Meet the team - Face to face fundraiser Terry
Our face to face fundraisers are at the very heart of our business, so it’s been really great to hear first hand from one of our biggest characters Terry.
Terry is a private site fundraiser which means he works within a certain distance of his home in a variety of pre-booked venues and show. He shares his story on why he ended up in the fundraising role, as well we giving advice on how to be a fundraiser, what motivates him and how he copes on tough days. We hope you’ll enjoy learning more about Terry and his time in this very special charity job …
Why did you choose fundraising as a career?
I chose to pursue a career in fundraising after I retired from full time work.
After 39 years worrying about how to pay the bills, I finally managed to do everything from a financial perspective and a weight was lifted off my shoulders.
At the beginning I was the happiest boy in the sandbox (!), I have hobbies - like the boys toys kind of stuff, but you can only do so much with that. After about six months I got bored. I said to my wife, ‘I've got to do something’.
So I looked up fundraising - there was an advert for charity jobs – I’d never ever been in the fundraising arena in my life – I’d always done performance auditing on people so I didn’t know how I’d do but I applied any way.
I thought I just want work that I enjoy without any stress, but I also want it to be a little bit poignant.
I was drawn to charity fundraising (and Charity Link particularly) because it involved something that's very close to my heart, which is dogs – and I get that from working for the Guide Dogs and Dogs Trust campaigns.
So helping people, helping dogs fits right in with what I wanted to do.
And do you know what?
I haven't gone back and it’s absolutely fantastic. It's not about money for me, I’m in a lucky position. I meet loads of people and I love people. I love all different people, different shapes, different sizes, different colours, long, tall, short, fat, thin whatever. They're all great!
What's your favourite thing about fundraising?
Fundraising on Uxbridge high street
My favourite thing about fundraising I think, is the fact that we can help so many people and as well as helping people and helping the dogs and things like that.
We also raise awareness, so there's a lot of issues around people coping with blindness and around dogs that have been abused and abandoned - things like that.
As fundraisers we raise awareness with the public and they spread the word and I think that's a really good thing.
What skills come in most handy for successful fundraising?
First of all, you need to be comfortable with people and you need to have people skills. There are so many things that count as ‘people skills’ from body language and eye contact right up to being neat and clean and tidy – basically presentable! So all of those kind of normal social skills that you would use in your daily life, all fit in with the face to face fundraising job.
I used to work for a large communications company and I was there for 39 years. It was there that I learned my trade and meeting people and have found that all those skills are transferable.
I think you need to be transparent as well - people need to see that you're genuine. I think if you can portray that in your conversation with people, they're more likely to be willing to sign up.
You need to be resilient and have a robust emotional ability. This is because you get an awful lot of rejection and an awful lot of ignorance. Although there’s no excuse for pure ignorance we encounter it almost every day and that’s not normally something that you would experience in your daily life. I think it’s because people are just submerged in the amount of charity work and news and requests that's going on… eventually they just become numb to it or they resent it.
If you think about all the TV adverts about charities; in the UK and abroad, people charities, health charities, animal charities, environment charities - there are so many charities!
So we need to make sure that we're the ones that people remember. Unfortunately, there's a lot of rejection, a lot of ignorance and so you really do need to be very resilient to cope with that.
Learn the 13 qualities of a successful fundraiser
Do you think the face to face fundraising is more effective than other forms of fundraising because you're working directly with people?
Yeah, definitely. Advertising on TV is fantastic, but it's very scripted and it's very prescriptive as well.
Every day is different!
When you fundraise on the street and face to face with people, you are sharing yourself with them, you're you are being yourself to somebody. You're giving. I'm giving you an idea of what I'm like and why I do it. And it's genuine I'm doing, with genuine reason and I'm completely transparent.
You can't do all of that in radio and TV advertising or newspaper media and I think we can get the charity message across much better.
Read why people don’t donate to charity
What’s the toughest part about fundraising?
The hardest part of fundraising (other than being out in the winter when it's dark and cold and raining and snowing and wet and you're freezing!) is the rejection that you face on a daily basis.
For me the toughest part is that sometimes that gets into your head and it’s then that you need to then take a step back. It’s like you have to restart yourself, restart the day, get your head back together and then carry on.
What do you do to cope on those difficult days?
Back step back. What I do is take myself out of this situation for 10 or 15 minutes. I'll go to get coffee and I’ll sit down just take myself away from the situation.
A positive mental attitude is key!
You can't not think about something - it's like me asking you to forget this interview - you can't and I can't. But although it's going to be on your mind, you can take a step back and think with some space – It’s like
‘Right, OK. That person was like that or that person was like that but maybe they've had a bad day, I don't know.’
But then you make a choice and separate yourself – you say
‘But I’m not like them. I'm happy. I'm having my coffee and I'm gonna get back out there’
I kind of just talk myself around you know. So that’s what I do.
Do you ever reach out to anybody else?
Yeah, that’s important too. I've got a really good network of people working with Charity Link.
It’s other fundraisers who are doing the same job and who can relate to me because it's happened to them. I relate to them too.
So I'll sit there, have my coffee, maybe phone up one of my colleagues and say
‘Look, you know, I've had a really crap day. I just wanted to have a quick chat and see how you're doing’
And then we both have a yarn and both feel better for getting it off our chests!
Have you got any tips and hints for new fundraisers?
Yeah as I said, I step back from it, take myself out of the situation, contact a colleague if I need to. And I do that quite a lot, you know, and that kind of brings me around, yeah.
What does your charity mean to you?
Terry meeting Guide Dog owner Riley and her guide dog Yashka.
The charity is very important to me and that's the main reason I chose to work for Charity Link because of the work they do with Dogs Trust and with Macmillan and their other charity partners.
I have a personal link with them all – Cancer, dogs, blindness.
I'm 63 years old (yeah I know I look 40!), but look, I've experienced a lot of life and all of the good things in life but of course also there's the tough parts too. As you go along you lose pets, you lose parents you lose people.
So that's why it's important to me. I have a personal link to the charities that Charity Link works with and I want to help them.
What is your top tip for doing fundraising well?
What is my top tip for fundraising? Well fundraising, whatever way we look at it, is a numbers game.
Every one of the people I see every day is like a magician's top hat. In one of these top hats, it's going to be a white rabbit - my donor.
So whether you're knocking on doors or I'm standing here amongst all these people, my job is to find the top hats with the white rabbit in.
That said, I don't chase numbers – I try just to keep talking to people to see what’s in their hat and I wait for the white rabbit to come along - and it will come along. It'll be fine.
I think you can teach things like the pitch – and even tell a fundraiser what words to use and how to use them, but it’s about behaviour and connection. Sometimes people are more receptive and sometimes they’re not.
But I think that would be my top tip - don't chase numbers. If you do, it will stress you out and that follows you around. Remember, the hardest door you've got to open is your car door the rest is just taking it as it comes.. So just relax and it will happen!
What would you say to someone thinking about a career in fundraising?
Terry and Gabby Logan
Make sure you do it for the right reasons, right? It’s important to remember that this is a job and it’s a numbers game. You do get paid and you have to meet your targets and your KPI's.
You also really do need to be passionate about what you do - be passionate about the cause. At the end of the day we're dealing with real people – they’re not a machine and neither are you. Every person you encounter has their own problems and personalities.
Finally, fundraisers need to be compliant - like extremely compliant because you’re representing the charities and the work they do and it’s important that you do it right.
Read the code of fundraising basics here
But otherwise I say give it a go! What have you got to lose?!
What’s it like working for Charity Link as a fundraising agency?
I can't compare it to other fundraising agencies or charity organisations but I can tell you what I like about it and why it's good for me.
Terry and fellow fundraiser Shazzy
Charity Link gives me a network, it’s a family of people that understand what I do.
Many people in daily life just don't understand fundraising - what we do, why we do it, how we do it and why we're so passionate about it. So it gives me that network of people that I can go to if ever I need to chat about anything.
Charity Link is also awfully good at being compliant. It's talked during as part of the training academy and the performance framework (which is our learning system).
Learn about our fundraising training here
When people join us, there's great emphasis on being compliant and doing things properly and I'm a great believer in that. I think there was some really unscrupulous companies that will go out and just sign up anybody that comes to them and we we're not like that, we don't do that - we are really compliant.
Actually we've been speaking just recently to the senior management team from Dogs Trust who’ve been walking past our stand today and yesterday! Every bit of feedback we've had is positive and that’s felt so rewarding.
Read our interview with Dogs Trust here
I also love that this fundraising is a proper career here and not just a throwaway job – so for example we get free healthcare. I've used things from the health plan, like for dental care and optical… Even accessing a GP really quickly – I even used Medicash for getting a prescription sent to my phone whilst I was working away because I forgot to take my medication with me.
I've got a good relationship with my line manager Jamie, he's very receptive if I need to change things. I have to go and have checkups for diabetes and things like that and he's really understanding with that.
Another thing that’s great about Charity Link is that we get flexible holidays which for me is great because if fits in with my wife’s work too.
A thank you letter to Terry from Dogs Trust for administering first aid to a member of the public who had a seizure at Goodwood festival in May 22
Thank you so much to Terry for giving us his time and sharing his story and best fundraising tips! Another very special thing about Terry was his fast thinking and quick action when administering first aid to a member of the pubic who collapsed in front of him. Truly inspiring stuff!
Our face to face fundraisers come from all sorts of backgrounds, but they all share one thing in common, which is their desire to make a difference and find meaning in their work.
If you love the sound of the face to face fundraising job, we’re always seeking fresh talent to join our growing team. From Newcastle to Brighton and Cardiff to Kent, we’re hiring across the whole of England and Wales.
So if you’re:
A people person
Like meeting targets
Confident
Enjoy a challenge
Are resilient
Love the idea of making a difference through your work
Are passionate about charity causes that deal with cancer, guide dogs, rescue dogs or animal care
We want to hear from you! Hop over to our jobs page and now for the full description and reach out to our friendly recruitment team to see if you’re a good fit!
