25 Years in Fundraising: A Conversation with Zen’s New Head of Telephone Operations, Spenser Gardner 

At Zen Fundraising, relationships are central to our work. Conversations, trust, supporter experience, and long-term connection all matter to us, so we’re happy to welcome Spenser Gardner as our new Head of Telephone Operations.

Spenser has over 25 years of experience in face-to-face and telephone fundraising. He has worked in supporter engagement, creative development, training, campaign management, and fundraising leadership.

With more than 25 years of experience in Face-to-Face and telephone fundraising, Spenser brings a huge amount of sector knowledge, creativity and perspective to Zen. We caught up with him to chat about his journey so far, how telefundraising has evolved, and why the future of supporter engagement feels more human than ever.

We caught up with Spenser to discuss storytelling, supporter journeys, music, ethics in fundraising and how much the sector has changed over the years.

Tell us a little bit about your background and fundraising journey

It started in Brighton in 1998, working on North Street for Greenpeace. My hair was longer back then!

After that, I spent a few years in face-to-face fundraising, working my way through team leadership roles and eventually becoming Deputy Area Manager. I was sent across different offices, including Scotland and Dublin, which gave me a really broad experience of fundraising and people management.

Though I had a few other roles between then, I found myself returning to fundraising through telephone work, and over time, that evolved into managing fundraising teams and then into more creative and strategic roles.

Most recently, I spent nine years at Purity Fundraising, a specialist telephone fundraising agency, where I worked across creative development, reporting, recruitment, training and campaign management. The creative side was always something I really loved.

What do you enjoy most about the creative side of fundraising?

Storytelling. For me, it’s always been about telling stories rather than bombarding people with information. One of my proudest creative moments was developing a call guide for an air ambulance campaign based on a real supporter story. A man shared his experience after a motorbike accident, and we built the campaign messaging around that human experience.

I remember sending the copy back to him for approval, and his feedback was really positive. That stayed with me because it reminded me how powerful stories can be. When you’re writing supporter journeys or call guides, you’re thinking about how somebody feels on the other end of the phone. That human side matters.

What attracted you to Zen Fundraising?

The focus on ethics and protecting supporters really stood out to me because it aligns with how I think fundraising should feel. There’s a strong emphasis here on relationships and supporter care.

What also excited me was the opportunity to grow something and think about how telephone fundraising can work alongside face-to-face fundraising as part of a wider supporter journey.

For smaller charities, especially, there’s often a real opportunity to help create positive supporter experiences without needing lots of separate internal resources to manage it all.

How do you see telefundraising fitting into modern fundraising?

Supporter expectations have definitely changed a lot. People want flexibility and transparency. They want to feel connected. One important thing is to mix up the supporter journey a little more. Not every interaction should be about asking for money or the impact people make as a collective.  Sometimes, it's a more personalised thank-you call, a welcome call, or simply checking in with someone and helping them feel part of the cause they’ve chosen to support.

Some charities do this really well already, while others may need support shaping those journeys. A good example is event fundraising. Somebody signs up for something like the London Marathon and receives a pack in the post, but a simple phone call asking how their training is going can completely change how connected they feel. It’s all about the touchpoints - they really matter!

Too often, fundraising journeys can become predictable - acquisition, upgrade, reactivation - and supporters can start to feel like part of a process rather than a mission.

At the end of the day, people care enough to sign up in the first place. If they later cancel, it’s important to consider that experience from their perspective and ask how we can help them continue to feel connected.

What do you think people misunderstand about telefundraising?

There are still some misconceptions that it’s forceful or overly aggressive, but the sector has evolved enormously over the years. Today, there are far more regulations, stronger standards, and much clearer consent processes for supporters, especially post-GDPR.

Most telephone fundraising activities now involve people who already have a legitimate interest in a charity or who have actively opted in to hear from them. That changes the experience completely.

When it’s done properly, telefundraising can feel very personal and supportive. They can create space for conversations in ways many channels can’t.

What excites you most moving forward?

The opportunity to build something. I think there’s huge potential in bringing together different fundraising channels, so that supporters experience a single joined-up journey rather than disconnected interactions.

Fundraising works best when people feel appreciated and part of something. That’s something I’m really excited to continue developing at Zen.

At Zen Fundraising, we believe supporter relationships are built through trust, empathy and meaningful conversations. As we continue to grow our telephone fundraising offering, we’re excited to bring Spenser’s experience and perspective to that journey. 

Welcome to Team Zen, Spenser!