A Day in the Life of: A Corporate Fundraiser

Ever considered a role as a corporate fundraiser? We caught up with Charlotte Webster, Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Sick Children’s Trust, to find out what’s involved.

What does a Corporate Fundraiser do?  

A corporate fundraiser’s aims are to increase donations and income from businesses by building relationships with them and developing partnerships that meet their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) objectives.

Corporate fundraisers raise funds by motivating businesses to take on challenges, hold fundraising events, volunteer, or take up sponsorship opportunities.

What skills do you need for the role? 

You need to present yourself well, be confident, and able to network and forge strong relationships.

It’s important to have good writing skills, and a good grasp of business acumen.

Being organised and flexible also helps, as working with businesses can be challenging!

What does a typical day look like for you?

It always starts with coffee!

I start by checking emails and my diary for anything urgent.

I might then spend the morning contacting current corporate partners to get them involved in our latest fundraising initiatives.

Pre-COVID, I might have gone to meet a corporate at one of our houses to show them around or oversee a corporate volunteering group who are helping at a house.

Most days I have internal meetings to discuss plans and catch up with other departments. For example, corporate fundraising often crosses over with events and marketing.

I might then spend an hour updating the strategy, looking at income re-forecasting, or writing a report for a trustees’ meeting.

In the afternoon I might work on an application for corporate funding or presentation slides for a meeting the next day.

I also dedicate time each day to exploring new business opportunities.

There’s often a lot of juggling, as priorities change as the day progresses.

What’s the best thing about your job? 

I like that every day is different. I also enjoy getting out and about meeting people. I like making connections, developing imaginative fundraising ideas, and inspiring businesses to support us.

It’s really satisfying building great relationships with businesses and managing partnerships from the early stages to the end of the partnership.

More often than not, companies raise more than their original target. It’s great to be able to show them the tangible impact they have on the families we support.

What’s the most challenging thing about your job? 

Corporate fundraising has been challenging over the past two years, with employees working from home and events being cancelled. It’s had a significant impact on income.

I’ve had to adapt and adjust to find different ways to engage with corporates, such as switching to virtual events and challenges.

On a positive note, we received some incredible donations during 2020.

What advice would you give a budding Corporate Fundraiser? 

There are a lot of great charities and causes out there, so really think about who you want to work for and why.

You need to be passionate about the cause to ‘sell in’ the charity to corporates.

Charlotte is Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Sick Children’s Trust, a charity that gives families a comfortable, free place to stay when their sick children are in hospital.