I always start my day off with putting on the kettle, the tough question is always… Tea or coffee! After concluding my decisions, its then time to get down to business! Most mornings, I spend at least an hour checking social media, reading through Facebook and Twitter and current affairs, usually in the Guardian. Seeing what I can dig my teeth into that’s worth Tweeting/posting about!

I am really enjoying exploring different aspects of social media and seeing what will work well for different charities, I am already excited by what I have learnt so far and am excited to expand my knowledge further.

Then I read through my emails, most are newsletters I have signed up to informing me of funding updates. So, I spend a large part of the average day reading through funding opportunities seeing if any catch my eye for our clients, if they do I make sure their criteria is eligible, this can be quite a big task as we have quite a few clients. If they are eligible and look good for the client I add them to a funding applications diary. It can be frustrating but when you find the right one it is an amazing feeling – a feeling of real accomplishment!!

I have a work plan that is created at the beginning of every week, we go through my work plan from the week before checking that everything was completed and if it wasn’t we put it on the new work plan. This way we make sure all my tasks are being completed.  My week can vary in what I am doing depending on what work is needed to be done for our clients. However, I do spend […]

What is a legacy and why do people leave them? This was a question I was asking myself only a few days ago, but since going on a course earlier this week I have learnt a lot about Legacy fundraising.

A legacy is any gift left in a persons will; an instruction for part of your estate to be given to an individual after your death, which can include a gift to charity. The legacy market is currently worth almost £2 billion which is almost 15% of all voluntary income, meaning that Legacy fundraising is the biggest source of voluntary income. Therefore you can understand how much legacies can impact on charities, helping them to expand. Some charities can rely fully on legacy income and without it they would be non-existent.
Even though 58% of people give to charity in their life time only 7% of people will leave something to a charity in their will. This may be for many reasons, but most of the time it’s just due to forgetting. Anyone can leave a legacy, to any charity, and normally Charities accept any donation you are willing to give them. Smaller charities benefit hugely from Legacies, as it brings income into the charity and it also brings the charity a sense of pride and gratitude as they know what they are doing is important and people can see that.
If you feel passionate about a charity then why not leave them a gift in your will? You can even have a say on what you would like the money being spent on! A lot of people who leave money to charity have seen a flaw in a system the charity provides and are keen to […]

So it’s official, my first week in the office! 18 years old and just finishing my A Levels, who would’ve thought that an apprenticeship in fundraising is where my career would begin. I’ve never been sure on what I wanted to do as a career, however I was always sure that I wanted a career ‘helping others’. I was constantly undecided whether to go to University or not, even though I was accepted I decided that the opportunity Fundraising Central offered me was too good to turn away and I am already thrilled that this is the pathway I chose.

I had a stereotypical view on what fundraising was about, thinking it was all about people getting sponsored to run a marathon or ride a bike in aid for charity! Well of course, people getting stuck in and passionate about something they believe strongly in has a massive impact on fundraising. But now I can see there is a lot more to fundraising such as bid writing, applications, hard work and dedication! I have already seen the impact that money has on charities and how it helps them grow and achieve their goals. Money does make a difference is something I’ve already learnt working at Fundraising Central and that with money and direction anything is achievable. It is eye opening to see the change that money can make to charities, whether it be a few thousands to a hundred thousand.

My colleagues, Stephanie and Louisa have already made me feel at home in the office. They have been extremely helpful with expanding my knowledge in fundraising over the summer in my induction days and making sure I understand what they’re talking about. I feel confident […]