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Hacker #1
Simon Scriver has been helping out with the planning of Charity Hack from the very start and I'm hugely grateful for his advice and support so far. Simon brings a huge amount of experience and talent to Charity Hack.
Simon Scriver is Director of Total Fundraising, a service provider to the not-for-profit sector responsible for the recruitment of around 40,000 new regular donors each year. Simon has 7 years experience in fundraising, as well as several years experience in both Sales and Finance, and currently works with some of the biggest and smallest charities throughout the island of Ireland. He has set up a successful Telephone Fundraising department and has worked to open on-line fundraising to the smallest of organisations through the website sponsor.ie. Simon is continually looking at developing new, and improving existing avenues of fundraising, helping charities to build their donor base and maximise the potential of their existing donors. Simon can be found on Twitter as @TotalFR.
Hacker #3
Denisa Casement CFRE (certified fundraising executive in case you were wondering)
Anybody who follows Denisa on Twitter or Linkedin knows all about her passion for fundraising and dedication to her craft. Such is her dedication that she has recently been nominated for Fundraising Ireland's Professional Fundraiser of the Year Award!! And she's letting you have her talents for 12 whole hours free of charge.
Denisa Casement has been in fundraising for 16 years. Before moving to Dublin to start a fundraising programme for Merchants Quay Ireland she lived in sunny Arizona. She was Director of Development for Habitat for Humanity, Tucson and then for Ronald McDonald House Charities in both Tucson and Phoenix. She then spent over 4 years as an Account Manager with a telephone fundraising agency. She learned the nuts & bolts of direct marketing and managed campaigns for over 30 charities from New York to Dallas to Los Angeles. She can often be heard saying..."What was the response rate?" and "I don't just want a donation...I want a donor, for life." She tweets about fundraising & kittens @DenisaCasement.
Hacker #5
Diarmaid O’Sullivan works in the interface between policy, research, advocacy and lobbying. He has worked in the community development sector with Ballyfermot Partnership and in the disability sector with Rehab Ireland. For the last four years Diarmaid has helped design and run national online and offline advocacy campaigns for Older & Bolder and will soon take up an advocacy and policy position with Oxfam Ireland.
Diarmaid is passionate about fostering people power to positively influence social change. He has a track record in developing effective campaigns that engage grassroots activists, politicians and the media.
Diarmaid is very enthused about being involved with #CharityHack can be found on Twitter as @diarmaidy.
Hacker #7
Our first overseas participant in Charity Hack, Holly Lambert.
Holly Lambert has been a professional fundraiser for 5 years specialising in community fundraising and building something from nothing. She is the Area Fundraiser for the East of England for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society and before that was Fundraising Manger for Macmillan Cancer Support. She was also Operations Director at The Hub, Islington - a business centre for social entrepreneurs and has been involved in starting various volunteer projects such as a fundraising campaign to buy cancer patients new wigs and a series of food based events that aimed to bring local community closer together.
She is inspired by the people she meets through her work - their dedication, their perseverance and their passion. You will often find her quoting 'Be the change', focusing on the positive...and asking when lunch is. She is solution focused and works fast so the Charity Hack is the perfect event for her.
Other things you should know - she's a big Norwich City FC fan, has a tendency to overuse the word 'Amazing!' and has the two most beautiful nieces in the world. Holly can be found on Twitter as @InHollysKitchen.
Hacker #9
Matt Lewis brings, along with his experience in fundraising on two continents, a mega positive attitude, the worst Dutch accent you've ever heard and if we're really nice to him some amazing homemade bread.
Matt Lewis is currently the Community Fundraiser in the South Leinster region for the Irish Cancer Society. The job is a great challenge and demands a diverse approach. This is the second charity job that Matt has had, he was previously a Fundraising Coordinator for The Cancer Council Victoria (Australia), where he worked solely on a community event called Relay For Life. He has done a range of jobs in various countries. His work and life has always been people orientated and he loves to people-watch, usually over a coffee and some cake.
Hacker #11
Ireland's only dual Fundraiser and American Football Player: Mike McGuire!!
Mike McGuire is the Corporate Partnerships Manager for UNICEF Ireland. He has been working in UNICEF for almost three years. His job is to maintain the existing relationships with Corporate Partners and to seek out new partners. Before taking this role he ran his own property management company for almost five years. The Non Profit industry is a lot more rewarding to the soul but it helps to have a good understanding of the private sector! In his spare time he shares fundraising ideas from around the world on his blog (is this an obvious plug?) that you can access here. You will find Mike on Twitter as @mikemcguire_m.
Hacker #13
Unlucky for some but very luck for Charity Hack. I'm delighted to announce that our 13th Hacker is Christine Brennan. All the way from Galway via Limerick, Dublin and Wellington.
Christine Brennan is passionate about communications and branding. It’s all about the storytelling, your best stories, in the right way, to the right people.
She has been working in the worlds of public relations, communications strategy, marketing, branding, events, multimedia, and project management for over a decade now. Currently the Protocol, Public Relations & Communications Officer at the young and dynamic University of Limerick (get the plug in!), with previous roles working in communications and marketing across private and public sector in Ireland, UK, Asia and New Zealand. Also, a country girl from Galway who studied in DCU so always love an excuse for a trip back east. You can follow Christine on Twitter as @chrismbrennan.
Hacker #2
The most energetic and passionate fundraiser in Ireland, Justin McDermott. I've had the exhausting pleasure of working with Justin and really if there was anybody born to be part of Charity Hack it's him.
Justin McDermott has been working in Fundraising for 11 years. He was Fundraising & Communications Coordinator with COPE Galway for 8 years, then became Community Fundraiser for Ulster/Connaught at the Irish Cancer Society, a role he had for just under 3 years. He is currently Fundraising Manager for the youth mental health service Jigsaw Galway/Roscommon. He is involved in sectoral development regionally and is currently chair of Fundraising Ireland's Western Branch. As well as his professional fundraising experience he has lectured with Irish Academy of PR in their GMIT campus & worked for a year in New Zealand as a Senior Communications Advisor to the Minister of Fisheries of New Zealand. Justin can be found on Twitter as @mcdermottjustin.
Hacker #4
The first of our non fundraising expert hackers: Andrew Moran. Andy is an expert on French electro pop, a good cook and Lego fanatic. He's also a mega competent project manager in the online marketing world.
Andrew Moran comes from a background of online marketing and consulting. He has worked with some of the worlds top brands on national and global campaigns, including Burberry, O2, American Express and McDonalds. His current role is to advise both agencies and clients on effective Social Media strategy and implementation. Andrew works for Facebook, but has previously worked managing digital development for McConnell's, Ireland's oldest advertising agency. Prior to this, Andrew worked for Accenture Consulting. Andy can be found on Twitter as @andrewmoranirl.
Hacker #6
One time wannabe physicist, possibly the world's greatest Angela Lansbury fan and also one of the most talented digimedia experts around, Dónal Mulligan.
Dónal Mulligan is a lecturer in online communications at Dublin City University, where he's also pursuing PhD studies in social media analysis. He's taught web design and development, project management and interactive applications for 5 years, which motivates him to keep a close eye on current and emerging trends.
Dónal has previously worked as a consultant in corporate communications and branding for SMEs, NGOs and multinationals and has experience in designing online communications campaigns and managing web development projects in the voluntary and charity sector. He's been involved in event design and promotion and is especially interested in how creative and inexpensive video and social media campaigns can bring substantial attention for low cost.
When not teaching or furiously writing a paper the day before a deadline, he enjoys watching a good episode of "Murder, She Wrote". Especially that one where Jessica Fletcher acquits a dog of murder. They just don't make TV like that these days.
Hacker #8
Maria Martin is a self-confessed beauty and cosmetics geek, a passion that led her to work for favourite charity “Look Good Feel Better” – a service that helps people manage the visible side-effects of their cancer treatment.
As Programme Manager of Look Good Feel Better Ireland she is part of a worldwide cancer support service that exists in 25 countries, having started off 5 years ago as a volunteer. Qualifying for the Vodafone World of Difference Awards led to her becoming a full time member of staff and having gone from strength to strength; reaching 1,000 cancer patients a year she has now spearheaded the transition from an Irish Cancer Society service to it becoming a stand-alone charity.
Through her various roles Maria has liaised with over 60 cancer support centres nationwide through the Irish Cancer Society’s Affiliation programme and prior to this Maria’s experience includes Event management, Recruitment and Training.
Hacker #10
Carma O'Connor Dunne has spent a huge amount of time using social media for small business marketing purposes along with website creation, updating and maintenance. A background in software engineering has helped hugely in this area and she has recently started IT tutoring small business owners struggling with all things IT relating to their business along with Social Media tutoring. As a qualified life coach her skills are invaluable for this type of work. She passionate about empowering others in the areas of IT, Life Coaching and general well being. Carmas can be found on Twitter as @restoreybalance.
Hacker #12
More to come....
Having fallen into the world of fundraising by accident 3 years ago, Gerard Tiernan has worked alongside the national charity Console and Turn2me. He is creative with his thinking and likes to develop ideas outside the box!!!!
As somebody who has completed many fundraising events over the years he is really looking forward to Charity Hack 1.
Gerard can be found on Twitter as @tiernangerard.
Hacker #14
Jennifer McConnell has a background in strategy, human resource development, event management, and business development, she has just completed a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Geography. This was to fulfil her own ambition to learn more about culture, community and the benefit of mutual collaboration in multi-cultural environments. Currently she is doing some research work on local communities, as well as consulting.
Previously Jennifer ran several Business Networks for the County & City Enterprise Boards, around Ireland, to help people set up their own business as well as provide platforms for entrepreneurs to further develop their business. Before her degree she was the Human Resource Director for telecoms company, Digicel, in Haiti.