Sandra Sahusilawani

Sandra is a fundraising strategist, leader, and mentor with more than 18 years of experience in philanthropy, major gifts, strategic partnerships, and fundraising capacity development. Throughout her career she has been passionate about helping organizations and fundraising professionals unlock their potential, build sustainable income streams, and create greater impact.

Her fundraising journey began in 2008 after a 15-year career in finance. Whilst she enjoyed her work, she increasingly felt the need to contribute more directly to society. That led Sandra to SOS Children’s Villages Netherlands, where she joined the fundraising team responsible for establishing its major donor programme. Relationship management had always been at the heart of her work, and Sandra quickly discovered that helping donors invest in social impact was far more rewarding than helping them grow their financial wealth.

Over the years, she built and managed major donor portfolios, secured gifts up to seven figures, and led successful fundraising teams. In 2015, she joined SOS Children’s Villages International as one of its first Global Philanthropy Advisors. Sandra later led the International Corporate Partnerships & Philanthropy team and ultimately served as International Fund Development Director. In these roles, she supported fundraising development across more than 80 countries, managed global donor and corporate partnerships, and led initiatives focused on fundraising growth, market expansion, and organizational transformation.

Today, Sandra works as an independent fundraising consultant as well as as sr Consultant through Upsall International, supporting nonprofit organizations around the world. Her expertise includes high-value fundraising, fundraising strategy development, income diversification, donor engagement, market assessment, case for support development, and fundraising capacity strengthening.

What she enjoys most, however, is helping people grow. Throughout her own career, Sandra has been fortunate to have mentors who helped her recognize strengths and opportunities that she could not yet see for herself. Tony Elischer was one of them. His encouragement and belief in her potential shaped her professional journey, and Sandra is committed to paying that forward.

As a mentor, she particularly enjoys helping fundraising professionals discover what they are already capable of. Often, the skills, instincts, and leadership qualities are already there; they simply need someone to help bring them to the surface. There is a wonderful moment when confidence clicks into place, when someone starts speaking with conviction, trusting their expertise, and stepping fully into their potential. Seeing that transformation is incredibly rewarding, and that is why mentoring means so much to Sandra.