included major funding applications, stakeholder engagement across the country, and strategic advice to both the Council and the Sarjeant Gallery Trust.
Throughout the life of the project, Jenni was also an on-call resource for the project team, providing practical, strategic fundraising advice whenever it was needed and helping both the Trust and the Council navigate key decisions and opportunities.
The result is a beautifully restored and expanded gallery that will serve our community and visitors for generations to come. Jenni’s professionalism, commitment, and ability to build confidence among funders were instrumental in making this landmark project a reality for Whanganui.
Aktive recently engaged Jenni Giblin to undertake a webinar for our sector on how to successfully apply for Lotteries funding. This has been recognised as an ongoing issue in Tāmaki Makaurau, and as such, Jenni’s ability to lift the veil on the process, and provide clear and precise detail around what information was being sought by the Lotteries Grant Board, was immensely valuable. Jenni has a thorough understanding of the process and what is required to achieve successful outcomes. This is amply demonstrated by her incredible success in securing over $165 million of funding for projects across Aotearoa over the last 16 years. The webinar was attended by over 50 people, and the feedback received has been wholly positive. The webinar has connected Aktive to a number of community organisations seeking project funding.
Jenni is an excellent presenter—she operates in a friendly and highly professional manner, while using accessible language and is a pleasure to work with. I am confident that this webinar, and the associated tool kit, is a game changer for sport and active recreation organisations in Tāmaki Makaurau. Through this work, we are moving towards finding new much-needed funding for facilities. Aktive is currently considering how we continue to work with Jenni on future projects and I look forward to these opportunities.
The New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust was lucky to have secured Jenni’s talents. Her understanding of the project, and from a very early stage her belief that a $15M target was doable gave us confidence.
There were many challenges along the way and she handled these with flair and determination. Fundraising always looks easy from the outside, but Jenni’s ability to have a clear view of the way ahead despite the hurdles, she showed us the sheer professionalism of the role and that helped us sustain a level of confidence so needed at critical times. Equally important to give confidence to our donors, even through a global pandemic when many felt their future was shaken, which gave us strength when necessary. Jenni kept our donors enthusiastic about our aspirations and our donors all appreciated her relationship skills.
Coaching Memberships
Premier Coaching Membership
Jenni has been an invaluable part of the Whale Trail project, working alongside our Trust and project team to strengthen the fundraising approach and build momentum with key partners.
She developed a comprehensive Revenue Generation Strategy and has provided ongoing weekly support to the Trust, focusing on philanthropic and corporate opportunities. This has included shaping partnership benefits and acknowledgement, advising on stewardship approaches, supporting stakeholder engagement, and providing practical guidance on Deeds of Gift and funding structures.
Jenni has also played an important coaching role for our team, helping build confidence around making the ask and securing support from both corporate and philanthropic partners. Her strategic insight into trusts and foundations, combined with her practical, solutions-focused approach, has added real value to the project.
Throughout the process, Jenni has brought positivity, energy, and a strong belief in the vision for the Whale Trail. Her encouragement and steady support have helped the team stay focused and optimistic, even when the project has faced challenges.
We have appreciated Jenni’s professionalism, commitment, and the strength of her fundraising expertise, and we would not hesitate to recommend her to other organisations undertaking significant projects.
The coaching support from Funding HQ has been incredibly valuable to the Waikato River Trails Trust. The expert advice we’ve received has been tailored specifically to our presence in the community and the purpose that drives our work. James brings a wealth of experience, offering insightful peer review of our initiatives, encouraging us to think differently, and challenging the paradigms we’ve been operating within. His guidance has helped us refine our strategic approach and explore new opportunities. We’re grateful for the ongoing support that is helping us grow stronger and more effective in our mission.
We’ve found the resources and templates on the FHQ platform really helpful in our revenue generation work. In particular, the situational analysis review was a brilliant guide for us in thinking through our priorities, identifying gaps and opportunities, and understanding just how much potential there is for support.
Jenni Giblin has been instrumental in supporting our charity to become more financially sustainable. Over the past two years, she and her Funding HQ team have worked with us to design, develop and implement an effective fundraising plan which is seeing great results even in a challenging economic climate. While we already had a solid grant funding plan, we had significant gaps in other aspects of fundraising. Jenni’s understanding of the philanthropic arena in Aotearoa is comprehensive and she has been generous in sharing this with us. Jenni is warm, enthusiastic, and really comes from the heart in her approach. We highly recommend her!
Funding HQ were a key part of our fundraising success. Jenni and her team helped guide us from early stages of planning our funding strategy through to implementation and follow up. Everything from Funding HQ was undertaken with genuine interest in our project, exceptional knowledge of the current funding landscape and lots of strategic nous. I would recommend Funding HQ to anyone embarking on a significant capital project in the arts and culture space.
To say Funding HQ was lifesaving in our charity’s start-up phase would be a major understatement! After 4 years of running a business, I felt like I was drowning trying to now understand how to get a charity off the ground. Our coach brought a kind, patient, personalised approach which quickly turned things around. James went above and beyond with his advice and guidance, not just leading us down the right path in terms of how to identify and craft our funding applications, but also making introductions and giving us the confidence to put ourselves out there. He has an exceptional understanding of the funding environment, providing just the right balance of realism and enthusiasm to ensure we didn’t lose heart when we encountered challenges. The funding coaches make Funding HQ an irreplaceable resource for all new charities, allowing you to apply the information provided in their excellent modules and databases to the greatest effect.
Under the superb leadership of Jenni Giblin, the team at Funding HQ, bring a wealth of experience which is invaluable in navigating the complex world of philanthropy, development, and fundraising in Aotearoa New Zealand…
What sets Funding HQ apart is their ability to offer tailored and flexible support. They make it their business to understand the unique needs and challenges faced by charitable organisations, and they provide the right guidance and resources to help unlock funding. Funding HQ’s smart and user-friendly tools, break down the barriers to make it easier for new fundraisers to grasp the concepts and strategies involved, empowering them to take charge of their own fundraising efforts.
Their tailored support, wealth of experience, and user-friendly tools have empowered Variety – the Children’s Charity and we are proud to work alongside Funding HQ.
We have been working with the Funding HQ team for over one year- what a game changer this has been! The team have been great mentors- supporting us to build our knowledge of the funding world and providing advice on what we can do to better equip our community when it comes to fundraising. With the experience and guidance from Jenni and Lizzie we have also developed an approach to better promote partnerships and identify sponsorship opportunities for some of our key projects. While this is new territory for us, it’s a huge win having their experience and will support some pretty cool outcomes for communities!
Having a subscription to Funding HQ has truly made a difference in our fundraising efforts at Opus Orchestra. We experienced a significant boost in both our organisational learning and the success of our grant applications. My approach to writing grant proposals has completely transformed, and the results speak for themselves. The most valuable part of the experience for me, however, was having access to a funding coach. Funding HQ’s coaches are incredibly knowledgeable and a true wealth of information. I highly recommend this organisation, especially the coaching, to anyone looking to take their funding efforts to the next level.
We are incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from Funding HQ. I cannot speak more highly of our coach, James. He understands arts, culture and social impact. He has an ability to articulate and craft messaging that aligns to the goals and objectives of the audiences to whom we are speaking, and to offer wisdoms and a clear way of looking at things. Our regular coaching calls are an invaluable resource. When Cyclone Gabrielle swept through and caused us to postpone the festival we had planned whilst we were packing in, just three days out from the event, regular coaching calls supported us in raising funds to close the gap that had emerged from being hit with so many unexpected additional costs. Following that, coaching has supported us across our diverse revenue streams, and to identify opportunities. Through our coaching calls, Funding HQ provides practical tools and real examples, helping us to solve problems and find new ways of doing things – which have hugely benefited our meeting structures, communications – both internal and external – and funding implementation planning
Workshops
Our work with Funding HQ has been a huge help in unlocking the potential of some amazing community groups and organisation in the Thames-Coromandel District. We held three Funding HQ workshops across our district with the purpose of helping community groups diversify their range of funding options. Jenni Giblin was a fabulous presenter in helping groups large and small demystify the world of fundraising. We gained great feedback from our community groups:
“The Funding HQ workshop helped community groups like ours plan projects and allow for a targeted funding approach”
“Jenni is a fantastic communicator and made the whole subject of fundraising engaging and interesting”
Jenni is amazing to work with and attendees of the workshop really valued Jenni’s knowledge and experience and the way she ran the workshop and shared information. Templates were also provided for attendees to takeaway to help them write and develop their organisational narrative and compelling case for funding.