A day in the life of The Sick Children’s Trust Corporate Fundraiser, Rob Clark (right, with his sons).6.45am Rise and Shine! but hark what’s that appalling noise filling the room? Could it be the latest appalling offering from a ‘Britain’s Got Another Celebrity X Factor So Get Me Outta Here’ finalist? Oh no it’s my dodgy radio alarm blaring out interference as it struggles to find the right channel. Whatever, I’m awake now and raring to go and in a single bound I crawl out of bed and prepare for work with near military precision. I can hear my wife Mary asking if I have my train pass, keys, sandwiches etc etc …to which I mutter ‘of course !’ and then spend the next 10 minutes frantically searching for these elusive items. It’s as if these objects take joy in hiding from me in broad daylight only to appear when Mary turns up! With essentials in place I grab my bag and the last slice of toast, kiss the wife and kids goodbye and head for the train.
7.30am Good news, the train is on time - must be my lucky day. It’s not long before I arrive in Whitechapel and the noise level increases as an Air Ambulance hovers over The Royal London Hospital.
8.45am A short walk later and I arrive at Head Office which is situated next door to Stevenson House our ‘Homes from Home’ supporting families with sick children receiving treatment in The Royal London Hospital. First things first and on goes the kettle, then I draw up a rough plan for the day and check with my weekly / monthly schedule to prioritise my workload. On this particular day the top of the list is meeting preparations for my forthcoming visits to Bridgewater Place in Leeds and Yorkshire Building Society in Sheffield.
My aim as Corporate Fundraiser is to build long term partnerships where ever possible, I like to make verbal contact at bare minimum but face to face meetings are best. This is more important now than it has ever been as we work through tough economic times. Corporate Fundraising has been hit and donations have been scaled down as Companies like everyone else are feeling the pinch. We have to ensure, more now than ever, that our approach is carried out in the right way and that we need to maintain and improve key relationships with warm donors and where possible create new ones.
Getting to meet our corporate supporters is vital but so is visiting the real heroes of our charity - The house and assistant house managers. These visits are fun and help build important friendships but also provide an opportunity for fundraisers to see the families and to understand why fundraising is necessary.
10.23am a phenomenon known as ‘10.23sies’ kicks in, a phrase coined by my colleague Sarah due to our inability to wait for the traditional Elevensies. The SCT machine collectively breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of one of our resident tea-aholics collecting empty cups on the way to the kitchen.
10.25am Meeting preparations completed and onto the next job: The Corporate application to Next Plc. I follow a basic format that has been passed down from generation to generation, well from the Head of Fundraising at least. This process starts with a check to ascertain if we are a good fit with Next Plc which involves research. An initial review of our paper and on-line files advises of any prior donations and relevant criteria to be adhered to. A review of the Next Plc Corporate website and Annual Report is very useful and CompanyGiving.co.uk is a great source of information.
Our files show that Next PLC is a ‘warm donor’ - donated to the SCT in the past – and as such these checks are quicker to complete than a review of a cold contact. The next step is to establish any links through our Trustees, or members of staff / friends or relations etc. In addition to this another useful tool is our own information database ‘Donorflex’. The combined effect of this research helps to establish a complete picture of the company and helps to ensure our application is as strong as possible.
A phone call follows, normally to a Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, dependant on the size of the company. The personal touch is essential as the added information received helps us to understand what makes a company tick, are they purely philanthropic or do they have a corporate edge to their charitable giving. Talking to someone also helps to find out how they require the information to be presented and in what format – online application or a formal written request with full back up. Finding these things out not only saves time but gives us a better chance of donation success at the end of the process. (Thank you Mr Cholmondley Warner, you’re welcome Grayson!)
12pm But as with all best laid plans ….Aon Benfield have been in contact and need their collection box emptied and can we collect it. This is done quickly and although unplanned it provides us with another chance to keep in touch with one of our key supporters. On the other hand the totally unexpected can also occur.
1pm Lunch often means a quick dash to Tesco’s and a working lunch but I do try to fit in a short run around Stepney from time to time. It’s a surprisingly beautiful area especially down by the canals in Mile End. My home town!
2pm-4pm The application process to Next Plc is now in full swing. This is not an on-line application so there are no specific categories to follow. The judgement call is trying to gage what will appeal to Next Plc and this is where the experience of my colleagues can be so beneficial. A brief discussion with any one of the team often means various tweaks can then be applied to the application making it a much stronger ask. After a few final checks the application is submitted and now we just have to wait. This is the bit I do not like, the waiting, but that’s the way it is.
4pm I then grab a quick five minute meeting with Andy our Head of Fundraising which can last up to an hour but from it will come more ideas and a new list of potential donors. And off I go again……
4.30- 5pm Another check on emails / follow ups. A call into Sue Cartwright our Operations Manager regarding the Morley Bedding Company and Barker and Stonehouse. These companies are assisting with reducing costs for our ‘Big Move’ appeal in Leeds with supplying soft furnishings.
5pm Continue with follow ups and prepare the groundwork for more potential donors. AstraZeneca’s application is next on the list, another previous donor and a good fit. This is an on-line application through the Company website.
6pm I love this job but things don’t always go as smoothly as suggested above but again that’s the challenge. Yesterday for example my day was sabotaged just before lunch when we were told our long planned Tower Race at Bridgewater Place was under threat. However a few calls later and with help from Charlie Gilchrist, our excellent contact at Manco the managing agents for BP, and we were back on track. This emphasises the importance of time spent developing solid corporate relationships. They are priceless.
7.30pm Trouble free ride home - really was my lucky day - and back indoors chilling out with my family. No doubt playing hallway football with my youngest and spending the rest of evening relaxing in front of the TV.
But guess what? Tomorrow night is Karaoke night with the SCT..what a scream! No literally it will be a scream as none of us can sing a note!
We laid the table with Christmas crackers, candles, heart shaped lollipops and party poppers (and of course a bottle of vino or two) and our guests arrived at 7pm. We made it clear they were to have a restaurant experience, whereby they paid a set price of £15 for our delicious menu and in return we would run around after them all.
Then we prepared our main course of homemade turkey curry, naan and samosas. It went down a treat, “more drinks anyone?” as we topped up everyone’s half filled glasses! Snippets of conversations included a mixed opinion of George Michael's duet with Joe McElderry and Robbie’s (off que) rendition of Angels with the lovely Olly Murrs. We were watching like hawks to increase our fundraising, hoping more people would speak during the songs!
We raised £185 for a night we will never forget; not bad considering we had so much fun in the process! Paying it was easy: we just logged on to The Sick Children’s Trust website and voila, paid online!
