About Lightful
Supporting nonprofits to tell their stories, build trust and raise funds
Through our unique, purpose-built BRIDGE programmes we help donors maximise their impact and provide nonprofits with the skills and tools to build trust, raise awareness and grow funds online
Lightful supports the nonprofit sector to thrive right now, and to secure its future
Our vision is a future where nonprofits have the power to create more equitable communities and a healthier planet.
Our mission is to help nonprofits become better storytellers, build trust and raise more money.
Lightful helps nonprofits develop the digital skills and confidence needed to tell compelling stories, build trust, and raise more money. We partner with individual and institutional donors to provide nonprofits all over the world with purpose-built online tools, practical advice, and tailored training.
How we got here
2015
Lightful founded to help nonprofits tell their stories, build trust and raise funds
2016
Social media management tool - the Lightful Social Platform - launched to help nonprofits deliver high-impact campaigns
2017
Lightful Solutions opened to scale the reach of our services
2018
Launch of BRIDGE (Building resilience in digital growth and engagement), our flagship Lightful Learning programme
2019
Our #ReclaimSocial social campaign kicked off, to support the use of social for good
2020
Achieved B Corp status and launched a COVID 19 response BRIDGE programme helping increase funds raised by 64%
2021
Lightful is voted one of Escape the City's Top 100 companies to work for
2022
Lightful pivots to focus on the rapidly increasing demand for Learning, expanding BRIDGE syllabus into French and Spanish
2023
BRIDGE has supported over 2,000 organisations, from 80+ countries
Who we are
Why we started Lightful
In 2015, Lightful was launched by Vinay Nair, Johnny Murnane and Carlos Miranda. Three friends who all had different exposure to the social sector, they all realised the same thing - social and environmental change organisations were not able to adapt quickly enough to benefit as the online world emerged and expanded.
They founders had various backgrounds in impact investing, tech and consulting with the charity sector. They would work with incredible nonprofits, but when they engaged with them online, their websites and social media presence didn’t do justice to the power and impact of their organisation. So, they founded Lightful to fill these critical gaps and remove barriers that can hinder progress and change.
The early years
The early years
Before evolving into Lightful (pre-2015), we were a YouTube certified multi-channel network (MCN) known as Thunderboom. Our original intention was to help charities and nonprofits of all shapes and sizes monetise their video content. In those days, Vinay, Johnny and Carlos worked closely with another partner - digital music pioneer, Scott Cohen.
Things changed - as they do - and we eventually pivoted. We left our MCN ambitions behind, Scott pursued other digital content ventures, and we launched our now award-winning Lightful Social Platform. At that time, the company became known as Lightful.
From there we grew our consultancy services - now Lightful Solutions - and developed a comprehensive 12-month course to equip charities with the digital skills and capabilities they need to become more resilient - Lightful Learning's BRIDGE programme.
The present
The present
Through lockdown, the global pandemic and economic uncertainty, we worked hard to keep delivering for our partners and ensuring Lightful is a rewarding place to work, supporting our teams to embrace hybrid working.
To preserve our sense of community and foster connections between staff, we have made great efforts to adapt to remote working and improve our internal communication, support and our strategy.
Demand grew steadily during the pandemic, and shows no signs of abating as the world encounters multiple crises and we have continued to generate outcomes for our partners and impact in the nonprofit sector.
Our values
Our values are not just words on a page, but concepts that we live and enact every day:
We care deeply
We're always learning
We communicate intentionally
We build trust
Lightful in the news
We are proud to be a Certified B Corporation®
B Corps are businesses that meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
At Lightful, we put impact at the forefront of everything we do. Our exceptional team works day in day out with amazing clients across a whole spectrum of social and environmental causes. You can learn more about the B Corp movement here.
We are Cyber Essentials certified - guaranteeing your safety
Cyber Essentials is a UK government standard meaning you can trust us that your data and activity will remain secure.
Our systems, policies and processes ensure round-the-clock data protection, and we have the credentials to demonstrate our ability to protect ourselves against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.
With Lightful as your partner, you can be confident your technology project is in safe hands. You can find our Cyber Essentials verification here.
We are approved on the UK Government’s Digital Marketplace
We are accredited with the UK Government’s Digital Marketplace - a framework to ease and enhance procurement of information and cloud computing technologies - and offer a range of services to Government and Public Sector organisations.
Meet (some of) the team
Contact us
Want to learn more?
Email Steve and start a conversation
