John Kelly is a pioneer in British and European fundraising.  He built the International Brakeley group into a leader in the field of fundraising, interpreting the American model of fundraising to the local cultures and languages of Europe. For 20 years from 1990, he was the Managing Director and President of the group. He was a Founder Member of Brakeley Europe & Partners and is President of Brakeley Ltd in the UK.

Before becoming a consultant, John was the CEO of Regent’s College, London.  Earlier, he served as Bursar of Bedford College, University of London where he was one of the first people to introduce American fundraising approaches into a British university.

As a fundraising and management consultant he has advised clients in many countries throughout the world, some large and some very small.  His not-for-profit clients have spanned all levels of education, the arts and cultural sector, recreation, healthcare, environment and charities and voluntary organisations of many kinds.  His clients typically seek a broad strategic approach to fundraising and have an interest in major gifts and/or capital campaigns. He was the first consultant to introduce capital campaigns into several European countries including Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, France, Belgium and many others.

John has written a number of articles on fundraising for professional journals, and lectures regularly on fundraising.  From 1998 to 2001 he was Chair of EUConsult, the European Association of Consultants to and about Not-for-Profit Organisations. He was a member of the Council of the University of Sheffield for six years and served for many years as a Board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), headquartered in Virginia (USA). He is a Trustee of  Beyond Words a UK charity that supports people with learning difficulties.

John has provided direct consultancy services to a range of clients in over thirty countries, including: Chalmers University of Technology (Göteborg), Kræftens Bekæmpelse (cancer charity) (Copenhagen), Alliance for Global Sustainability (Japan, Switzerland, USA and Sweden), l’Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium), University of Minho (Portugal), the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), the International Rice Research Institute (Philippines), Marie Curie Cancer Care (London), Hiroshima International School (Hiroshima), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (Netherlands), the University of Glasgow (Scotland), Amnesty International, Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Piteå School of Music (Sweden), University of Luxembourg, Harvard Law School, Western Academy Beijing (China), the University of Kent (UK), the National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh), the National Museums of Liverpool (UK), the Palestinian Museum (Palestine), Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, International College (Beirut), Caritas Internationalis (Rome), Sacro (Scotland) and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

In nearly every client setting, significant new resources were found, often for the first time from private sources of wealth.