Battersea Dogs & Cats Home connects fundraisers with mentoring programme
Melanie May | 12 October 2017 | News
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is spearheading a 10-month scheme that will pair fundraisers with one another to share experiences and learn new skills, kicked off with a Fundraising Mentoring Incubator event attended by fundraisers from ten charities this month.
The project aims to help develop knowledge and expertise across the sector. 58 participants have joined the programme from Action on Hearing Loss, Age UK, Barnardo’s, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Breast Cancer Care, The Children’s Society, Crisis, Diabetes UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Teach First. The programme is free of charge and open to fundraisers at any level or specialism, from Assistants to Directors.
During the first introduction meeting, fundraisers met each other and selected a mentor who they will stay in touch with over the coming months. Mentors and mentees are now free to determine how often they do meet up, but have been equipped with a toolkit to help support them and ensure they get the most out of the programme.
Battersea’s Learning & Development Advisor Juliet Lambe devised the programme. She said:
“We know there is so much knowledge and experience across the sector and this scheme is all about opening up communication channels between charities and giving fundraisers a support network outside of their own organisation. At our introductory meeting it was great to see so much enthusiasm within the room, with people sharing their ideas, getting a new perspective on the challenges they face, and for many, gaining a confidence boost from talking through their experiences and gaining reassurance they are on the right track.”
“Participants will be given the flexibility to meet whenever they choose, and a slack channel has been set up for the group to share learnings, so that everyone has a wider group to connect with. We’ll be bringing everyone together to evaluate the success of the scheme in July 2018.”
Anthony Galsworthy, Relationship Manager at Teach First, said:
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“The overwhelming feeling amongst my peers was that this was such an inspiring event and one of the best organised events we’d attended. It made for an excellent space to meet people and I have no doubt the scheme will be a success as a result.”
Once this current programme is completed, the charity will look at opening it up again to new participants. Anyone wanting to register their interest should contact Juliet Lambe.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.