About
Lisa Johnston is the founder and Managing Director of Bid Buddy, and provides all consultancy support for clients.
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Lisa has over twenty years’ experience in the voluntary and community sector, along with experience in housing, health consultancy and public engagement. For most of her career, she has been helping organisations to sustain, grow and transform.
Prior to launching Bid Buddy, Lisa held senior business development and strategy positions with four UK national charities, as well as supporting hundreds of smaller charities and social enterprises in her work with federated and membership organisations.
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Over the course of her career she has raised well over £150 million in statutory and contract income from local and national government, NHS and trusts and grant funders.
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Her experience includes writing and managing hundreds of bids and funding applications, as well as providing critical friend support on hundreds more.
Lisa also has expertise in defining bid strategy, developing and implementing income generation and growth strategies, market assessment and "got to market" strategies; as well as writing cases for support, building consortiums and partnerships and negotiating with funders.
Lisa is an APMP certified Proposal Manager, and has PG Cert in Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy, as well as being a 2025 Senior Fundraising Fellow. ng with funders.
Services
Fundraising and income generation can be a lonely place. Rising cost pressures, increased competition and diminishing funds are the reality Chief Executives have to deal with every day whilst managing ongoing operations.
Bid Buddy is here to help smaller charities, social enterprises and SMEs deal with the challenges of income generation.
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We offer accessible and cost-effective bid support so charities and social enterprises across the UK can have access to extensive income generation expertise, providing practical, actionable advice and an empathetic coach during funding application processes.
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Whether it's your first time bidding for contracts, you want to break into a new market or you are looking for funding opportunities, Bid Buddy is here to help.
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Not sure what help you need? Get in touch for a chat.
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Bid Buddy - fixed price £695
15 hours of structured, straightforward and actionable bid support for busy
charities, social enterprises and SMEs.
Includes:
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Fact find call
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2 x draft bid reviews
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Full final draft review and compliance check
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Ongoing support and coaching
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Bid management & writing
End to end bid management and writing.
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Bid / no bid assessment
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Full content development
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2 x reviews for clients
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Tactical advice
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Clarifications and presentation support
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Other fundraising / income generation support
Not sure where to start with your income generation? Bid Buddy also offers:
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Help getting bid / funding ready
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Market assessment (contracts) or prospect research (fundraising)
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Training
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Support and supervision for solo fundraisers / Business Development professionals ​
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Client Stories
Health tech founder contract success
Client
Our health tech client had developed an innovative health improvement app for children.
Challenge
The founder needed support to access local authority and NHS contracts. With no prior contracting experience but a significant potential pipeline of opportunities, we needed to get them bid ready to compete against established players.
Our support
Our structured, supportive approach included a bid readiness assessment, policy and process development and helped the client to navigate a variety of market engagement processes. Once the first tender went live, Bid Buddy developed complete tender responses and offered ongoing coaching, advice and tactical support to submit a fully compliant and responsive bid.
Outcome
Our client won the first contract they bid for, worth £124,000 / year. Together, we have applied for further contract and framework opportunities and have several more applications planned.
Online safety charity capacity building
Client
An established online safety charity considering their future sustainability options.
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Challenge
Digital safety threats are evolving rapidly, requiring expanded programming and resources.
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Our support
We carried out comprehensive prospect research identifying relevant funding opportunities across trusts, government and corporate foundations. Bid Buddy developed compelling cases for support and wrote major grant and government funding applications. Recognising the charity’s need for ongoing and reactive bid writing, Bid Buddy supported the induction and training of a new bid writer.
Outcome
The client secured central government grant funding of £460k. Their new Bid Writer has a pipeline of opportunities to pursue, supported by ongoing supervision and an extra pair of bid writing hands from Bid Buddy when necessary.
Sarah, Charity CEO
“In a small organisation the work needed to keep a service going on top of writing a tender response is a real challenge. We really benefited from a fresh pair of eyes when we were writing our tender response. Sometimes you can be too close to your service to actually describe it fully. Lisa’s knowledge and experience was really very useful”
Ramzan, Founder
"Working alongside Lisa has been an absolute pleasure. Very rarely do you come across someone who cares about the human and ethical approach to business. We share the vision of making meaningful change, and that comes across in all of Lisa's bid writing – for the first time ever, our message is truly landing with decision-makers.
Lisa is diligent, professional, and always punctual. When deadlines loom, I don't worry because she's already several steps ahead. Beyond her exceptional bid writing skills, Lisa's experience shines through in strategic guidance that extends far beyond the tender itself. She's an invaluable asset for any entrepreneur or start-up seeking to grow with integrity and impact."
Sophie, Charity leader
"Lisa's success in bids and tenders made a real difference to us and we are grateful for her continued support."