Strength from within
— Written by Dan Geaves
Back in 2019 no one could have foreseen how good the timing was for Marlin to merge Leafcutter into its business. As the pandemic took hold in early 2020, Marlin was well placed to help our existing and new client partners to pivot towards digital fundraising and marketing.
As the end of the 2021 financial year came to an end, so did the chapter of James Hornitsky’s Directorship. As the founder of Leafcutter, James’ past success was obvious. What has become clearer for us all is how we can continue to successfully fulfil our company’s purpose.
We remain enthusiastically focused on helping our client partners to create communities of people who feel capable of changing their world. And we remain staunch advocates for working in partnership with our clients.
This means that we will go deep to understand their cause and challenges, so that we can tailor our solutions. It is our observation that this is key to driving a positive view of fundraising – the kind that emotionally supports fundraisers to do their best work.
Which is why it is a great privilege to be able to announce the promotion of two of our Marliners who live and breathe this focus.
Pradeep Wickramanayake joined Marlin in February last year. Since then he has shown an immense appetite for helping charities. Pradeep is frequently nominated for our internal “Positivity” award, a quality that hasn’t gone unnoticed by our clients.
Pradeep is a qualified scrum master and holds a Masters in Project Management – expertise he has successfully applied to the development of some of our flagship websites and digital integrations including Islamic Relief Australia, RSPCA Guardian Angels, Cerebral Palsy Alliance’s donation flow, and Plan International’s website redevelopment.
He has taken on the role of team leadership for our development team as Head of Digital.
Pradeep will be supported to carry on bringing out the best in his team, by our new Digital Director, Jason Ruffell Smith.
Jason’s promotion brings him to work alongside me on Marlin’s leadership team with his responsibility for all things digital, including the department he created from scratch for Marlin – Digital Fundraising and Marketing.
Over the last 18 months the Digital Fundraising and Marketing team has grown rapidly to five people, all of them experienced specialists in their own right. The team is a real powerhouse for Marlin and their reputation as caring problem solvers, and enthusiastic knowledge sharers echoes Jason’s leadership style. It is thanks to Jason’s efforts that we are working on projects and campaigns that embrace our agency disciplines of strategy, creative and digital. A blend that is vital for our client partners – including RSPCA NSW, Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia and a plethora of organisations embracing the P2P phenomenon.
I hope that you get to work alongside Jason and Pradeep too.
It is no coincidence that they already work well together and share aspirations for Marlin’s future. I am excited to see the ways in which they attract and form partnerships with other valued-led businesses too, especially those at the intersection of technology and fundraising. If we are to help our clients travel far, we will benefit from great companions.
If you would like to discover ways you can work with us. Please reach out.
