Providing the necessary leadership in fundraising

I joined Kidscan, a children’s cancer research charity based in the North West of England, in January 2014. It was a crucial time for the charity. Kidscan had recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, the chairman of the board of trustees was preparing to step down, and the founder and scientific director, Prof. Alan McGown, had very recently retired.

Kidscan’s purpose is to fund research into new and improved treatments for children with cancer. Due to the nature of the charity’s work, Kidscan doesn’t benefit from statutory funding, but had managed to build up a healthy supporter base at a grass roots level, funding some excellent research projects in its first ten years.

When my time at the charity began, my vision, along with the board's, was to set even more ambitious goals for the next ten years. Now we are achieving this by building up a new donor base amongst corporates and major donors whilst still taking care of the loyal supporters who have been at the charity’s side since its beginnings.

Engaging the supporters

Keeping such a varied group of supporters in the loop is not a straightforward task, and our methods of contact have to be as varied as they are. We have a database of people who receive monthly emails from us with information about our research and fundraising initiatives, and we use social media to keep individuals updated on lots of the smaller things we are up to.

What I enjoy most, however, is meeting with people face to face and thanking them personally for what they do. It’s really important for us to have a presence at the events our supporters participate in. I also meet regularly with our corporate supporters. A key shift in relating to them has been to talk about the research we carry out, letting them know what their money is doing, rather than focusing on the fundraising work we are doing.

Fulfilling the role

Before I joined Kidscan, I had previously worked for a smaller charity in Wales. When I moved to the North West, I brought that knowledge and experience to Kidscan. Small charities face a lot of unique challenges, including having to be quite careful with resources, haggling for the best deals, and having to use a small team to carry out lots of different kinds of fundraising.

As a result of my previous experience, I am very hard-nosed when it comes to bargaining and have no qualms about negotiating – whether for Kidscan or a well earned holiday! – and I’ve got a good understanding of all sorts of income streams. Something that’s worked really well for us is making everyone’s roles much clearer.

Working with a small team can feel like being part of a family where everyone chips in to help with what needs doing. This can be great, but within a charity it often means staff cannot develop any kind of specialism in any one area of fundraising, and that can hinder professional development. Though we still work really well as a team, we have our own areas of fundraising responsibility which are tailored to individual talents and abilities.

All too often, fundraisers leave the sector due to burnout. Charity work at any level can be an emotionally taxing job, and part of the job is to know more than most people about our cause. This often means being aware of extreme suffering, and knowing a solution is not currently available. If we make our charity’s cause our mission in life, it can be very hard to manage that burden.

To be effective fundraisers we have to be passionate about our cause, but in order to do the job it is essential that a coping mechanism is put in place to allow you to remain in a professional mind-set and stay focused on achievable goals.

Personally, it is important to remember that Kidscan is not my charity. It doesn’t belong to me. This is why the board of trustees is such a vital part of what we do. It is easy for staff to get carried away with new and exciting projects, or for a charity to lose its focus, diversify into other areas, and become less effective as a result.

It is the board of trustees’ role to set out a vision for the charity, and to set parameters for how we work. I work very closely with the Board, and I then go away and plan based upon the work we do. Our board is closely involved with the running of the charity, so the trustees keep me in check and make sure we are meeting our overall aims.

We’re in the process of writing Kidscan’s first business plan at the moment. The final document will form the basis of all our decision making in the years ahead.

Working with the trustees

Whilst I have my own ideas, I have to remember that Kidscan’s trustees are the ones whose necks are on the line. Ultimately, they will answer for my actions, so it’s important I follow their guidance. Our board members come from all walks of life, and have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share. I have always found it is extremely worthwhile listening to them.

One of the parameters I work to is ensuring all our fundraising activities are cost effective. When I first joined Kidscan, one of the main annual events was a bespoke cycle event. Despite the huge amount of work involved in the organisation of the day, and the large number of participants, the event barely broke even because it was so expensive to put on in the first place. It was a challenging decision to make, but we shelved the event in favour of other, more cost effective options which would better benefit the charity.

Remaining challenged

With things like this to deal with, it’s impossible not to remain challenged in my job. I am faced with a new challenge almost every day. In order for Kidscan to be more effective, I have to push myself to try new things, face daunting tasks, and always strive for innovation. If I don’t do these things, we will ultimately have to wait longer for the day when no child dies of cancer. That’s a pretty strong motivator for getting out of my comfort zone.

Aims and hopes

My hope for the long term is that Kidscan will be instrumental in making a childhood cancer diagnosis no scarier that getting the flu is today. One day, no parent will lose their child to this awful disease, and it’s organisations like ours which can make that a reality. The more money we raise to put into truly ground breaking research, the sooner that day will arrive.

Looking after the team

In the short term, I’m not only looking after the charity’s interests. Working with a small team means I get to know my staff really well, which helps me to look after them too. Through working closely with them every day I can find their strengths and offer opportunities to use them. I recently helped one staff member who was responsible for admin and finance to get involved with community fundraising - an area she loves and is naturally brilliant at.

The charity sector can struggle to retain good staff because the roles are so demanding, and small charities in particular can’t pay very much. It’s important for fundraisers to know the work they’re doing makes a difference, and to be given opportunities to improve themselves wherever possible. Being a charity, we can’t spend too much money on ourselves so we take advantage of any free training and conferences we can find.

A lesson I have learnt

Everything I have done at Kidscan has been part of a steep learning curve for me as a manager. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt might be obvious, but it’s been extremely important: communication. Most people in charity management roles will have a plethora of responsibilities, and it can be easy to get engrossed in your workload and forget to spend time nurturing and supporting staff.

I had to learn to talk to my team about what I’m working on and to share our progress as a charity with them as well as stakeholders on the outside. It’s a personal development I’m really proud of, and which has undoubtedly helped the charity move forward too.

My proudest achievement

One of the greatest achievements I have managed for Kidscan is enabling the charity to fund a new research project in 2016. We achieved this because my team met and exceeded fundraising targets in a year of really big changes for the charity. It’s wonderful to see how our hard work pays off in real terms, and to know that childhood cancer research is moving forward as a direct result of our efforts.

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