Gem spotlight - Jayne Wasmuth, Customer Success and Business Development Manager at Strategic Grants.
Meet Jayne, a values‑driven fundraising leader who brings clarity, purpose and heart to every conversation. At Strategic Grants, she helps CEOs and fundraising teams tackle complex funding challenges with confidence.
Jayne shares what inspires her, the advice that’s shaped her career, and why trust remains fundraising’s greatest superpower. Gembridge partnered with Strategic Grants on her appointment, and love catching up with her at sector events.
What’s the best thing about your current role?
The conversations I get to have every day with CEOs and fundraising leaders who are often at an uncomfortable juncture with their funding, looking for practical tools and a sensible way forward. It feels such a privilege to me to be in a position where I can help solve strategic pain points and challenges for amazing for-purpose organisations who are each making extraordinary impacts. And I’m in a position to provide those solutions because I have the privilege of representing the gold standard grants software platform and A-grade team of grants experts at Strategic Grants. Wow. Pinch me.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
“Ask for money, and you’ll get advice. Ask for advice, and you’ll get money.” I couldn’t even say from who, or when, this classic adage found its way to me, but the truth of it lands over and over. It’s true for major gift and grants fundraising equally, because the proposal or grant application is always just one part of a bigger conversation. The best conversations are about sharing ideas, and deep, active, mutually rewarding engagement. Start with an open question about a problem that needs to be solved, then work out together what the solution could look like, and the puzzle pieces necessary to make that happen. That means that I go into every conversation with an open mind, ready for discovery and exploration, trusting that if the fit is right, the way forward will become obvious. Everything then flows from there.
Fundraising can be challenging. What keeps you focused, motivated, and committed to giving back, even when it’s tough?
It has always seemed really important to me that as fundraisers we are willing to make it personal. We are asking people to give of their personal wealth; that’s very individual, values driven, entirely discretionary and often emotional. So, we need to meet them on the same level, not with a transactional interchange, but by being willing to speak honestly to our own ‘why’. Why this role? Why this cause? For me that commitment to what I do, for the greater good, is the given that underwrites everything, every day. I do what I do because it ticks all my boxes for purpose, values and personal reward. The causes I raised funds for were deeply important to me, and I was always willing to share that. The work I do now is about advancing the sector as a whole. It’s about giving back and making a difference. It’s personal.
What do you think the future of fundraising looks like?
Human. The old rules still apply – relationships are at the heart of fundraising, and relationships are built on trust. I’ve been reading The Seven Rules of Trust by Jimmy Wales, who founded Wikipedia. He makes a compelling case (ok, I didn’t take any convincing) for why trust is today’s most essential superpower. Automations and technology shifts will continue to bring new efficiencies and ways of working, but if we let them compromise the authenticity, empathy, and reliability that underwrite trust, then the foundations crumble. People give to people. Still.
What’s your favourite holiday destination, and why?
I’m a kiwi, and this summer I’ve been craving a slice of old-style summer at the beach. That means an unpretentious ‘bach’, with daggy furniture and mismatched crockery, sand in the sheets, salty skin and bare feet for days; and huge pohutukawas in bloom, with that distinctive musky smell as their scarlet needles start falling and gathering in drifts along the tideline. Some classic Kiwiana is compulsory of course, to complete the picture, including L&P cooling in the chilly bin, jandals (for when footwear is required), ‘Slice of Heaven’ and ‘Poi E’ playing on repeat, and a jumbo bag of pineapple lumps, just begging to be scoffed. When you know, you know.
If you could do anything for a day, with no limits, what would it be?
Hang out at the beach. Watch the water, watch the sky, read a book. Breathe, swim, walk. Repeat. Alllll daaaaay.
What’s your favourite movie or book, and what makes it special to you?
Hard to choose! I am one of those mid-career-switch fundraisers, having spent 15 years in the book industry, immersed in the world of books, bookshops, publishers and booklovers. But actually, the book I have found that I must have a copy of, wherever I have lived, is a collection of Katherine Mansfield’s short stories. Beautiful language, evocative atmospheres, perceptive insights and gentle twists. And of course, many of the most timeless stories transport me straight home, to New Zealand. What can you do? You can take the girl out of Aotearoa but, clearly, there is no taking Aotearoa out of the girl.
To finish, then, a quote, and inspiration:
“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” Katherine Mansfield