I attended the University of Manchester for three years to study BA History and Sociology, and I graduated back in 2021.

Since leaving university, I have pursued a career in the charity sector beginning in an assistant level fundraising role for a local children’s charity. Now I sit in the specialised role of “Stewardship Officer” within Community and Events Fundraising at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. I’m thoroughly enjoying this role, which I stepped into earlier this year, and getting to spend time with dogs and cats most days is definitely a great perk!

My role involves building and optimising what we call “stewardship journeys” for those fundraising for the charity. This will be the emails, SMS or any other forms of communication they receive which provide fundraising advice and inspiration to help increase their fundraising total, ensure they feel both supported and appreciated and hopefully encourage them to continue supporting the charity after their event. This could then potentially include long-term relationship management. I specifically focus on Community Fundraisers (members of the public, schools, university groups or businesses organising their own fundraising e.g. bake sale or pub quiz) and Event fundraisers (those taking part in a third-party official event in aid of the charity e.g. the London Marathon).

I plan to continue progressing in the world of fundraising, to expand my skillset and knowledge so I can reach a more senior position. My key passions are: animal welfare and environmentalism, feminism and human rights, so it is important to me that any charity I work at is related to these causes.
Whilst my degree may not directly connect with my job position, studying a humanities degree provided me with useful skills which I apply every day. A fundamental skill I developed was to analyse data/information and draw conclusions from which guide the next course of action. This has been particularly helpful to me in my role when I’ve been leading on new projects. Furthermore, my degree gave me the chance to improve my writing skills, including how to build a persuasive argument.

Whilst studying my degree, I also helped to run a political society. This involved coordinating events, engaging new people to join the society, and organising social media posts and other comms we’d send to members. This was a great opportunity for me to develop a whole host of skills including: leadership, communication, marketing, how to make events inclusive and connecting with people. Working with Community and Events fundraisers, I am communicating with everyday people who are going out their way to support a cause, so being able to connect with them on a human level is very important. Whilst I am a social and chatty person anyway, I believe my involvement in the society helped me hone those qualities to become a strength in my professional capacity.

My advice to anyone soon to graduate would be not to panic that your first role out of university has to be the “dream job”, particularly now in the current job climate. You may not even be sure yet what you want to do – and that’s ok!

Whilst I had an interest in working in the charity sector, I wasn’t sure what area to pursue and I applied for countless graduate schemes. This included in other sectors such as the Civil Service. Whilst I wasn’t successful in any of the graduate schemes I applied for, I instead got stuck in with a job and was immediately gaining valuable experience. The nature of jobs within the charity sector is of course broad. And even just within fundraising there’s a huge range of areas but starting off in an entry-level role allowed me to understand what these were and identify what I enjoyed.
What I’ve learnt as I’ve got older, is that you’re allowed to give yourself grace and time to try out different things so you can decide what you want to do for your career. Just make sure whatever career path you choose, it is something you are passionate about. That is what will keep you driven.

– Lottie Donovan

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