By this time last year, Juliane Caillouette Noble was genuinely worried about whether The Sustainable Restaurant Association (The SRA) could keep the lights on.
Now? They’ve just completed their first ever £1 million+ revenue year — and hit that target a month early.
What changed? Juliane and her team got really clear about who their ideal partners are. And that clarity has helped them transform not just their results, but how they approach almost everything.
I recently caught up with Juliane for the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, and what she shared about focus and strategy felt immediately useful for other charities and not for profits — especially if you’re trying to diversify income or grow partnerships.
Finding that focus
The SRA has always worked hard to support the hospitality sector in becoming more sustainable, most notably through their flagship sustainability certification, the Food Made Good Standard, available worldwide. But like many organisations in the social good sector, they sometimes found it hard to know where to focus their limited resources to make the biggest difference.
Their potential partners could be restaurants, hotels, cafés, bars, providers of school food, of hospital food — in the past, if it involved foodservice, they might have worked really hard to make a partnership fit.
Does this effort to fit sound familiar?
Inspired by an idea about strategic focus from a Bright Spot training day, Juliane and her team got clearer as to what their ideal partners look like, irrespective of what area of the hospitality sector they work in.
They realised that their ideal partners are aspirational and ambitious, no matter what type of hospitality they provide.
This clarity has helped enormously. The reach of The SRA could remain broad, but that did not mean that it was for everyone. For instance, rather than targeting all chain restaurants, they could focus on businesses like Nando’s, with their genuine commitment to being a brilliant employer; Eurostar’s catering team with congruent and ambitious sustainability goals; a Mexican chef going the extra mile to preserve local food traditions; and certain hotel chains that are serious about sustainability.
The business was no longer contorting itself to fit with anyone who was talking about the issues. Now, the team could spot — and attract — partners who truly fit.
Clarity helped diversify and reduce risk.
In 2023, one corporate partner contributed 46% of The SRA’s annual income. When that partnership ended, the organisation was facing a potential crisis.
Juliane knew they needed a diverse portfolio, where no single partner represented more than 8% of revenue. Getting clear on who their ideal partners were made that diversity possible. They now work with businesses in 41 countries and territories — and if one partnership ends, they’re not scrambling for survival.
How to keep believing when it’s tough
I asked Juliane how she found the energy to keep going during the hardest times in the last few years since the pandemic. Her answer was revealing.
First, she reconnected every day with why sustainability in the hospitality sector is so crucial, and how her organisation makes a big difference to this.
Second, she deliberately used the “test drive mentality” — another approach she took from the Bright Spot training. Instead of putting enormous pressure on every conversation to bring immediate financial results, she focused on nurturing relationships. In particular, she continued to focus on having as many conversations as possible with people who care about the mission.
Dreaming big, making it real
Following the Bright Spot session two years ago with Ben Swart, which focused on identifying “dream partners”, Juliane had cut out a photo of a leading sustainability evangelist in Mexico, chef Enrique Olvera. To keep it front of mind, she stuck it on the office pinboard.
For two years, that photo has remained there, gently inspiring them to do what they could to nurture a relationship.
Last December, she happened to be in Mexico City with her family. A message came through from Olvera’s restaurant, asking if anyone was available to meet in person. Juliane went to meet Olvera’s team for coffee.
That coffee led to a partnership — and that partnership recently saw Enrique hosting a breakfast event at his restaurant, where hospitality leaders from across Mexico City gathered to talk about sustainability. He is helping to build a movement.
How could you use this?
If you’re stretched thin, and feeling demoralised from trying to appeal to every potential supporter or partner… or if you’re overly dependent on one or two relationships, Juliane’s experience might prompt you to ask: What do our ideal funders look like? How could we spend more resources finding, attracting and nurturing those relationships?
You can listen to my full conversation with Juliane here on the Fundraising Bright Spots podcast, where she shares more about the practical ways this increased clarity helped turn things around.
If you’d like your team to benefit from similar insights and practical strategies, find out more about Bright Spot training for fundraising teams here.
What would it mean for your fundraising if you could describe your ideal supporter in just two or three words?
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