April 15, 2014, by Giselle Kennedy
Guest Blog: Malena Wong tells us about her experiences on the Save the Children scheme
My First Fundraising Project
As a student taking an English degree, I get asked a lot of questions about my future career. Many times, people have asked me, ‘so, you want to be a teacher?’ The unbelievable number of times I have felt embarrassed by questions like this prompted me to explore my career options.
Hoping to be inspired, I enrolled on the Nottingham Advantage Award’s Save the Children Enterprise module – luckily my prayers were answered. From designing a fundraising plan to organizing an event, this module was all a dream come true.
Being a student fundraiser for this charity entitled us to gain an understanding of unforeseen duties and responsibilities of this role. When organizing our event, we produced a risk assessment together with a proposal plan and then contacted the venue manager in Mooch to ask about its availability. Double confirming with relevant parties was another necessary job.
Putting up decorations
One thing I take away from this module is the knowledge that being the first point of contact for the public is essential to creating a good publicity campaign. So on top of all the organization, the event-specific Facebook page we created successfully attracted an incredible amount of people. As a result, we were able to raise donations of over £200 in just one night.
From this module I have gained more than just fundraising skills and something to add on my CV. It was the experience that helped me to mature. Bearing in mind our obligations to the charity, we had to be excruciatingly cautious with online Facebook content. We also had to familiarize ourselves with the mission and objectives of Save the Children UK, in case we were asked about the works of the organization. We were all affected by the inevitable fear of having a low turnout and the possible chance of not meeting our donations target – not that we get blamed, but still it was a concern.
Our group has done ourselves proud, very proud. If I had to take away one thing from this module, it would definitely be the experiential reward of being a part of the charity that makes tangible impacts.
It was almost surreal from start to end and I have witnessed how everyone has matured so much throughout the process. I am thankful for the invaluable knowledge that I have gained through the sweat and pain of my group mates.
Fundraising has taught me the art of being ambitious and pragmatic at the same time and I believe being part of this module has made me even more curious about the world and other charities.
I would definitely recommend this module to everyone because not only does it open more career options for you, it also widens your horizons in a sense that you will be engraved with sympathy and an urge to help those less fortunate. Yes, it is one good thing to put on your CV, but it’s an even better thing to learn about what’s lacking in the world and be able to bring about change.
Our group photo!
If you’re interested in applying for the Save the Children Enterprise scheme or you’re keen to enrol on a Nottingham Advantage Award module, visit Workspace for more information. You can apply for next year’s modules from the beginning of August 2014.
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