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
6th 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 7th
May – A welcome and much needed day off! (although I had to empty my boot…)
Tuesday 8th 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 9th 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 9th
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 10th
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 11th
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!
P.S. a picture from the weekend... definitely a perk to the job!
