About Heleen Mills – Marketing, Fundraising & Growth Strategy

 

I’m Heleen 👋🏽 a growth marketer and see marketing as a revenue job. Awareness and campaigns only count if they turn into donations, bookings, members or sales (and keep turning into them next year.)

I'm based in Cape Town and have spent the past 15 years working across Africa and the US. I’m a senior communications consultant at the World Bank Group and take on extra clients each year.

Previously, at The Sarara Foundation and Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya, I grew online donations from US$30K to more than US$1M a year. I also built an elephant adoption programme that brought in over US$600K a year on its own. I ran marketing at Gone Outdoor (Patagonia), some of South Africa’s biggest events, and hospitality groups.

 
Let's connect
A woman in a white shirt is giving a presentation in front of an audience. She is holding a microphone and gesturing with her hand. There is a laptop on a clear podium beside her. A large screen behind her displays a slide with the text "COMMUNITIES
Two women standing side by side in front of an informational display about Reteti's orphans, with several posters featuring elephants and local scenes, inside a structure with wooden slats.
Group of diverse people participating in a charity run on a city pier, holding blue banners with water and sanitation symbols, with Tower Bridge in the background.
Three women standing together outdoors, smiling, with a rural background including a wooden structure and trees.
Three people outdoors, two women and one man, looking at a map or pamphlet during a daylight trail run or hike.
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A woman kneeling on the ground, engaged in conversation with two children in an outdoor setting. The woman is smiling and gesturing with her hands. The children, one boy and one girl, are smiling back at the woman. The background features a wooden fe
A woman and a man walking through a dry, desert landscape with sparse trees and tents, mountains in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
A woman petting a baby elephant while holding a milk bottle labeled 'Ladokkelek' in a zoo or wildlife reserve with other elephants and trees in the background.
Two men dressed in traditional Maasai attire, standing outdoors in a semi-arid landscape, one holding a spear and both wearing beadwork and elaborate headgear with feathers.
Two Maasai men in traditional attire showing a smartphone to a blonde woman sitting at a table with a laptop inside a thatched-roof structure with trees in the background.
Three people in a boat by the water, examining something on a phone, with cloudy sky above.
A large group of students and a woman posing with a blue banner that reads '6 CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION' inside a hall or auditorium, celebrating a campaign or event for water and sanitation.
Five people standing close together, posing for a photo against a blue background. They are smiling and appear to be at a formal event.
A woman gently touching an elephant's face in a natural, wooded setting.
Three Maasai women walking across a dry, grassy landscape with sparse trees and mountains in the background, dressed in colorful traditional clothing and jewelry.
A woman laughs as she talks to a man in traditional Maasai attire, including a headpiece with spikes and colorful jewelry, in a savannah landscape with trees and mountains in the background.
A diverse group of seven people standing together outdoors in a savannah setting with two vehicles, smiling at the camera.
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What I Do

I help organisations grow their income, and their audience. That means thinking like a commercial lead and working like a hands-on marketer.

  • Growth strategy tied to revenue targets, not vanity metrics

  • Digital fundraising and online sales: donation pages, checkout, email journeys

  • Brand positioning and storytelling that gives people a reason to buy or give

  • The systems that let growth scale: CRM, automation, analytics, Ai

  • Recurring income: adoption, membership and monthly giving programmes

  • Campaigns that sell out: launches, events, Giving Tuesday and year-end appeals

  • Building and coaching teams, and managing agencies

  • Turning programme data into impact stories for donors and boards

A woman filling a water container from a water source in a rural area, with two local women observing and smiling, surrounded by dry landscape and sparse trees.

Who It’s For

Organisations at a growth point, where marketing needs to start paying its way.

  • Nonprofits raising US$50K–$20M a year that rely on a few big donors and need a wider base

  • Conservation organisations, and the lodges and tourism businesses that fund them

  • Event and outdoor brands that want to sell out, then grow

  • Social enterprises balancing mission and commercial growth

  • Development programmes that need to show results to funders

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How I Work

I work flexibly across strategy, fundraising, communications, and digital growth; either as a long-term partner or on focused projects and campaign. Strategy and delivery from the same person.

I've led teams across Kenya, the US and South Africa, run events with budgets up to US$250K, and managed PR, design and events agencies.

You can bring me in for:

  • Fractional head of marketing, a few days a month

  • Campaign strategy and delivery

  • Systems support: I can help build your marketing and fundraising backend systems, agents and CRMs

  • Growth and online giving audits

  • Digital marketing, storytelling and social media support

  • Team workshops and training (like African Parks' digital fundraising workshop)

Let’s connect

Looking for support with communications, fundraising, campaigns, or growth strategy?

Let's set up a call
Group of diverse professionals at the 2025 SADC Sustainable Finance Forum, seated and standing on stage with a blue backdrop featuring logos of sponsors.
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Group of seven people standing in front of a safari vehicle in a dry, savannah landscape with scattered trees and mountains in the background.
Two women standing in front of an informational display about Reteti's orphan elephants, with posters showing elephants and local scenes.
A diverse group of nine professionals standing in front of blue IFC banners at a conference or event.
A woman and a man walking in a dry, desert landscape with sparse trees and tents. Mountain range is visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
A woman giving a presentation on social media to an audience, with a slide showing ‘Communities’ and ‘Social Media’ and a photo of people walking outdoors.
Two Maasai men in traditional attire showing a smartphone to a seated woman with a laptop, in a thatched hut with trees outside.
Group of ten people standing together at an event with blue banners in the background that display the logos for IFC and Green Banking Africa, smiling and posing for the photo. They are dressed in business or business casual attire and wearing name t