‘Feel Good’ Fundraising’ Margaret’s Magic Hands

In our ‘Feel Good Fundraising’ series, Bamboo’s digital marketing apprentice, Georgie, follows up on the stories of inspirational volunteer fundraisers to ask them the questions no one’s thought to ask.

Georgie, it’s over to you.

Just before Christmas, I came across Margaret’s JustGiving page. She was aiming to make and sell 50 jars of jam and marmalade in her 100th year to raise funds for Nightingale Cancer Support Centre.

I wanted to see how she got on, so I got in touch.

By my count, you’ve made 115 jars, smashing your original target of 50. How do you feel? 

I feel overwhelmed. In no way, did I think I would be able to make more than 50 jars of jam and marmalade, the target I originally set with my son-in-law David. But all the support I’ve received spurred me on. I can’t thank people enough.

I enjoy making jam and marmalade. I’ve been doing it for years. But it’s challenging now, partly because of my age and partly as I have limited sight due to Macular Degeneration, and Rheumatoid Arthritis in both hands.

I was admitted to hospital twice last year, and I’m still recovering from the latest visit. I hope I can get back to making my jam and marmalade soon. As I’ve got orders coming in but I’m getting low on marmalade.

I’m extremely grateful to Lucy from the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre, who has made me labels for the jars. The only problem is, due to the Macular degeneration, I sometimes put the labels on upside down, so there’s the odd unique jar out there.

What keeps you motivated on difficult days?

I hit my target of 50 on 11/7/22 and the orders have continued to flood in, so I’ve kept going, and I love doing it.

Fundraising for a worthy cause and knowing my jams and marmalade will bring some enjoyment to others keeps me motivated.

Classic FM also keeps me going. I have it on in the kitchen.

You’re clearly a jam connoisseur. Have you got any top tips for our readers? 

1. A little flora (the vegan one) in the jam helps to prevent foam from forming while cooking. I add a ½-teaspoon as soon as it starts. Otherwise, I have to skim off the foam with a spoon before adding the jam to the jars.

2. Cut up the fruit while it’s frozen. This will prevent the juice from staining your hands.

3. Weigh everything properly. Even a small variation will affect the process.

If you’d like to support Margaret, there’s still time. Click here to donate.

Or, if you’re looking for a community fundraiser to inspire volunteers like Margaret, drop us a line at info@amboofundraising.co.uk.

Eight great reasons to become a trustee

Looking for a way to make a difference in your spare time? Want to give back to a cause you feel passionately about?

Have you thought about becoming a trustee?

In addition to being extremely rewarding, a trusteeship is an excellent opportunity to learn new skills, build your professional network, and gain valuable experience to further your career.

And if you consider that almost half of charities have at least one vacancy on their board, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.

What is a trustee?

Trustees are volunteers (collectively known as the board, governing body, or management committee,) who are responsible for managing and overseeing a charity. They ensure the organisation operates in accordance with its mission, stays financially stable, and complies with all the relevant laws and regulations.

What do trustees do?

Trustees sit at the top table with the most senior decision-makers. They make crucial decisions about a charity’s activities, funds, and future, and play a key role in ensuring it does what it set out to do.

Some of the responsibilities of a trustee include:

• Helping the CEO lead the organisation

• Leading the strategic development of the organisation

• Ensuring the charity is delivering on it’s goals

• Looking after the organisation’s finances and assets

Who can be a trustee?

Trustees come from all walks of life. Some are retired. Others work full- or part-time.

Providing you’re at least 18 years old, (or 16 if the organisation is a charitable incorporated organisation), and you don’t have any unspent convictions, you’re good to apply.

Why become a trustee?

Aside from the warm and fuzzy feeling you’ll get from giving back, there are a ton of reasons to take on a trusteeship.

Here are eight for starters:

1. Skill-building: According to a study by GettingOnBoard, 96% of trustees say they developed new skills as a result of their trusteeship. As a trustee, you'll work on strategic planning, financial management, and problem-solving, among other things, all of which are highly valued by employers.

2. Boost your CV: A valuable addition to your CV, a trusteeship will make you a more competitive candidate.

3. Networking opportunities: Serving as a trustee will give you the opportunity to build relationships. As well as your fellow trustees, you’ll interact with volunteers, staff, and the public. These connections could open doors to future job opportunities.

4. Leadership experience: You’ll get hands-on experience in leadership, decision-making, and team management - at board level.

   This is invaluable if you’ve got your eye on a senior leadership or non-executive role.

5. Commitment to giving back: Employers are always on the lookout for candidates that are passionate about making a difference. A trusteeship will demonstrate it in spades.

6. Enhanced well-being: Studies show that volunteering can have a positive impact on our well-being. As a trustee, you'll be contributing to a cause you care about and making a difference. You’ll feel happier, more fulfilled, and confident as a result.

7. Improved job prospects: According to Reach Volunteering, 68% of trustees say their involvement in charity governance has helped them progress in their careers. Enough said!

8. Represent the underrepresented: GettingOnBoard research has found that the average age of a trustee is 60-62. Just 0.5% of trustees are 18-24, despite the age group making up 12% of the population. If you fall into this age bracket, a trustee role is a unique chance to help a charity achieve its goals by bringing a fresh perspective to the board.

Final Word

A trustee is a fantastic way to make a tangible difference to cause you care about. It’s a role that’ll give back as much as you put in, and more. So why not start your journey to becoming a trustee today? Contact us on 020 3750 3111 or info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out more.

Good Jobs Project

As we all know, the UK is faced with multiple social and environmental crises, from the cost-of-living crisis to climate change. Most of the proposed solutions focus on the role of government and charities, but few focus on the role business can play.

The ReGenerate Trust aims to find purpose-driven opportunities for business to play its part in tackling a range of societal issues, from housing shortages and poverty to modern slavery, by delivering solutions through a profitable model.

The Good Jobs Project

One of the charity’s initiatives, the Good Jobs Project, aims to tackle the UK’s labour shortage.

The problem

UK businesses have a record 1.3 million vacancies, following the effects of Covid-19, Brexit and the ‘great resignation’.

The aim of the Good Jobs Project is to fill some of these vacancies with people who have been frozen out of the job market due to social or geographic barriers (i.e., people that are living in poverty, or are sustained by the UK’s social safety net).

The goals of the Good Jobs Project

1. To identify opportunities for businesses to increase their positive contribution to society by recruiting individuals that are overlooked in hiring processes. This includes people in caring roles, single-parents, ex-offenders, people with disabilities, long-term illnesses, and many others.

2. To raise awareness of the opportunities available to stakeholders, including businesses, civil society groups, the government, investors, and the individuals themselves.

3. To inspire the government and investors to incentivise businesses to take advantage of the opportunity.

4. To establish baseline statistics that demonstrate the potential impact that businesses could have through recruiting those with social barriers to work.

ReGenerate are launching a large-scale research and market activation project, to identify ways that businesses can be incentivised and supported to recruit from these disadvantaged groups.

How you can help

The goals of the project are supported by a wide range of organisations, from businesses to charities. Want to show your support? There are several ways you can do so:

1) Share your thoughts.
2) Participate in interviews or focus groups.
3) Partner on the project and provide funding.
4) Add your logo to demonstrate your support for the project goals.

Final Word

At Bamboo, we’re passionate about helping people from marginalised communities get into work. In our opinion, the Good Jobs Project is an innovative way to achieve this, while generating a fresh labour pool for sectors struggling to hire. It’s a win-win!

To share your thoughts on the initiative, or sign up for an interview or focus group, email harry.brown@re-generate.org

Fundraising interview tips: How to use the STAR method

“Give me an example of a time when you faced a problem at work. How did you handle it?”
“Describe a time when you had to step up and demonstrate leadership skills.”
“Tell me about a time you made a mistake and wish you’d handled it differently.”

You’ve probably been asked one (or more) of these questions in a job interview.

They’re examples of behavioural interview questions, and they’re designed to get candidates to share examples of situations where they’ve used their soft skills to navigate difficult situations.

If you’re not prepared for a behavioural question, it can be tricky to think of an example on the spot and share it as an easy-to-follow anecdote with a clear takeaway.

However, there’s a handy technique to help you structure your answer. Enter the STAR method.

Here’s the lowdown.

What’s the STAR method?

The STAR method is a technique used to answer competency-based interview questions in a structured manner.

STAR stands for:

(S) Situation: What’s the context? Describe the situation/background

(T) Task: Talk about the task you had to complete and the challenges you faced

(A) Action: How did you fix the situation? Describe the process and steps you took to resolve it

(R) Results: What was the outcome? If possible, use numbers and/or hard data to back up your answer

When would you use the STAR method?

The STAR method can be used to answer behavioural interview questions (or any question where you need to tell a story).

These questions typically start with:

• Tell me about a time when

• What do you do when

• Have you ever

• Give me an example of

• Describe a situation where

When it comes to answering these sorts of questions, you not only need an example to share; you need to share the details clearly and concisely.

This is what the STAR interview method enables you to do.

Example

Let’s look at how you can apply the STAR method to a common behavioural interview question.

“Tell me about a time when you had to handle an unexpected challenge.”

Situation

Begin by setting the scene.

The key here is to avoid adding unnecessary details. Focus on what’s relevant to your story.

“Whilst working as a Fundraising Officer for Charity X, I was preparing a presentation for a conference.

A few hours before the event, one of our guest speakers had to unexpectedly cancel due to an emergency. There was now a 45-minute gap in the schedule I had to fix.”

Task

This part of the answer can easily get confused with the “action” portion of the response. But this piece is about your responsibilities in the scenario, including any objectives you were set.

“As the senior events officer in our team of three, it was my responsibility to ensure the slots were filled and the presentation ran seamlessly - and on time.”

Action

Now the interviewer knows what you set out to accomlish, it’s time to explain what you did.

What steps did you take to reach your goal or solve the problem?

“It was too late to bring an external speaker in, so I decided the next best thing was to fill the slot with our CEO. I spent an hour working with him one-on-one, helping him transform his decade’s worth of experience into a 45-minute speech.”

Result

What was the outcome? Explain how you dealt with the situation and what you learned from the experience.
Include concrete numbers where possible.

“Due to the limited amount of time we had to prepare, the CEO’s speech ended up being 30 minutes long. I suggested he took questions from the audience for the remainder of the slot and let him know when the 45 minutes were up.

As a result, the event stayed on track and ran smoothly.”

Ready for a STAR interview?

Bagged a fundraising interview and want some help with your prep? We can help. Contact us on 0203 750 3111 or info@bamboofundraising.co.uk.

‘Feel Good’ Fundraising: Chilly camp-out

In our ‘Feel Good Fundraising’ series, Bamboo’s digital marketing apprentice, Georgie, follows up on the stories of inspirational volunteer fundraisers, asking them the questions no one’s thought to ask.

Over to Georgie.

According to research by Shelter, 271,000 people are living rough on the streets of the UK.

Without fundraisers like Jackie Little, the number would be a lot higher.

Jackie took it upon herself to organise a sleep-out to raise funds for First Housing Aid & Support Services.

I was intrigued to find out how it went, so contacted her to ask some questions.

Why did you choose this cause?

I was heartbroken by the stories I read about the homeless. Following the death of a young 15-year-old girl in Dublin, I felt compelled to do something.

How did people keep warm?

We huddled together. We all brought sleeping bags and put disposable heat pads in our socks in the early hours of the morning, due to it being -4. One man managed an hour or two of sleep, but the rest of us didn’t get any. It was too cold.

Where did the sleep-out take place?

In the City of Derry, outside Guild Hall. We had a good response from the public. Everyone was friendly and supportive.

We spent time with the homeless, which was heart-wrenching, but we were able to provide them with emergency kits, fresh blankets, and food, which felt good.

How did you feel about the experience?

It was eye-opening. It made me realise how blessed I am to be living in comfort, and how much I take for granted.

The event was a great success. There was lots of interest and many generous donations were made during the night.

I wouldn’t do it again, but I’d help in another way. Maybe a skydive or bungee jump.

Want to support Jackie? You can still contribute to her GoFundMe page.

Looking for a community fundraiser to inspire volunteers like Jackie to support your cause? We can help. Drop us a line at info@amboofundraising.co.uk to get started.