David Lema

I help charities, CICs and social enterprises build stronger funding systems by turning scattered organisational knowledge into structured, reusable Funding Knowledge Bases.

Many organisations already hold the information they need for strong grant applications, but it is often spread across old bids, reports, spreadsheets, emails, CRM systems and people’s heads. This makes each application harder than it needs to be. Teams lose time rebuilding answers from scratch, useful evidence gets missed, and applications can become inconsistent from one funder to the next.

My work focuses on solving that problem at the source. I help organisations organise their existing funding information, evidence of need, impact data, project descriptions, case for support material and past application content into a practical system that can be reused and improved over time. The aim is not just to write one better application, but to strengthen the organisation’s funding readiness and internal capability.

I bring together over 15 years’ experience across corporate planning, financial management, Salesforce, software delivery, CRM implementation and project bid writing with hands-on fundraising and systems work in the voluntary sector. This includes implementing Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud and supporting a community interest company across fundraising, finance, reporting, grant applications and operational development.

Through Grant Resource Studio, I support organisations that want to stop starting from scratch and build a clearer, more consistent foundation for future funding. Although the work often begins with grant applications, the same structured knowledge can also support donor communications, partnerships, impact reporting, commissioning, corporate funding and wider organisational storytelling.

Clients

Grant Resource Studio is built for UK charities, CICs, community organisations and social enterprises that are tired of starting from scratch with every funding application.

I work best with small to medium-sized organisations, often with 2–20 staff, where delivery is strong but funding information is scattered across old applications, reports, spreadsheets, CRM systems, email threads and individual knowledge. These are often organisations that apply regularly for grants, spend 10–20+ hours on each application, rewrite the same information again and again, struggle with inconsistent submissions, or want to make better use of AI but cannot because their underlying information is not organised.

My core client experience has been with Early Years Cocoon CIC, a grassroots early-years and family-support organisation in Barking & Dagenham. I first supported the organisation as a volunteer and now work with it on a freelance basis across fundraising, finance, Salesforce, reporting and organisational systems. This has included implementing Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, strengthening grant application processes, improving funding information management, and helping develop the reusable Funding Knowledge Base approach that now sits behind Grant Resource Studio.

This work is particularly relevant for organisations that have outgrown informal founder-led knowledge, but are not yet ready for large consultancy retainers or dedicated internal fundraising infrastructure. I am especially interested in working with community-led organisations, children and family services, grassroots CICs, social enterprises and small charities where better systems can release more time and energy for delivery.

Qualifications

My formal background combines business, marketing, technology delivery and CRM systems.

I hold a Master of Arts in Marketing with Distinction from London Metropolitan University and a Diploma in Media and Business Studies from the Fachhochschule des Mittelstandes, University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld, Germany. I also completed the Blockchain for Business Professional Certificate Programme through edX.

I hold several Salesforce and delivery certifications, including Salesforce Certified Administrator, Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant, Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant, Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder, and Professional Scrum Master I. These qualifications support my work designing practical systems, improving organisational information flows, and helping teams use technology more effectively.

Alongside formal qualifications, much of my relevant expertise has been developed through applied work. I have led and supported Salesforce implementations, planning and reporting processes, CRM adoption, dashboard development, forecasting workflows, bid contributions, fundraising systems, financial management and grant application processes across both corporate and nonprofit settings.

My current work through Grant Resource Studio builds on this combination of systems, finance, fundraising and operational experience. I use these skills to help organisations structure their knowledge, strengthen grant readiness, improve consistency across applications, and build practical Funding Knowledge Bases that can be reused across fundraising, reporting, partnerships and wider organisational communication.

Experience

I bring over 15 years’ experience across corporate planning, financial management, CRM, Salesforce delivery, operational systems and project bid writing.

Before moving into self-employment, I worked in corporate planning and technology consultancy roles across Panasonic, Unatrac and Accenture. At Panasonic, I worked on planning, forecasting, reporting, Salesforce adoption and business analysis. At Unatrac, I supported the rollout of Salesforce to 800 users across 11 countries and helped improve sales process management, KPIs, dashboards and forecasting. At Accenture, I progressed to Manager level within the Salesforce Business Group, leading delivery teams and workstreams on large-scale customer and systems transformation projects, while also contributing to bids for new client work.

Since 2020, I have supported Early Years Cocoon CIC, first as a volunteer and later as Fundraising, Finance & IT Manager. This has included implementing Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, supporting grant applications, strengthening financial processes, improving reporting, and helping the organisation organise and reuse its funding information more effectively.

This work became the basis for Grant Resource Studio, where I now support non-profits to build reusable Funding Knowledge Bases. My approach combines practical fundraising insight with systems thinking: helping organisations capture evidence, clarify their case for support, improve the quality and consistency of applications, and reduce reliance on fragmented documents or individual memory.

I am particularly interested in working with small and medium-sized charities, CICs and social enterprises that have strong delivery but need better funding infrastructure behind the scenes.