A heartfelt farewell and thank you!

An era in UK charity fundraising has come to an end with the retirement — after 40 years in the sector — of donorflex founder and Managing Director Brian Todd, and his wife Judith, who had devoted 35 years to the software company’s diverse client base.

Brian’s background in data management and analysis offers a clue to the building blocks of that achievement. But the credentials that brought him into the charity sector were his deep roots in the music industry.

They led to an invitation from then Birmingham Daily News, in 1985, to join the growing list of West Midlands artists and celebrities — led by ELO’s Richard Tandy and David Morgan and Jeff Lynne, among others — who created the Action! record project, to raise awareness and hard cash for the fledgling West Midlands Children’s Hospice Trust (WMCHT), later to become Acorns Children’s Hospice.

That blossoming connection with WMCHT drew Brian and his brother-in-law, Ian Nicholas, to develop the computer-based, core record-keeping and fundraising intelligence system that was essential to account for Acorns’ charitable income.

In 1988, Brian (as Managing Director) and Ian (as Technical Director) created donorflex. Judith, a former Physics lecturer and consultant with Capgemini, joined as Client Services Director in 1991 to cement a family feel that inspired and sustained relationships with many UK hospices, and other causes across the spectrum.

In the 40 years since, the reputation donorflex earned for working closely with client organisations has gone from strength to strength. The continuous development of donorflex included the optional and unique fully integrated raffle and lottery functionality, which saw the birth of ‘Keep the Change’ which is now widely adopted in lottery administration.

The donorflex team — and the hundreds of causes they support — sadly lost Ian, who passed away in February 2022. Now, Brian and Judith are heading into a well-deserved retirement reflecting on a proud legacy of four decades in which the donorflex system has stewarded billions of pounds for hundreds of causes and millions of beneficiaries.

Now the era has come to an end, and another has begun. That legacy lives on. Please join us in wishing Brian and Judith a long, happy, and fulfilling retirement. Their impact will be felt for many years to come. 💙