A ‘typical’ week for a Community Fundraiser

Since taking up the position of Community Fundraiser back in 2010 (having worked at RAFT for three year prior as a Secretary/PA), I didn’t quite realise what a varied and exciting role this would be for me.

No two days at RAFT are the same, there’s no such thing as a typical week, and that’s what makes getting up for work each day so easy.

Take just this week for example…. on Monday evening I went and presented locally to Harefield Tenant’s and Resident’s Association’s AGM meeting. Having lived in Harefield for five years (only having recently moved to Buckinghamshire), not only did I enjoy presenting to those present about RAFT, but I also found their AGM meeting very interesting and informative about the various going’s on in the local area.

At this meeting I was the guest speaker and was kindly invited to make a 15 minute talk about the research work at RAFT, which was well received by all, including two community support officers who were in attendance… that was a new one for me, having never presented to our police force.

Tuesday saw the deadline for applications for the position of Fundraiser – Maternity Cover (yes I am going on maternity leave at the end of June, but will be returning to RAFT next year). Time was spent looking through the various applications and creating a short list with my colleague on candidates to interview.

My day also included speaking at length to Kate at our new PR company, Wavelength about a post press release for our wonderful team at Parachute IT who finally managed to complete their skydives in aid of RAFT about having to cancel the event three times due to bad weather.

Mid week saw me involved in a meeting regarding our website and the various ideas that we have around updating it. I am responsible for making most of the updates to our website and so this meeting was most productive.

Last night I was delighted to have the opportunity to present to another local group, this time the Rotary Club of Elthorne-Hillingdon at Uxbridge Cricket Club.

I had a most enjoyable time, starting with a drinks reception (only Lemonade for me at the moment though!) and then a dinner with all the members of this Rotary group. A 40 minute presentation about RAFT then followed with the use of visual aids from my PowerPoint presentation.

I was thrilled at the response, with lots of questions being asked and lots of interest being shown to our work. Many are as a result keen to attend our Open Evening in May to learn even more from our scientists.

I was overwhelmed at the end of the evening to be presented with a cheque for £2,000 from the various fundraising efforts the Rotary club had been involved with which they had highlighted to be spent on RAFT’s research.

Thursday (today) is a day of catching up on emails, making funding applications and brainstorming some ideas around how we encourage younger people to get involved with RAFT.

I do know my plans for tomorrow; I’m off to visit the Just Giving offices in Paddington to help them with user testing on the charity account. RAFT is kindly being provided with a cash incentive to help them and I was only too pleased to oblige.

I’ll be back in the office in the afternoon to discuss brainstorming ideas with other staff members about the engagement of young people with RAFT and also to see one of our lovely volunteers Enora, who is kindly coming to RAFT to help envelope up our latest newsletter which will be sent out next week to our supporters.

As for next week……. I know already that one of our marathon runner’s is holding a quiz night to raise funds for us; I’ll be attending an awards ceremony with the hope that RAFT wins the National Council for Work Experience Awards 2012 and I will be on the interview panel for the Fundraiser vacancy.

Another busy week in the life of a Fundraiser!

RAFT is a finalist for Work Placement of the Year in the Charitable Sector

RAFT has just found out that it is a finalist for this year’s National Council for Work Experience (NCWE) Awards for 2012 in the Charitable Sector category.

After receiving a record-breaking number of entries, finalists were announced this week, with winners announced at the NCWE Awards Final held in March. Win or lose, this is an extremely prestigious honour for RAFT considering other charities in the sector include CRUK, Barnardos and British Red Cross.

Finalists are chosen because they can prove that they add value to their work experience programmed and show students, placement tutors and other employers that they have been recognised for their high-quality work experience opportunities. They will also provide a shining example for others to follow of what real work experience should be.

Twenty-year old Kwame Asiedu from Queen Mary University was one of last year’s summer placements.

“With some placements you spend your day making coffee and running a copier,” says Kwame. “But RAFT was different. Everything you do here benefits RAFT, even if experiments go wrong, there is a benefit.”

Niroshehaa Ragunathan started as a summer placement and now works at RAFT alongside the Smart Matrix™ team.

“The most amazing thing about working with such a small group is the atmosphere; people here at RAFT are so intelligent, hard working and passionate about what they do,” she says.

NCWE says that work experience underpins and contributes to career, skills and development choices, which link to work-force development.