Fear doesn't exist anywhere but in the mind...

Hello! Welcome back =)

Word of warning, I started writing this post at the beginning of July - I got a little side tracked!!!

Once again going off topic, this post was inspired by me revisiting a fear that many people share, including myself a number of years ago.
I will talk about what this fear was and how I conquered it, and then talk about another fear many of us share, and how my experiences have led me to now enjoy facing my fears almost to the point of becoming an addiction.
A huge part of a role as a Fundraising Manager is to represent your organisation in a wide variety of ways. One feared by many is that of public speaking, particularly to a large audience. Up until about 4 years ago, I very much hated public speaking. I didn't have any confidence in my ability, I was scared of the audience's response, and the nerves meant I was often rushed and garbled in saying what I had to say. All in all, it was an awful experience for me.

This all changed when I was attending a 24 hour festival style event for charity. For one reason or another, the voluntary committee needed some time filling on stage and a microphone was handed to me. Completely shell shocked, nervous and unable to do anything other than comply... I then proceeded to get on stage in all my glory and act like a prat. I quickly began to enjoy it, my confidence built, and my interaction with the audience meant I was getting positive feedback that people were actually enjoying themselves.

It was that very moment that I thought "I could do this. This is amazing!". Granted I was petrified and running on adrenaline, but it felt good!

So from then on, I've taken a much more "Gung-Ho" approach to my fears - if I'm scared of it, I'm going to face it, but more importantly, I'm going to enjoy it.

It all comes down to the "Fight or Flight" scenario in Psychology - when you are faced with a fearful situation, your body will always react in the same way - increase in heart rate, breathing rate, a flood of endorphines etc. The interesting thing is that reaction doesn't change, whether you run for your life or stand your ground. Ultimately, your decision to run from a fear is one made consciously, therefore, we can control how we react to it.

In a round about way,what i'm trying to say is that it's only a fear because we make it a fear, and that physical response to fear is actually something we can enjoy.

My personal example of this is heights. I'm petrified of heights - I clung on to my friend like a little kid on the way up the Eiffel Tower, and I always get the physical response to fear when I'm high up - but I learnt to control my Psychological response to height which means I'm still scared, but I enjoy it!

If any of your are familar with Drayton Manor Park, they have a ride there called Apocalypse which is basically a drop down a 140ft tower. To make it worse, you have seating options ranging from seated with a floor, to completely terrifying and dangling in mid air, held by one shoulder restraint and a bar between your legs.

It fills me with dread.

Completely. Terrifies me.

Watch the video by following the link below but skip to 2:00 and you will see why. Even the video scares me!

I apologise in advance for the language - if you don't like the occasional expletive please don't watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz63_cp9ysI

But I love it! And I love it because I convince myself that my fear is irrational, meaning I enjoy the thrill that your body naturally puts you though. Because of this, I also LOVE Oblivion at Alton Towers. The ride lasts a matter of seconds, but it's great because I go through an emotional rollercoaster, as well as the physical one.

I absolutely have an apprecciation of why thrill seekers do what they do, and it's down to controlling your emotions and directing them in a positive way.

As a result of this, I've gone and put myself forward to do a sky dive with a few of my colleagues and supporters of The Air Ambulance Service - http://www.justgiving.com/LeapIntoAction I can only but encourage you to donate, and I'll upload the Vid of my dive if we hit target ;-)

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Why should I donate to your charity?

I get asked this question quite a lot – Why should I donate to your charity?

So I thought I’d visit this very topic in this post (albeit, objectively).

A blunt version of the answer is - I can't tell you. What I can do is provide you with the things you need to make an informed decision, but ultimately, I can't give you a reason to donate.

I can’t tar every charity with the same brush. There’s hundreds of thousands of registered charities in the UK, all with differing missions, visions, and values. Some have paid members of staff, others are completely voluntary. Some fund projects locally, others internationally.

The important thing that all charities share is that they all exist to create a better or more equal society, locally, nationally or globally.

I want to digress slightly and invite you to consider how private businesses are operated. Trust me on this one.

  

Any successful business has strong values, a good clear strategy, and a structure of investment to help them achieve their goals. Okay, sometimes greed can take over in the private sector leading to scandals and unethical practice, but ultimately, their methods of being the best are worth emulating. As consumers we buy from companies that we know, like and trust. Often this comes from clear and honest ambitions and values (rather than awful ad campaigns).

Is there a difference in how a good charity should be run in comparison to a successful, profitable business? Absolutely not.

Consider Bill Gates, one of the most successful business people in the world. He once said (and I’m paraphrasing here), that if any charity was to have sustained impact, it must be conducted like a business – with discipline, strategy and a strong focus on outcomes. Donors should be seen as stakeholders who expect a return on their investment through achievement of the charitable aims.

So for donors, when you give your money to charity you need to think of it as an investment, rather than an instant contribution to something specific. After all, it’s not like you donate £1, and the person who received that £1 then nips over to the shops to buy a test-tube.

As a donor, focusing on “penny to pound” cost ratios means nothing. It’s impossible to run any organisation on an 8p to the £1 ratio, and often this is twisting statistics. 

Your focus should be on the charity’s mission, vision, values and, importantly, their success. Afterall, it’s the end result that’s important, right?

When you consider supporting a charity, look at their values and make sure they align with what you value. I’m proud to be part of a charity that has very strong core values, and a professional approach that brings outstanding results. I am also a proud supporter of other causes, small and large, new and old, that I can identify with.

Donors should take pride in supporting their charity. You should feel like the core values were written for you, and that your investment is a wise one.

Consider this scenario. A new charity, aiming to provide a dedicated service to the public that doesn’t yet exist, is asking you to donate to them. The charity has clearly defined goals, shares it’s core values with you, and invites you to be part of the foundations. Imagine the pride you will feel after you’ve donated £10, and two years down the line they are incredibly successful and raising millions a year. It was your £10 that helped achieve that. Your £10 was wisely and appropriately invested, and the end result is an independent and successful public service improving the lives of thousands around the UK.

  

My experience of volunteering, working for, and contributing to some amazing charities has led me to rethink the way I donate. I look at the bigger picture, I look at the fit between my values and the values of the charity, and I learn to trust the charity with my hard earned pennies. 


For me, that's what does it. Everybody's different when it comes to donating to charities, and some people consider other approaches. What do you look at when you consider donating to a charity?

Thanks for reading!

D

Can you do it in 60 seconds?

If you can get past the mild innuendo in the title, you'll realise that this post is actually a follow up to my most popular post - The True Value of Networking

Most networking groups (or referral marketing groups…) will tend to give their guests a 60 second opportunity to “pitch” their business or service. Novices, even with guidance, tend to give a shocking pitch. In this post I want to give you some pointers, and at a later date, a video to one of my pitches for your comments. (Risky move I know).

Scripted pitches don’t work – Communication is mostly non-verbal, therefore, standing in front of an audience with a piece of paper and reading word for word off a sheet you’re holding won’t get you anywhere.

As a representative of yourself and your organisation, you should be knowledgeable enough to do a pitch without even THINKING about what you need to say. Unscripted pitches (unscripted is NOT the same as unprepared, always be prepared) are often the best. They get your point across, without written scripts or aids, and they contain emotion.

Make it emotive – this is simple Psychology. Where were you when Princess Diana’s death was all over the news? What about the Twin Towers Disaster? Or when Gazza rocked up with chicken and beer?

Now tell me what you ate on 14^th June 2012?

Being memorable is an important part of any pitch. It’s your most powerful tool, even if you only say 3 words. Appealing to emotions increases the number of connections in a person’s brain, meaning that particular memory is more accurate and easily accessible.

Pull on the heart strings, be funny, be controversial, bring a memorable aid (I usually bring an RC helicopter), play a game, make a prat of yourself (I often do!) – be unique!

Don’t fall into the trap – That “guide to 60 seconds” you get when you join a group – scrap it. It’s useless! How can you be unique if EVERYBODY is doing the same thing? The only rule you’re given is to be no more than 60 seconds. Make the most of them.

Be clear and concise - Don’t waste 45 seconds of your 60 explaining what you do. You have a target audience, appeal to them. Nobody else matters. Think about what you want to achieve before the meeting, and don’t tell them what they already know. If you’re company is called “JB Graphics” it’s already done for you. Instead, spend that time engaging the audience and picking out the ones you want to talk to.

Engage the audience – with questions. “Do you work in marketing? Are you looking for expert, bright and dynamic graphic designers to support your work?” You’ve immediately identified the people you need to speak to.

Be careful - your questions may disinterest the audience, so make sure you know who is in the room, and make sure your pitch is appropriate. The alternative is to broaden the brush, or request one to ones so that you can find out more about them (not their business, and not the other way round, that will come naturally)

Mix it up – if you are a member at an organisation like BforB, you will be pitching to the same people every fortnight. The second you start your usual pitch, they will switch off. In a networking group where the members support each other, this is nothing short of a disaster. Make sure each pitch is different. Start in different ways, use different props, use different lines, but always be consistent with your message.

DO NOT go over 60 seconds – It’s your one and only rule. Don’t abuse it, other people will resent the fact that you get away with it. If anything, you should use as little as possible. Mix it up and try to do a pitch in 30 seconds. The results might surprise you.

Finally, and importantly, don’t separate yourself from your organisation. Live and breathe what you do, after all, “people buy from people” so what you portray should be representative of you and your company. If people like you, people will like your company, so let your personality do the hard work. Think of it this way – you wouldn’t have been hired if your personality didn’t fit in the organisation’s culture.

The Bucket List (of sorts)

The Bucket List and "Yes” Man

No this isn’t a Hollywood title theft, although both films have a great point.

This post is actually inspired by conversations I’ve had very recently with three people – one being a lady I had the pleasure of meeting at an event in Cheshire, one a good friend of mine, and the other from twitter (thanks Naomi and Chesca!)

In my line of work you often come across some shocking stories – whether it’s cancer, or a horrific accident. These stories make you realise that life is short, and time spent being angry, worried or scared is all time wasted. So this post is dedicated to those that grab life by the balls and crack on with it.

While at the event in Cheshire, I was talking to a lady about the Children’s Air Ambulance Husky Trek in February. She said it was always something she wanted to do, and dropped that she had completed her “50 things to do before she dies”, and wanted to start another one.

 The conversation spiraled into some of the amazing thing she’d done, and I was hooked!

So I wanted to share my “to do” bucket list (there’s a lot I’ve already done), in the hope that you lot might hold me accountable if I never do any of them, and also to inspire some more ideas. It’s not a top 50, or in any order, but I’m trying to group it a bit…

 Music/Live Acts

Learn to play the guitar (properly!)

As a result of the above – perform on stage (I had the opportunity to do this last year but I bottled it!!)

See the Foo Fighters

See RHCP

See Green Day

See Black Stone Cherry

See Blink 182 (this will be a tick in 2 weeks time!)

See Frank Turner (November)

See Alter Bridge

See one of the above at Wembley

Comedians

Russell Howard

Erm, I’m struggling with this one because I’ve seen most of them!

Experiences

Hot Air Balloon Ride

Sky Dive (September)

Get my bike licence (half way there)

Be taught how to ride properly by Chesca (I’m holding her to this)

Bungee Jump into water

Fly a plane

Fly a helicopter

White Water Rafting

Handle birds of prey (“Go on a night out in Norwich” was one response I got to this once)

Skills

Get the qualifications that allow me to teach post-16 classes

Teach post-16 education (Psychology most probably)

Learn photography

Learn to play golf (mainly because I’m pants at it!)

Challenges

Organise my own full blown festival

Buy a scrap car and rebuild it

Take part in the Crumball Rally (or something similar)

Have a “Yes Man” week

Places to see/visit

Rome, and all the usual sites

New Zealand (for the adventure sports)

Amsterdam (yes, I’ve never been to Amsterdam!)

The Amazon

Camp Nou

Las Vegas

Ultimate ambitions

Own my own successful business

Start my own charitable trust

Do everything I can to make other people’s lives that little bit easier

These are just thing off the top of my head, and I’m sure there’s a load more. What is your bucket list like? Share some with me on twitter - @TCAADave

Ad-ven-ture [ad-ven-cher], noun

1. An exciting or very unusual experience

Hello again – It’s actually me writing this post – it’s been a while!

So, bringing the blog back to it’s original purpose, providing you lot with an idea about what it’s like to work in fundraising, this post is about some of the great opportunities that come with it.

Beyond often working long days, evenings and weekends, the job has some amazing perks, opportunities and adventures. I’d like to share some of the more recent ones I’ve had through photos and whatever else I can get my hands on!

I’ll start with today. Today was the final Heroes Run of the year for the Derbyshire,Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance. It’s a Sunday, and I’m volunteering at the event at Locko Park, Derby.

I rocked up at 9am, an unusually late start for an event (expertly organized, I must say!), to be told I was on stage.

“Cool”

Most people would have been a bit flustered by this proposition, but as you can see I was more than happy with a mic squaring up to a man in a Martial Arts Gi:

Not feeling flustered, I got on with the day and enjoyed myself, albeit with a tough crowd!

I’m comfortable on stage, but this only stemmed from an opportunity I took years ago when I was PETRIFIED of public speaking. Ever since then I’ve been hooked and I’d take any opportunity to get on stage in front of anyone – including thousands at the Eurocultured Festival in Manchester!

But how is that adventure? Well how often are you presented with an opportunity to do that? People ran away from me today when I was wandering around with the mic! It’s also a great adrenaline rush.

Okay, so maybe that didn’t do it for you?

How about a skydive? Pretty common I know, but on 6th September I’ll be joining my lovely colleagues and some of our supporters on a skydive to raise money and awareness for The Children’s Air Ambulance – it’s always been something I wanted to do, and this is my opportunity.

I also get to meet and talk to celebrities and athletes, like at Thundersprint where we rallied the support of a number of top riders, including the lovely Chesca Miles and Steve Parrish.

Next week I’ll be traveling up to Oldham ready for the arrival of the Olympic Torch, and shortly afterwards I’ll be conquering Manchester in a game of Urban Espionage.

In August I’ll be at the Emergency Services Day with our Paramedics, showing off our kit and engaging with thousands of people.

Later on in the year I’ll be running a Golf event at The Mere Resort in Knutsford which should attract some big golf fans (Michael Owen is a keen golfer, anybody know him?!). Just a few weeks after I’ll be attending a great evening event, Business with Pleasure, where I’ll no doubt be enjoying the stories of Noddy Holder again.

So, if you ever want a rewarding, fun, challenging (and VERY busy) job, consider fundraising.

Get me an intro to this lady and I’ll be set.

Ciao for now!

Social Media: The Power of Imagery

Sally-Anne is the Director of Public Relations at The Manchester Grammar School and also runs a private consultancy practice. You can follow her on Twitter @Sally_AnneR and @firstimpressi0n or at say hello@sallyannerogers.com

Social media: The power of imagery

One of the most brilliant things about using social media as part of your communication mix is that it gives you loads of opportunities to tell your stories in real time through the power of imagery.

It’s now an established fact that people seldom read more than bite-sized chunks of information as they attempt to absorb the latest news through the myriad of media streams now available to them. So, I hear you say, what’s new about grabbing someone’s attention through big headlines and images? Nothing of course – in fact PR and communication hasn’t actually changed as a concept since I joined the industry thirty years ago – but it’s how you use your imagery that can really make a difference.

Take Twitter: What makes your followers read your tweet and pass it on? Relevance is key, the first three words important, and if inserting a link to find out more, making sure this works. But none of this seems to matter when you post an image – suddenly 30 people click within seconds to take a peek!

Random spontaneous images work well on Twitter; curiosity is a natural human instinct easily activated when stories involve people, animals, or a measure of comedy.

Hubby and I decided that neutral was no longer to be the colour on our bedroom walls. Through the power of Twitter we discovered a supplier of my favourite paint was our local antique shop. The daughters of the owner had joined the business and were in the process of injecting some modernity into their communication mix and they were delighted we found out on Twitter. When we were testing the paint on the walls I posted the following phototweet – hubby had a mad moment – and it’s a great example of sharing something spontaneously and was viewed by 32 of our mutual followers.

The point of Twitter, as opposed to Facebook or Google+, is to interact with everyone you come across if you wish. And to succeed on Twitter – and by this I mean engage with real people who are interested in you or what you do – you need to be human. People love personalities to shine through the tweets (within reason!) and if like David you manage the PR on behalf of a charity then this is even more important as it can bring you loyalty and much needed support.

When David visited The Manchester Grammar School recently I covered his visit on the School’s Twitter stream @MGSMagic and included a couple of images as part of the story.

As you have probably gathered I’m a real fan of Twitter when it’s used properly. To quote a guy called Vern: “Twitter on a mass scale – invites idiocy. Twitter on a small scale of friends and people you wished you knew in person – works!” It’s brilliant for keeping in touch with those you value and trust and a great way to gain loyalty and support no matter what you do.

Sally-Anne Rogers

Sally-Anne is the Director of Public Relations at The Manchester Grammar School and also runs a private consultancy practice. You can follow her on Twitter @Sally_AnneR and @firstimpressi0n or at say hello@sallyannerogers.com

A week in the life of...

I realise I’ve been naughty and not posted for a while… so I started this post at a service station in Uttoxeter on my way to a meeting…(it's a bit lengthy... sorry!)

I always find it incredibly difficult to explain what I do, or what the role of the fundraiser is. Unless you’ve done it, generally it’s a difficult concept to grasp. So I’ve decided to share my week with you. Granted it’s only a snapshot of what we do as fundraisers, and no two weeks are the same, but it should give you an insight. It might not be what you expect… 

I’ll start from Sunday 6^th May.

Yes… Sunday. I’m working on a Sunday. Weekends and bank holidays are never a given if you’re a fundraiser!

Today, I had the pleasure of hosting a tour of the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance base at East Midlands Airport for the Area 14 Round Table who recently donated £6,000 to us.

Base tours are one of the ways we engage our supporters, and it’s amazing how interested people can be. I arrived at 11.30am, to an empty base. No helicopter, no crew. Never a good thing when they are fundamental to a good tour! Thankfully by the time the visitors arrived at 12pm, the crew has returned.

I started by introducing myself and the charity, going over a few housekeeping rules (afterall, you’re about to step out into an active airport…), and delving more into the delights of the Air Ambulance Service.

Clearly keen to see the helicopter, I invited the guests out into the airfield and began the best part of the tour. After being barraged with 101 questions, thankfully the Pilot, Captain Ian Welsh, gladly came and greeted the guests.

“Would you like to sit in the pilot’s seat?” never will you see the combination of complete fear and utter excitement hit a child’s face more so than when you’re invited to sit in pilots seat…

Anyway, the tour that should last a little over 30 minutes extended to over two hours – The Round Table clearly had a lot of interested visitors as I ended up with 3 groups, all of which got to see the Helicopter up close and also see the response when an emergency call comes in. Very rarely does a tour go so smoothly!

Anyway, after debriefing (myself, since the crew had gone to a call in Buxton and then onto flyover the Bakewell Showground to say hi), I went home and kicked my feet up.

Monday 7^th May – A welcome and much needed day off! (although I had to empty my boot…)

Tuesday 8^th May – Hitting the road at 8am, I met a Business Advisor for the Chamber of Commerce to talk about a variety of projects I’m working on that the GM Chamber can get involved in. A great and productive meeting!

I then made good use of the Regus Business Lounge and cracked on with some admin work – contacting volunteers, appealing for volunteers, responding to enquiries and planning projects. (Team building fundraiser, golf day, child safety week etc)

At 2pm, I headed over to Whitworth Park where I met one of the first fundraisers for The Children’s Air Ambulance in Manchester. I went to thank her for her hard work, to collect fundraising materials from her and wish her the best of luck with her exams. The group of three are very keen fundraisers and I’m glad to hear they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and will continue to support us.

From here, I went back in to the centre of Manchester to meet Spearfish Events, the organisers of the Eurocultured Festival, which is in it’s 9^th year in Manchester. I had been in touch with them for a while but this was the first time I’d met them face to face. We had to plan publicity and on the day logistics for the event, as we are not only fundraising there, but also providing the First Aid!

It’s now about 4.30pm, and I had a drive down to Nantwich to do a talk at a quiz being held in a pub in Willaston. I had quite a break, so once again, I got tapping the keys. After eating incredibly unhealthy fast food, I made my way to the pub. The landlord is an absolute star, and we’ve already got big plans for fundraising next year. The Pub Quiz is the first feather in his cap as we get the ball rolling on another big project involving the brewery. At 8pm sharp, after talking to all the patrons of the pub, I gladly gave a quick intro to the charity, said my thanks and left them to win lots of money! I got home just before 10pm. 

Wednesday 9^th May

Today was one of the few opportunities I get to work at The Air Ambulance Service Head Office and Fundraising Offices down in Coventry. Mainly because it’s in Coventry… quite a trip. But I had to sort out and pick up an event marquee for the upcoming weekend. I took the opportunity to do some work in the office, although much to my horror all of my files had disappeared… *PANIC!!!!*

Thankfully our IT guru solved it within minutes and I was back on track.

I nipped over to HQ to collect the marquee… proved more difficult than I thought. As the marquees were always used on grass, we didn’t have any weights, so I ended up with a marquee that had to be put up on hard standing, and no way of anchoring it down. About 15 phone calls later I was saved by our Retail departments Maintenance Manager. *phew*

On my way home I had to pass by Kegworth to drop off the marquee ready for the weekend. I then drove up to Manchester ready for tomorrow’s early start…

another long day that finished about 8pm.

Thursday 10^th May

Facebook says it all…

I started work at 6.45am for a networking breakfast at which I was delivering a 10 minute business spotlight presentation. My topic of choice is going to be my next post!

The day continued on a good track, more admin work, a meeting with a BforB Regional Director, a site visit to the wonderful Mere Resort and Golf Club (if you’re a golf fan, we’ve got an upcoming golf day there in September!), a stop by the Blakemere Craft Centre to pick up some display boards and then the drive home…after a lengthy phone conversation with my colleague about world domination (or near enough anyway!) For once, I was home on time at 5pm!

Friday 11^th May (today)

The morning got off to a flying (lol) start. Creating and printing posters for Thundersprint UK at the weekend and getting everything together at Kegworth in preparation for the 6am start tomorrow. I then spent the afternoon in Stafford at a meeting with a senior director of BforB putting together plans for a new networking group that will help out DLRAA. In between meetings and stops, I made a few phone calls and started writing this gem (sorry it’s a bit long). Subway Lunch - yum!

So here I am now, fast approaching 5pm and finishing off this post, while my printer whirrs away in the background printing briefing documents for the staff over the weekend. Tonight I'm off to a Round Table night (not work related, this time it's for fun!).

Tomorrow and Sunday

The start of Thundersprint UK in Northwich! We’ve got a great stall there with thanks to our retail department. The generous souls at Triumph donated a load of brand new stock to us which we will be selling over the weekend. We will also be holding a raffle and selling various other items too! Look out for us… bright green - you can’t miss the t-shirts!

I hope this has given some insight into the working week of a fundraising manager. Although it changes every week without fail!

Until next time, ciao! ;-)


P.S. a picture from the weekend... definitely a perk to the job!

“I’m not a volunteer – I’m securing my future and contributing to society”

Featured on the Manchester Leadership Program Blog - http://leadershipvolunteering.wordpress.com/2-talking-to-organisations/

So here I am, delighted at being asked to write a post for the MLP blog and, for once, stuck for words.

Having looked through some of the past blog posts (try saying that after a few pints!), there’s no posts that focus on how volunteering adds value to your careers in any detail, so that’s what I hope to touch on in this post.

I’ve been where you are. At University and living the “student lifestyle” of work hard, play harder. With the employment climate as bad as it is, there was always that cloud hanging over my head – will I get a job when I finish my degree?!

I’ll be blatant here. I have friends who graduated before me, over 3 years ago, who are still stacking shelves and pulling pints. And it’s not for the want of trying. A number of them applied for literally hundreds of graduate level and middle management jobs and got absolutely nowhere.

On the flip side, I have graduate friends that are earning a lot of money in companies like BT, Lloyds TSB, Balfour Beatty and Zara.

So what’s the difference between the two? Volunteering. For the sake of this post – skill exploration and development.

All of the successful people above engaged in a lot of volunteering, which gave them the opportunity to do three key things:

1.       Explore new skills

2.       Develop and fine tune existing skills

3.       Demonstrate their capabilities to employers

Programs like MLP are incredibly important – not only do they give you the opportunity to do all of the above things; they also train you to be reflective and dissect your skills. This is very important when it comes to writing CVs and being outstanding at interviews.

To demonstrate this, I will take an example from the “Great Fundraise” post on the 5^th March.

“The Barnardos group put their entrepreneurial skills to the test by selling Oriental food outside the Sugden Sports centre after sporting events. They were able to manage their stock and finances by setting up an online ordering service which proved really useful for their team – well done!”

So what does this one paragraph demonstrate?

The biggest thing that jumps out at me is the online ordering system – Setting up something like this on any scale will need careful planning, development and monitoring. They also tapped into a very fragile market – how many times have you gone to the gym and visited McDonald’s on the way home?! I know I have. Visionaries in the making!

A task like this would require a good level of team work to ensure its success. Who sources the food, and from where? Who is responsible for cooking it safely? Who is responsible for marketing the activity? Who set up the online ordering service?

This one task can be broken down into a number of skill areas, giving you extra ammunition for your CVs and Interviews.

One thing to remember is that size doesn’t matter (lol).

 Regardless of how big your event is, or who you volunteer for, you are still demonstrating the same skills. The key is to do it regularly and ensure you reflect on what you’ve done. In work, you’ll have regular one-to-ones with your manager for this very purpose, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do it with your volunteering (or assignments for that matter!).

Being aware of the skills you are demonstrating, and especially identifying what you need to improve, will lead you into a constant cycle of self-development and ultimately, a tidy career!

I always wanted to be a pilot, but during college I didn’t have the drive or ambition to put effort into my professional development. My easy route out was to be a P.E. Teacher. Neither happened.

Through volunteering and professional development, I find myself in a position where I get to work with and inspire volunteers on a daily basis. I meet people that, piece by piece, are changing the world. Every little bit of volunteering they do makes a difference to them and to the people they are helping, and employers LOVE to see that.

Competition is rife for any job with employers often sifting through hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of applications. Believe me, it’s a boring process which means It’s more important than ever to stand out - and volunteering will help you do that.

So what’s my advice? Talk to the guys and girls at MLP (they’re very good!), join V-inspired, and check out the Five Minute Fundraiser on the Institute of Fundraising website.

If you can, find yourself a mentor, and remember to always record and reflect on your volunteering.

I think I’ve said enough for this post, but before I sign off, it’s my turn to invite you to join us at The Children’s Air Ambulance.

Good luck with your upcoming exams and dissertations, and for those of you about to join me in the big bad world – I’ll see you there!

@TCAADave.