As The Courtauld’s Director of Development, Francesca Hewitt is responsible for: Philanthropy and Partnerships, Membership, Alumni Engagement, Events and Venue Hire.
Francesca leads the fundraising for Courtauld Connects. Under her direction, the department raises vital funds to support The Courtauld’s core mission, including our academics, students, Gallery, public programmes, and growing our endowment as a sustainable source of funding.
From 2018 – 2020 she served as Director of Philanthropy Company, a consultancy specialising in fundraising and strategy for the non-profit sector, with specialism in arts, heritage and education. Here she worked with a range of national and international clients including the Royal Academy of Arts, The Manchester International Festival, The Mary Rose Trust and Te Papa.
Prior to this, Francesca served as Head of Development at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, leading the fundraising programme across all income streams resulting in £24m raised for the Museum. She was responsible for one of the most ambitious and successful arts endowment campaigns: the £50 million Ashmolean Fund, as well as fundraising for many other key projects, including a major £1.65m acquisition, numerous capital projects, education, conservation and the Ashmolean’s world-class exhibitions programme.
Francesca’s experience spans developing and growing Membership groups including Friends and Patrons, working with advisory and Trustee Boards, building individual and visitor giving streams, and raising major gifts from Trusts, Foundations and individuals and statutory funders.
Prior to the Ashmolean, she held fundraising roles across the third sector including as part of Oxford Thinking’s £3bn Campaign and at international and youth charities. At Plan International UK Francesca specialised in major gifts and at Ecologia Youth Trust she experienced first-hand grassroots work within the NGO community in Russia, supporting PR and fundraising, and helping to establish a sustainable fundraising office in Moscow for a local children’s charity, Kitezh Children’s Community. She later served on the Trustee Board of Ecologia Youth Trust. Having built expertise in child protection, human rights and education, Francesca is particularly passionate about applying that expertise across the sector and enabling charities to achieve their potential.
Her voluntary roles include mentoring early career fundraisers, and serving as a 2020 Committee Member for the Institute of Fundraising (Cultural Network Conference).
Francesca holds an MA from the University of Oxford.
