About Jacquie Neilson MBE
Fundraising consultant, charity founder and animal welfare specialist with 25 years of hands-on experience building and running a charity from the ground up.
My name is Jacquie Neilson. Alongside a 30-year career at HSBC, I spent 25 years working in the charity sector — establishing and running Rain Rescue, an animal rescue centre I built from just one woman helping just one dog into an organisation rescuing over 400 cats and dogs a year.
In my final year I generated an annual income of £880,000 — including a £650,000 three-year support grant from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and £120,000 from the Pets Foundation to build and operate an on-site vet room. We leased a two-acre site, built kennels for 15 dogs and a cattery for 25 cats, cared for an average of 40 animals a day, employed up to 14 staff and ran three charity shops.
I know what it feels like to be responsible for the mission and accountable for the money at the same time. I know the pressure of doing more with less. And I know what it feels like to spend good money on services that don't deliver useful, sustainable tools.
- 2002 — Founded Rain Rescue
- 25 years Founder & CEO — £0 to £880k, 60,000 supporters
- MBE 2024 — Services to Animal Welfare
- ADCH member — Association of Dogs and Cats Homes
- Fundraising — Giving, Trusts, Grants, Corporate, Events, Retail
- Technical — Gift Aid, VAT, retail, cost management
- Specialist in — Animal charities with stretched teams
- Women of Steel Award — 2017
People are so busy doing the day-to-day heavy work of their cause, they are often blind to what's really happening with their funds. That's why I set up Fundraising Fixer — to provide realistic, practical support so that hard-working groups can make every penny count and deliver more for less.
Let's have an honest conversation
Book a free 30-minute introductory call and tell me about your organisation. No obligation, no pressure — just a chat about where you are and what might be possible.