Holly McCain

Fundraising Lead (Trusts and Corporates)

Email: h.mccain@nbn.org.uk

Role at the NBN Trust

Holly is responsible for developing and leading a programme of innovative and mutually-beneficial partnerships with corporate supporters, trusts and foundations; generating income to fund and scale-up the charity’s important and ambitious work.

Core responsibilities

  • Leading the NBN Trust’s fundraising team and generating target levels of income through partnerships with trusts, foundations and businesses;
  • Reporting to the CEO and providing fundraising updates to the Board of Trustees;
  • Initiating, developing and maintaining mutually-beneficial relationships with existing and prospect funders and partners;
  • Promoting sponsorship opportunities for the NBN Trust’s public-facing initiatives and platforms, including iNaturalistUK, the NBN Atlas, NBN Conference and NBN Awards programme;
  • Building a strong fundraising culture and ethos across the organisation.

About Holly

I recently joined the National Biodiversity Network Trust in August 2024 as Fundraising Lead (Trusts & Corporates).  For over eight years I have worked in various fundraising, income generation and corporate partnerships roles in environmental and wildlife conservation charities, including Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Buglife, and most recently, Trees for Cities. I’ve seen first-hand the amazing impact environmental organisations are making by restoring nature across landscapes, inspiring people to take action on climate change, and enabling places to become more ecologically diverse. I love developing project proposals, presenting them to funders and partners, and then seeing fantastic work being delivered to help people understand biodiversity, conserve wildlife, and ultimately, help nature to recover!

I hold an MSc in Climate Change and Sustainable Development (De Montfort, 2011) and I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, having completed its Certificate in Fundraising qualification in 2021. I am also an associate member of the Association for Project Management (APM) and have completed the PRINCE2 Practitioner project management qualification. Prior to working in the charity sector, I was an academic researcher investigating the use of corporate environmental management systems and approaches.

Outside of work I enjoy exploring the great outdoors via hiking, running, camping and going on multi-day back-packing trips in the mountains.  At the weekend you can usually find me up a hill in the Peak District somewhere – often covered in mud!