ELLIE BURNAGE has been appointed as Director of Development at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).
Ellie will be joining the Trust at the beginning of August, and will take on the strategic leadership of our charitable income streams from Jeremy Payne, who is retiring this summer as Director of Fundraising after nearly 10 years. The new Director of Development role emphasises the GWCT’s renewed focus on all of our charitable income streams, fostering long-term relationships with supporters and donors, and making sure our fundraising benefits from a contemporary and data-driven approach.
Ellie Burnage has spent the past decade working in communications and fundraising for rural and countryside organisations. Most recently she served as Head of External Affairs at The Royal Countryside Fund, where she led the charity’s fundraising, communications, and research activity, developing and delivering an integrated income strategy across major donors, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, and trusts and foundations. Prior to the RCF, Ellie held a communications role at the CLA.
Ellie lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and young son. Outside of work, she loves sports, playing netball competitively and following both rugby and tennis, as well as cooking, particularly making pasta.
Welcoming her to the senior leadership team, GWCT CEO, Nick von Westenholz, said: “I am delighted Ellie is joining GWCT. This is a critical role for us at a time when many charities are facing huge fundraising challenges.
“Our strategic plan sets out an ambitious vision for a countryside rich in game and wildlife, but we will struggle to achieve that without a reliable and growing income base.
“Our fundraising teams across the UK are crucial to our future. Ellie’s experience and leadership will be key to ensuring they have a clear strategic focus, ensuring the Trust’s science and research is underpinned by the financial resilience to ensure it has a genuine impact.
“I also want to thank Jeremy Payne for all of his work over the last decade, without which so much of our work over that time wouldn’t have been possible.”
Ellie added: “I’m delighted to be joining the GWCT, an organisation whose research and expertise I have long admired, at such an important moment for the British countryside.
“The Trust’s science-led approach to conservation and land management is second to none, and I look forward to working with Nick and the wider team to ensure the Trust’s vital conservation work has the foundation for growth it deserves.”
