James Herlihy

Digital Fundraising Consultant

Hi, I’m James – a seasoned digital fundraising consultant, tech enthusiast, dad and husband. I’m an Australian living in the south of France, working with great causes all over the world.

Since 2003 I’ve worked with nonprofits in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Europe, the UK and Asia to grow their impact and income through digital campaigns and strategies.

How I Work With Nonprofits

As a consultant, I aim to understand your charity’s current position, needs and objectives, then work with you to achieve them while leveling up your skills and capacity. Your objectives may be on the level of a multi-year program development, or be for a single campaign.

On any given week, I’ll be working with my nonprofit clients on:

Strategy development
Digital fundraising program review and recommendation reports
Workshops
Coaching and mentoring sessions
Reporting dashboard development
Email program review and optimisation.

For more information, see my How I Can Help You page or get in touch.

My Background and Experience

I’ve been privileged to work with fantastic nonprofits, full-service fundraising agencies and as a consultant to charities for around 20 years – sharing my experience at conferences and events and in articles along the way.

2003 – 2013

2013 – 2019

2019 – 2021

2021 – now

On the nonprofit side, I worked in the digital team at Amnesty International Australia for five years from 2008 as a Digital Producer, Digital Marketer and then Digital Team Manager. Before that I worked for several years at Austcare (now rebranded to ActionAid Australia) and The Heart Foundation after interning at several great organisations including Mission Australia.

After leaving Amnesty International, I worked at Pareto Fundraising, a full-service agency in Australia, where as I founded the digital team as the first Digital Strategist in 2013, moving to Digital Strategy Director a couple of years later. At Pareto Fundraising I worked with many great organisations in Australia, New Zealand and Asia on strategy, digital acquisition campaigns, integrated appeals and lots more. I also developed the digital chapter of Pareto’s renowned fundraising benchmarking program, presenting it yearly in Sydney and Melbourne.

In 2019, I left Pareto Fundraising to take on the Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation role at full-service fundraising agency Mindwize in The Netherlands, migrating with my family (six months before COVID struck!). At Mindwize I led and grew the digital team and program through the challenges of COVID, working with great organisations across Europe, the UK, the US, Australia and Asia.

In 2021, my family decided it was time for a (another…) change. We moved to the south of France and I shifted to work as a nonprofit consultant; a hugely rewarding move that I’ve been enjoying since. I also took up a core team position with cryptocurrency startup Amasa, which I co-founded in 2019.

I’ve worked with probably over 100 great causes around the world to help them grow with digital strategies and channels. I’ve also presented at conferences and events in Austria, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand, and published articles and blogs in various fundraising and marketing publications.

I’m hugely grateful for this experience – and the opportunity to share it to keep helping great causes grow their impact, communities and income.

Other Stuff I Like

My family and I love the outdoors. We’re often out enjoying the French mediterranean, mountains, hiking trails, lakes and rivers.

I’m involved in the cryptocurrency space and am an avid follower and fan of transformative tech.

I’m a music lover. I DJ’d, produced and performed music, ran a small label and organised events for around 15 years in Australia. I’m not doing so much of that now, but will get back to it!

I love reading. Sci-fi, dark fantasy, history and biographies. A few faves:

The Gardens on the Moon series by Stephen Erikson
The Murderbot Diaries series, Martha Wells
Classics like Lord of the Rings, anything by Asimov, Dune, Hyperion
Anything by Anthony Ryan
Any Walter Isaacson bio – particularly the ones on Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs and The Innovators about the history of computing. The Elon Musk bio is loaded for reading soon.
Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.

My family and I love travelling (who doesn’t?!) and discovering new places. We do it as often as possible. And of course, we love partying and making great memories with our family and friends around the world.

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