Bigfoot Retreat 2026: Learning, Reflecting and Looking Ahead.

Bigfoot Retreat 2026: Learning, Reflecting and Looking Ahead

Every now and then, it’s important to step away from the day-to-day, take stock of where you’ve been and create some space to think about where you’re going next.

Recently, the Bigfoot team headed to the Hunter Valley for a couple of days of learning, reflection, planning and team connection. After a huge year (including delivering our largest-ever number of Tax Appeal campaigns) the retreat gave us an opportunity to unpack what we’ve learned, challenge how we work and explore where digital fundraising is heading next.

Across the retreat, the team shared insights on everything from campaign performance and fundraising benchmarks to AI and SEO, donor retention, lead generation and our internal ways of working.

And, because balance is important, there was also plenty of time to unwind, share a few laughs and enjoy the Hunter Valley together. As Jenna put it, there may have been “a few sore heads and a fair amount of wine consumed”, but it was a brilliant couple of days combining learning and planning with some well-earned downtime.

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So, let's hear a bit more about what the team took away from it all…

Indi: Looking Beyond Acquisition

For Indi, one of the biggest themes was how Bigfoot can continue to innovate for clients without losing sight of optimising the strategies already delivering results. That means exploring new opportunities across digital while continuing to interrogate performance, understand donor behaviour and improve the experience for supporters over time.

One area that particularly stood out was the changing role of SEO as AI-powered search becomes more commonplace. The retreat provided an opportunity to look at how the structure and experience of a website can reduce friction for potential donors and help organisations remain discoverable in a changing search environment.

Indi is also excited about the potential of lead generation through Meta Messenger, particularly as a way of creating more meaningful interactions with prospective supporters while acquiring leads cost-effectively.

But her biggest takeaway for creating greater client impact was longer-term thinking: better tracking of donor retention, behaviour and value so we can identify gaps and build stronger donor experiences.

“Retention isn't just a stewardship objective. It's one of the biggest revenue growth opportunities available to our clients.”

Jeremy: Retention Is Where the Value Is

For Jeremy, this was Bigfoot’s best retreat yet.

The combination of well-prepared sessions, open conversations and time spent genuinely enjoying each other’s company created the right environment to think more deeply about Bigfoot’s next phase.

Two strategic themes stood out in particular: retention and donor journeys need to become a greater priority, while Google’s growing strength as a PPC channel creates another significant opportunity for clients.

The retreat also created space for some robust conversations about how Bigfoot itself operates. Everything was discussed, from team structure and resource allocation to the processes we use to manage projects and clients. Those discussions helped identify opportunities to streamline how we work and ultimately spend more time delivering value for clients.

Jeremy’s takeaway for the future was simple:

“Retention is where the value is.”

The opportunity now is to keep moving towards a multi-channel, long-term and retention-led approach to digital fundraising.

Jenna: Turning a Big Tax Season into Better Fundraising

After supporting Bigfoot’s largest-ever number of Tax clients, Jenna saw the retreat as an important opportunity to consolidate everything we had learned and identify what should be carried forward into future appeals and client onboarding.

One of her biggest learnings was around fundraising benchmarks and how external benchmarks can be combined with our own campaign data to give clients greater context around performance. This moves beyond simply asking “Did this campaign perform well?” to understanding why, and where the next opportunity lies.

Looking ahead, Jenna is particularly excited about continuing to evolve our approach to Meta audience and creative testing, including exploring broader targeting and applying audience insights gathered across the Tax Appeal season.

But like many of the team, her thinking kept coming back to what happens after someone first gives.

“Bigger impact comes from understanding what happens beyond the first donation.”

Better visibility of second-gift rates, lifetime value and longer-term donor behaviour will allow us to make stronger recommendations across both acquisition and retention, and ultimately understand the true impact of the campaigns we deliver.

Maria: Seeing the Whole Digital Picture

For Maria, one of the strongest reminders from the retreat was deceptively simple: think mobile first.

Most supporters are consuming content on their phones, yet so much campaign planning and development still happens on laptops. Her takeaway was that we need to continually shift our perspective and assess the experience from the donor’s point of view, and the device they’re actually using.

The retreat also reinforced the importance of treating digital fundraising as one connected ecosystem. EDMs, direct mail, Meta, Google Ads, landing pages and brand shouldn't operate independently; each touchpoint should complement the next.

That integrated thinking was evident in Bigfoot’s recent Tax season too, with the team successfully delivering nine Tax Appeal campaigns and achieving the goals for eight, something Maria attributes to collaboration, forward planning and organisation across the team.

And there’s something new on Maria’s list for Bigfoot itself: creating more social content and launching our Instagram channel to showcase more of our work, insights and culture.

Xander: Staying Curious in a Changing Digital Landscape

One of Xander’s biggest reflections was that no matter how much we know about digital fundraising, there is always something new to learn.

Digital continues to change quickly, and the retreat gave the team dedicated time to explore some of those shifts, particularly AI's impact on search and the potential for conversational lead generation through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

With Christmas 2026 approaching, Xander is keen to start applying what we know about AI search optimisation for clients, while looking ahead to opportunities to test Messenger-based lead generation over the coming year.

He also saw real value in simply having the space to discuss how we work together. Away from the demands of everyday client work, the team could have an open conversation about what’s working, what isn't and how our processes can become even more streamlined.

And his biggest strategic takeaway echoed a theme that came up again and again:

“Retention is where the value lies.”

Rather than focusing solely on constantly acquiring the next donor, Xander sees an opportunity to put retention front-of-mind across more of the work we do, even amid the demands of the seasonal appeal cycle.

Taking It Back to Our Clients

While everyone came away with different ideas, there were some pretty clear themes running through the retreat.

We want to think further beyond the first donation. We want to better connect every channel and touchpoint. We want to keep testing emerging opportunities across AI, search, Meta and lead generation. And we want to keep improving the way we work together so we can spend more time focused on the things that create genuine value for our clients.

But perhaps most importantly, the retreat reinforced the value of making time to learn from one another.

Getting out of the day-to-day gave us space for honest conversations, new ideas and a chance to challenge some of our existing thinking, while also reminding us that we’re lucky to work alongside people whose company we genuinely enjoy.

We’ve come back with plenty of ideas, a few new priorities and a renewed focus on what Bigfoot is ultimately here to do: Create bigger impact through better digital.