A Day in the Life of: A Corporate Fundraiser

Ever considered a role as a corporate fundraiser? We caught up with Charlotte Webster, Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Sick Children’s Trust, to find out what’s involved.

What does a Corporate Fundraiser do?  

A corporate fundraiser’s aims are to increase donations and income from businesses by building relationships with them and developing partnerships that meet their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) objectives.

Corporate fundraisers raise funds by motivating businesses to take on challenges, hold fundraising events, volunteer, or take up sponsorship opportunities.

What skills do you need for the role? 

You need to present yourself well, be confident, and able to network and forge strong relationships.

It’s important to have good writing skills, and a good grasp of business acumen.

Being organised and flexible also helps, as working with businesses can be challenging!

What does a typical day look like for you?

It always starts with coffee!

I start by checking emails and my diary for anything urgent.

I might then spend the morning contacting current corporate partners to get them involved in our latest fundraising initiatives.

Pre-COVID, I might have gone to meet a corporate at one of our houses to show them around or oversee a corporate volunteering group who are helping at a house.

Most days I have internal meetings to discuss plans and catch up with other departments. For example, corporate fundraising often crosses over with events and marketing.

I might then spend an hour updating the strategy, looking at income re-forecasting, or writing a report for a trustees’ meeting.

In the afternoon I might work on an application for corporate funding or presentation slides for a meeting the next day.

I also dedicate time each day to exploring new business opportunities.

There’s often a lot of juggling, as priorities change as the day progresses.

What’s the best thing about your job? 

I like that every day is different. I also enjoy getting out and about meeting people. I like making connections, developing imaginative fundraising ideas, and inspiring businesses to support us.

It’s really satisfying building great relationships with businesses and managing partnerships from the early stages to the end of the partnership.

More often than not, companies raise more than their original target. It’s great to be able to show them the tangible impact they have on the families we support.

What’s the most challenging thing about your job? 

Corporate fundraising has been challenging over the past two years, with employees working from home and events being cancelled. It’s had a significant impact on income.

I’ve had to adapt and adjust to find different ways to engage with corporates, such as switching to virtual events and challenges.

On a positive note, we received some incredible donations during 2020.

What advice would you give a budding Corporate Fundraiser? 

There are a lot of great charities and causes out there, so really think about who you want to work for and why.

You need to be passionate about the cause to ‘sell in’ the charity to corporates.

Charlotte is Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity that gives families a comfortable, free place to stay when their sick children are in hospital.

A Day in the Life of a Major Donor Fundraiser

One of the lesser-known fundraising roles is that of the Major Donor Fundraiser.

Sian Welfare, Philanthropy Officer at the MS Society, tells us what the role consists of…

What does a Major Donor Fundraiser do?

As a major donor fundraiser, my role is to secure large gifts for the charity.

A ‘major gift’ will vary from charity to charity, but at the MS Society, we class anything over £5,000 as a major donation.

There are three main facets to the role:

• Managing and cultivating relationships with new and existing donors, ensuring that they are kept up-to-date with relevant news, and reporting back on the impact their gifts are making. We call this stewardship.

• Working closely with Senior Volunteers by supporting their asks, discussing strategies, and exploring their networks

• Maintaining and developing my understanding of the cause I’m raising funds for 

What skills would you say are essential for the role?

Interpersonal skills are key (with internal and external stakeholders). You need to be able to talk to people from all walks of life. Also, asking for money can be a daunting prospect, but a solid relationship with the donor can make the ask easier.

Also, creativity is important. Sometimes, I need to come up with new and imaginative ways to ensure supporters remain interested, such as special events, new styles of communication etc.

The ability to write emotively and creatively is beneficial when contacting supporters.

You also need to have the drive to continue learning, as it never stops!

What does a typical day look like for you?

There isn’t one! I can do anything from writing a proposal, to meeting a supporter for a coffee, to coming up with a special thank you to acknowledge a donor’s support. Every day is different.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Making a difference to the MS community and sharing with donors the impact that their support has enabled.

What’s the most challenging thing about your job?

Some financial asks can take up to 18 months to solicit, which makes it incredibly hard to forward-plan.

What advice would you give a budding Major Donor Fundraiser?

Be prepared for rejection – it happens. But when you secure a significant gift, all the hard work is worth it! 

About Multiple Sclerosis

Sian works for the MS Society, the UK’s largest charity for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis.

For the uninitiated, Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition (which means it affects the nerves).

With MS, the body’s immune system attacks the nerves that control various parts of the body. The symptoms and their severity vary from person to person. Common symptoms include muscle stiffness and spasms, numbness or tingling in different parts of the body, blurred vision or blindness, and problems with balance and coordination.

Some people with MS end up in a wheelchair or bedridden. Others have minor symptoms and live an ordinary life.

Find out more on the MS website. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/

A day in the life of a Community Fundraiser

Wondering what a Community Fundraiser does?

We caught up with Cathy Coulthard, Community and Events Development Manager at Home-Start Royston, Buntingford & South Cambridgeshire, to get the lowdown.

What does a Community Fundraiser do?

Being a community fundraiser means getting out into the community and raising the profile of the charity through face-to-face interaction, putting on large and small-scale events, organising activities for local people, and making sure the charity is known about.

The charity I work for is very localised (geographically, we cover a 50-mile stretch over the Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire border), so our community is like a family.

Some community fundraisers work at a national level, but the same things apply: community fundraising is about engaging with people from all walks of life, and the key to doing it successfully is to enjoy it.

What skills would you say are essential for the role?

Being organised, approachable, flexible, and ready to do absolutely anything!

What does a typical day look like for you?

Generally, it starts with three cups of tea and the school run!

Once that’s dealt with, every day is different.

I might spend an hour designing posters or promoting social media posts, then another hour on a stall selling homemade cakes and cups of tea. Then I’ll be online, creating an interactive puzzle to sell as a fundraising activity, write a finance report for our board of trustees, and finish off chairing a meeting about fundraising activities for the next financial year.

It’s a rollercoaster!

What’s the best thing about your job?

The variety of activities I get involved in. From organising a marathon and selling Christmas cards to holding a collection tin in the market square and launching a pop-up tea shop – there really is nothing we don’t do!

What’s the most challenging thing about your job?

Making money! Fundraising through community events, especially in the last 18 months when most public activities have been cancelled or vastly reduced, is challenging. But sometimes it’s not about the financial gain. Sometimes it’s about making connections or creating a good impression. So one day in the future, someone I once spoke to will suddenly remember and – hey presto! There’s that donation we’ve been looking for.

What advice would you give a budding Community Fundraiser?

Volunteer first. Most charities would love to have a volunteer community fundraiser on board (I know I would) and there’s no better way to learn how to do it.

Cathy works for Home-Start Royston, Buntingford & South Cambridgeshire. (Home-Start) is a voluntary charitable organisation that offers practical and emotional support to families with at least one child aged nine or under.

They help families from all backgrounds through their most challenging times because childhood can’t wait. https://www.hsrsc.org.uk