New backing for a fairer funding system
We’ve secured innovation funding from the Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub and welcomed three experienced fundraising and charity leaders to help us make grant funding simpler and fairer.
Daryl Upsall has joined us as an investor and ambassador, Zahra Hedges as an adviser, and Mark Carrigan as a non-executive director. Together, they bring decades of experience in fundraising, charity leadership and philanthropy to our next stage of development.
Experience behind the ambition
Daryl advised the founders of JustGiving during its early development and launch. With more than 40 years in international fundraising, including helping pioneer face-to-face fundraising with Greenpeace International, he knows what it takes to turn a new approach into lasting change.
“What interests me about Raiser is its ambition to address another fundamental challenge – how charities access grant funding. Raiser is taking important steps towards making the funding process more effective and equitable, and I’m excited to be part of that journey.”
Zahra, former chief executive of Winning Scotland and IoD Director of the Year (Third Sector) 2025, brings experience in organisational transformation and public policy. She more than doubled Winning Scotland’s annual income during her time as chief executive. As she puts it: “The ambition isn’t simply to build better software. It’s to build a better system.”
Mark joined our board earlier this year. Managing director of Carrigan Consulting, he brings three decades of experience across financial markets and philanthropy, having advised more than 100 organisations across five continents in raising over $590 million.
Helping charities and funders find each other
Their support comes as we develop a meaning-based grant-matching engine, backed by the innovation funding. We’re building a way to connect charities and funders through what charities actually do and the outcomes they achieve, not just the keywords they use. Recommendations will be explainable, with funding decisions staying in human hands.
We’re shaping that work with charities and funders, not building it in isolation. Our November co-design sessions will bring five frontline charities and five funders together to challenge our assumptions and test the prototypes.
Read more about the project and how to take part in our Funding Pilot.
