John joined the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation as Executive Director in May 2019. He has over 30 years experience of direct fundraising, including senior posts at Oxfam and Practical Action, and was also Director of Fundraising (Western Europe) for Habitat for Humanity International. He founded John Grain Associates (JGA) in 2004 since when he has worked with clients large and small to develop innovative, sustainable and long-term individual giving programmes. In 2017 he launched the Secret Giver scheme, which is now the sector’s leading mystery shopping and supporter journey benchmarking programme. He is a passionate advocate of permission based, ethical fundraising with an emphasis on understanding our donors and how best to deliver an inspiring and motivating experience for them with every interaction they have with the charities they support.