Chats and chuckles with Charity Link’s Client Services team
This week we got a chance to sit down and interview colourful character Beth, one of our Client Services Managers, who volunteered to share all about how this very special department is our go between for our charity partners, our fundraisers, and well, pretty much all of our head office team too.
Sarah Miriam and Beth from Client Services dressed in Green for our charity partner Macmillan Cancer Support’s coffee morning…
What is the role of Client Services in a nutshell?
Client Services are obviously slightly different in every company depending on the clients and their needs, but in the Charity Link Client Services department we manage all campaigns, both private site and on the home to home channels, supporting not only our clients (our charities), but our fundraisers out in the field.
This can be anything from supporting with daily issues all the way up to creating innovative pitch materials which is really exciting.
So it's quite a varied role and you get your get your teeth into quite a few different things.
So how about the team in general, who specifically does what?
We’ll each have certain things we do during the day, but we also share out a lot of the work.
Clients Services Director Tom Swallow
Tom heads up the department; he supports the whole team on a daily basis and he's our escalation point - we can ask him any daily questions that we have. He also works with us, each of us on our personal workload.
Myself and my colleague Steve, are account managers and we communicate directly with the clients to ensure everything runs smoothly, and we make sure that we are the charities best brand ambassadors across the business.
Jess and Sarah manage our mystery shopping and complaints, making sure that our fundraisers are supported through these processes.
Jess and Sarah also support myself and Steve and the rest of the team with daily tasks, which is really valuable I can tell you.
Jess and her dog Elvis
Then finally we have Laura and Mariam who take care of all sorts of tasks, including but not limited to the daily rotas for our private site channel and the knock sheets for our home to home fundraisers.
We work very hard over in Client Services - we all know what we have to do and we all share it well.
Who's got the best job?
I think we all do! We're all very open, we all swap and change and share. So there's no one set thing - we all we all work together really well.
So you've already kind of touched upon the kind of things that that Client Services get up to, but what would what would a typical day look like (if there is such a thing)?
There isn't such a thing for client services.
For Miriam and Laura there is more structure as they get the daily rotas out for our private sites and the knock sheets out for our door to door fundraisers, which they have do each morning to a deadline. That includes creating, printing and sending out.
For myself, Jess and Sarah and Steve, there is no such thing as a set thing!
We could be doing anything during our days from designing new pitch materials to having client meetings, to dealing with our management and planning how we can take things forward to the next level. So no real set things - but it's all fun and games!
So would you say it's really important to be reactional in your role - do you enjoy the spontaneity?
We are as a department very reactive.
Client Services Manager Steve with some of the Breast Cancer team
I actually think that’s one of our biggest challenges – because we would rather be proactive, but that's not the kind of department we are.
That said, we have become absolute experts in juggling competing priorities and requests from across the business.
So we've taken that reactive role and we're trying to make it as positive and proactive instead of reactive as possible.
So do you enjoy working that way? I guess it keeps you on your toes!
Just keep me on my toes! It keeps me busy and there are definitely times when I find myself doing any number of unexpected things during a day which I’m like “Well I didn't think that was going to b my day today!” but that's fine!
Working in a job like this also means no day is the same, but I kind of like that though - to keep things spicy with a bit of variety and I’m always learning new things and taking on new challenges which is good for my personal growth and career progression.
So as well as your clear roles and working together, which other departments do you work closely with?
There’s not a department that we don't touch! We tend to work super closely with the fundraisers themselves – but we talk to every other part of Charity Link from HR to Recruitment to Comms and the Venues department. Talking to everybody is part of the role of Client services but we're very lucky to have support from everybody in every department and our amazing charities.
So what personally motivates you, Beth?
Good coffee! But seriously, it’s knowing I've done a great job - that's my whole thing. I'm not all about the money - I'm all about knowing that I've done a great job and I've done the best that I can for that day, even if I can only give 30%. But if that 30% was my best 30% then I've done a great job.
Working with our fundraisers also motivates me because I know how hard they’re working and want to help as much as I can.
Another thing I love is creating and designing things that our fundraisers can use to be on the top of their game – like great campaign visuals and collateral – that’s definitely one of my favourite things to do.
It’s lovely to feel that you've made somebody else's day a bit better as well or a bit easier.
What would you say the most rewarding part of being in Client Services is?
Seeing the incredible difference that our fundraisers make to and for our charities. Especially when they’re holding materials that I've designed, it's really cool, like they're using these when they’re signing people up. I feel like - I've designed those, those that's really cool!
I'm really proud of our fundraisers for everything they achieve and that's kind of what the most rewarding thing is; the fact that what I do helps these people help more people, which is just incredible.
On the flip side, what would make really a day where you're just wringing your hands and feeling frustrated?
There isn't a lot that really frustrates me on the team, but if I had to pick something, we do get quite frustrated with approval times. So for us, it's just so even if it's designing artwork, you have to wait the approval for that. We can be sat there like ‘I want to get this printed!’ However, when we get those approvals, it can make for a really great day!
If you could give three awards, what would your awards be? And who would win the awards?
We had this discussion across client services yesterday when we were all in the office together and we were very quick with our answer! We said that the best serotonin booster award would go to Lenny Smith – Stuart in Field Support’s dog who is basically the office mascot - Lenny makes everybody happy he's a dopamine dog!
Our next award would go to our lovely HR Manager Hannah because she just looks after us all and supports us all - especially when we need it the most and we're feeling a little bit vulnerable - She's absolutely compassionate and caring. We just really appreciate her and everything she does.
Then our last award would be for the person that who goes above and beyond to help. For us, that has to be Millie from the Field Support team. She is an absolute angel and will spend time helping anybody that she can. We really appreciate her in Client Services! Everyone needs a Millie in their life!
What is the most common question that you get from our charity partners?
So we actually had a look through our emails and the answer to this question is just heartwarming and delightful! So the most common question we have been given is….
“ Could you please pass on this amazing fundraiser feedback?”
We checked through our entire communications and that literally is the truth! It really reiterates and confirms that you're doing a good job and that of course our fundraisers are smashing out the park.
Charity Link fundraisers are the best. There's no doubt about that.
What impact are you seeing on our charity partners, thanks to the cost of living crisis?
This is obviously hot topic in 2023 but in terms of objections, we haven’t heard from our charity partners about the cost of living. It isn't coming back as an objection from the public except in very small amounts. Even though times are undeniably tough, the public is still amazing and want to support our incredible charities.
That is surprising and amazing because having researched the cost of living stats for previous blogs about the impact of cost of living on charities and how fundraisers can deal with cost-of-living objections we know that the charity sector is seeing a drop in donations. But it’s noteworthy that what we're actually seeing is not a drop in the number of donors, but the amount that they're able to get.
If you had a magic wand, what would you change for charities in general?
We had a good discussion about this as a team and we’d really like to see charities generally get more help from the government. Although the government’s financial aid to the charity sector during that pandemic was helpful, there hasn’t been a great deal to write home about to address the cost of living crisis (save an energy subsidy), which has exacerbated an already difficult situation.
Going back to the objections that fundraisers get from donors, we know there's a lot of people who don’t donate for various reasons.
One reason people give is that they think the government should be solving societies problems and there should therefore be no need for charity. So if you're giving to charity you're kind of excusing the government and letting them to sidestep their responsibilities because you're basically doing it for them.
Of course this is a real chicken and egg situation because taking away charity support would create absolute chaos in our society.
How do you think Charity link are different to other fundraising agencies?
Well for a start we use our own unique pitch material and I think we really pride ourselves on being brand ambassadors. Each one of our fundraisers goes out there with pride knowing that they’re representing the charity.
Sarah filming for a Learning and Development video
I think that's what makes us different – we are truly passionate about charity; we care about how we reflect our charities and how our fundraisers conduct themselves.
From the Learning and Development team – the training academy and the compliance we prioritise, it's all very much about making sure we never give any of our charities any reason to feel uncertain or like that can’t trust us. That partnership is solid and as far as we're concerned, we’re 100% partners and we work together.
If you could choose our next charity partner, what charity would you choose and why?
After long deliberation, the Client Services Team nominated Daisy’s dream.
Daisy's Dream offer professional support service, which responds to the needs of children and families affected by life threatening illness or bereavement. They're an amazing charity and they deserve all the support in the world.
What is your favourite thing about working for Charity Link?
It has to be the Client Services team – we are so lucky to have such great support in each other - we work so well together and we get on as friends as well, which is lovely.
We're very open and we discuss things as a team to make sure everyone's in the know and nobody feels any restriction – it’s like, I’m not here as your competitor – I’m here as your team mate and we’ve got the same goals. If there’s a problem it’s not about throwing each other under the bus, it’s about fixing it together and making sure we work together to make sure we’re better for next time. We're all equals - we just have a conversation and just know that some of us know how to do things better than others and we’ll go to that person.
What do you think Charity Link does particularly well?
Charity Link is incredibly professional. We're not Cowboys, we do things right and we do it by the letter and we do it by the book, which makes us the industry leaders. This is why we're so good - we work so closely with the CIOF and we're all very professional across the board, from fundraisers to head office staff to anybody representing us.
Everyone here is professional, polite, lovely and we know what we're doing! We’re a well oiled machine!
So I think we'd win the award for just being the best!
We’re so lucky with our, fundraisers, they're all so professional even though it’s a phenomenally challenging job. They do it on repeat - out there every day, being brand ambassadors for each charity, and with every no they still keep their spirits up. It takes a very resilient, very stoic, very focused type of mindset. Client Services are so proud of each and every one of them for the hard work that they do every single day.
Thank you so much to Beth for her time in this interview and for speaking on behalf of the Client Services department. It's been amazing getting an insight what Client Services do, as well as and the workings of your team!
