Maybe I Did It Wrong?

My first few years of fundraising leadership were a whirlwind.

I was one of the first fundraisers the charity had ever had. I knew that every few pounds we raised had the power to give children access to a playground. I had seen first hand the sheer delight on their faces – pushing themselves down slides, even in thundering rain. I knew the scale of opportunity ahead of us and was determined to give that joy to as many people as I could.

Over the course of four years, we went from me and a colleague raising £300,000 to a team of four full time staff, a handful of interns and a literal army of volunteers raising seven figures. 

Those years gave thousands, if not tens of thousands, of children better childhoods.

But they also broke me.

In the middle of a particularly brutal fundraising season, I found myself literally unable to get out of bed. My alarm kept blaring, telling me to board a train to Nottingham University and I just… couldn’t.

A week later, I dragged myself to the office. My CEO asked me if I was okay. And I... burst into tears. I stopped crying about four hours later, after a doctor had signed me off of work for a month.

Less than a year later, I moved on from the charity I loved. I decided I couldn’t heal in the place I’d got sick. But the worst bit is I didn’t learn.

A few years later, I was working at a great fundraising agency. We’d grown from a team of three to a team of ten, delivering incredible service to charities of all shapes and sizes.

But the demands on my mind and body were even worse than before. I ended up in hospital for a fortnight battling a now-permanent stomach condition brought on by stress.

 In that moment, I remembered a talk given by Lesley Pinder at Pizza for Losers, 2019. She spoke about the burnout she experienced from a previous role. How it felt like a huge failure - and how her inner critic kept telling her she wasn’t enough - but it was only stepping away that helped her to recover… In truth, that talk might’ve saved my life.

I quit without a plan. The fundraising community provided – and a few conversations later, Fireside Fundraising was born. The agency dedicated to kinder, warmer, more curious fundraising. The agency that’ll shape your most important stories – including the stories we tell ourselves.

And now, nearly 3 years in, I’m still pinching myself. I’m actually getting to support exceptional fundraisers to tell those stories. Every. Single. Day. We’ve helped tell stories that’ve landed seven figure partnerships. We’ve told stories that’ve bought teams back from the brink.

So I absolutely know I didn’t do it wrong. Sure, I have made mistakes. And some lessons were learned the hard way - with permanent consequences. But I know that everything that led me here to this place was because I care so deeply about the fundraising community. That’s why I’m so excited that Pizza for Losers is back in 2025.

This is the not-quite-conference that teaches you it’s okay to try. That it’s okay to fail. And that we learn as much from failure as we do from winning. I’m delighted the event is back, and even more delighted Fireside could sponsor to help make it happen. If you’re free on the afternoon of the 10th July, you should really make it along.

Grab your seat here

You should make it down - you never know, it might save your life. 

Andy

PS: Alongside being delighted that Pizza for Losers is returning, I'm also stoked to be working with Lesley Pinder herself on a research project. If you work in corporate partnerships, you could be a huge help by completing this 5 minute survey.