Case studies : Community fundraiser: Holly Smith

Holly works for Marie Curie Cancer Care as a community fundraiser. She studied English and politics at The University of York.

I was really lucky as Marie Curie Cancer Care appointed me straight from university; I hadn’t even graduated when I got the job. When I joined the charity I started as an entry level community fundraiser and have since progressed to a higher level. The work I am now responsible for involves more in-depth project work and more responsibility focusing on different types of fundraising.

Throughout my degree I developed many transferable skills such as communication, team work and presentation skills. In my role I often have to present to a wide range of audiences and liaise with the public, therefore I use these skills on an everyday basis. I have also been able to use the writing skills I developed while studying for my degree as an element of my job requires this.

This work is very varied and involves meeting and working with so many different people which I love!  I also love that it’s fast paced - I work in a busy fundraising office with people continually coming and going and the phones ringing all the time.  When I go home in the evening I really feel like I’ve spent my working day doing something worthwhile and productive!  I’d also say that I have the best colleagues I could wish for!

I think the charity sector is a really dynamic and exciting place to work - with new ideas and approaches to work evolving all the time. The charity sector is really supportive of career and personal development; it gives people the chance to get stuck in and have a go.

The most challenging aspect of my role is definitely the workload. My job is a bit of a balancing act of working a wide variety of different projects simultaneously, but that’s also what makes the role so exciting too.

I’d like to stay within community fundraising and see where the role takes me, hopefully continuing to take on more responsibility and working on more challenging elements of the job.

I would strongly advise anyone thinking of going into the charity sector to volunteer. I think the key to getting into the charity sector is to have first-hand experience, and there’s no better way of doing that than volunteering.

When I was a student I volunteered on the management committee of a small UK charity which gave me a really useful opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge and commitment to the sector when applying for jobs.  For example, it gave me lots to talk about in my interview. There are a wide variety of volunteering opportunities around, from working at a local fundraising office (Marie Curie Cancer Care have loads of students volunteering with us) to holding events, or being involved in your university’s RAG. I’d say volunteering is definitely the best way to get into the charity sector.