Building Co-Exist Australia’s Fundraising Engine from the Ground Up

Client: Co-Exist Australia

Sector: Youth-Led Environmental & Social Impact
Engagement: Fractional Fundraising & Partnerships Manager (1–2 days/week over 8 months)
Investment: Approx. $25,000 AUD
Location: Remote, Australia-Wide Programs

The Starting Point

Co-Exist Australia is a youth-powered environmental organisation making bold moves to engage young people across the country. But behind the scenes, they were at a tipping point: they had energy and grassroots traction, but no internal fundraising strategy, donor systems, or capacity to manage the growing demand from supporters and brands.

They were running national cleanups, school programs, and environmental events—but with no fundraising structure, limited digital systems, and no capacity to process or steward donations. To grow their mission, they needed someone to build their fundraising and partnerships function from scratch.

That’s where La Loyka came in.

The Role

I joined Co-Exist in a fractional leadership role, dedicating 1–2 days a week over 8 months as their Fundraising & Partnerships Manager. My task was to create the systems, secure the revenue, and professionalise their approach—while working closely with the team and empowering them along the way.

What We Delivered

💻 Website Rescue & Donor Experience Overhaul

Their website was mid-build when I stepped in—until the original contractor dropped the project without delivering. With EOFY around the corner and no donation platform in place, the timeline was critical.

I stepped in to rescue and relaunch the website from the ground up:

• Delivered a brand-new website in just 3 weeks, including structure, Raisely integration, and design

• Coordinated professional copywriting with Avion Agency

• Set up automated branded EDMs for donor journeys

• Launched Co-Exist’s first-ever EOFY campaign, boosting visibility and donations

💸 Individual Giving Program — Created From Scratch

With systems now in place, I built their first recurring giving program:

• Designed giving tiers and supporter messaging

• Developed onboarding emails and donor flows

• Result: $7,000 AUD raised in the first month alone

🧾 Fundraising Compliance Across Australia

To ensure national legitimacy and transparency:

• Applied for state-by-state licenses to legally fundraise across Australia

• Developed a Fundraising Policy and internal guidelines for compliance and ethical practice

💼 Corporate Partnerships Infrastructure

To support a growing list of brand inquiries, I delivered:

• A full Corporate Engagement Framework outlining tiers, benefits, and alignment

• Drafted partnership agreements, MOU templates, and collaboration terms

• Managed the design of the organisation’s first Case for Support and corporate pitch decks with the support of one of our skilled designers, Anthony Despotellis. The decks were made in a way that can be used as templates for future needs

• Supported the successful delivery of their first product partnership (with SunSlayer)

📊 Grants & Philanthropy Wins

• Secured $275,000 AUD in grants, including a major two-year capacity-building grant

• Built a grants calendar and hitlist strategy to streamline their application process

• Created tailored messaging and cases for institutional funders and aligned philanthropic trusts

🛠️ Internal Systems & Notion Workspace Design

To ensure systems could scale with the team, I designed a custom internal hub using Notion:

• Built tailored CRMs for:

  • Corporate leads

  • Philanthropy tracking

  • General donor and grant management

• Designed project management boards to track:

  • Events

  • Fundraising tasks

  • Internal deadlines

• Created a real-time Impact Reporting Dashboard to visualise outputs and outcomes across each of the Collectives across the country

• And much more!

All systems were built to be used and owned by the team—ensuring long-term sustainability after my role ended.

The Outcome

In just 8 months, Co-Exist Australia transformed from a passionate grassroots group with no fundraising infrastructure into a fully operational, donor-ready, and legally compliant organisation. With a live website, a growing supporter base, fundraising systems, and pitch-ready assets, they are now equipped to partner, grow, and scale their impact.

And all of this was delivered with a fractional investment of ~$25,000 AUD.

Need to Build From Scratch—or Rescue What’s Stalled?

Whether you’re launching a fundraising function for the first time or need support stepping in mid-project, La Loyka offers strategic, embedded support that gets things moving—and keeps them growing.