The difference a year makes...

In January 2025, Jon Jacques, Global Fundraising Specialist - Legacies, at Amnesty International, took the leap and applied to The Elischer Foundation leadership mentoring programme. Here he shares the difference a year can make...

Jon Jacques, Mentee at The Elischer Foundation

Last Christmas

Year-end is an important time not least for a Fundraising leader. December frequently means the final push to the summit to meet targets, then overcoming tiredness and exhaustion to celebrate team success and literally crawling over the finishing line.

After a burst of indulgence – for me at least – minds eventually shift towards reviewing what went before and importantly questioning what we want to come next such as “How do I want to change things up?” and critically “What will I need to help me get there?”

Last year in the ‘ghost week’ between Christmas and New Year, I spotted a post on LinkedIn shared by Legacy Futures, which tweaked my interest. It talked of an opportunity to focus on working on one’s Leadership development through The Elischer Foundation (TEF). It felt like it might be the ideal support for the growth I was looking for. So I reached out ….

This Christmas

At year-end 2025, I can really feel the impact that being part of TEF has given me. I was expecting to feel an increased sense of motivation and momentum in my career, but as well as energy it has increased my sense of purpose, direction, resourcefulness and resilience.

Working with my mentor and regularly hearing from genuinely inspiring Fundraising leaders has strengthened my confidence to ask key questions of myself and others and also to stand my ground, when I recognise it’s important to do so. Similarly, it has increased my clarity of focus and extended the boundaries of what it is I want to achieve in the work time I have available.

I can point to a number of key wins that my TEF experience has contributed to in 2025 including the funding of a trip to Australia to be closer to a project I’m passionate about. Also, alongside key allies, it has helped drive the delivery of a new virtual Legacy Skillshare for Fundraising teams of NGOs across the world that has also contributed significant tangible value to my role and my organization.

I believe the renewed sense of executive presence and self-directed leadership I’ve gained from working with The Elischer Foundation will deliver even more impact in 2026.

Applications for our mentoring 2026/27 mentoring programme are open until Monday 19th January 2026 - find out more here.