Neela Jane Stansfield

Neela Jane Stansfield is a major gifts fundraising specialist, with over 15 years’ experience working with foundations and high net worth individuals. She has been an Associate for Fundraising Training Ltd since 2020 and is the author of Grants Fundraising, to be published by the Directory of Social Change in 2022.

Neela Jane has worked across the international development, health and education sectors, including five years with UNICEF UK. Whilst at UNICEF UK, she led the trusts and foundations team as interim Head of Foundation Partnerships and then as Private Funding Lead, responsible for an annual income budget of over £10million. Prior to UNICEF, she worked for Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Stroke Association in the UK, and Chatteris Educational Foundation in Hong Kong.

Neela Jane was also Chair of the UK Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF)’s Trusts and Statutory Special Interest Group for six years, leading a membership body of 4,000 fundraisers across the UK, and a board member and speaker for several years at the CIoF National Convention – the largest fundraising conference in Europe.

She holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Nottingham and a diploma in fundraising from the CIoF, and has written about trusts and major gifts fundraising for Third Sector magazine and The Guardian’s Voluntary Sector Network. She has also been a Trustee for an international children’s charity, Children in Crisis, and is currently a Trustee for ATLEU – the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit, working to provide safety, recovery and redress for victims of trafficking and modern slavery.

Neela Jane lives in Devon with her husband and three little people. In her spare time she loves going for a run (and the odd charity marathon), playing the piano and hiding in the cupboard eating chocolate biscuits when the kids aren’t looking.