Blogger: Gena Correale Wardle, Community Fundraising Officer
Being a Community Fundraiser is a varied life. When I tell people I am a ‘fundraiser’ they either think I do door-to-door fundraising with a clip board and a puppy-dog look in my eye, or that I sit behind a desk writing grant applications to raise funds for specific projects. My role sits somewhere in between, having some of both deskwork and face-to-face fundraising sprinkled in for good measure!
Take the end of my last week at work; on Thursday I was meeting Jayne Raffles, owner of Raffles Restaurants and in particular, Pulse cafe in Norwich - a fab, independent vegetarian and vegan eatery. Pulse will be working with the RSPB in January to promote Big Garden Birdwatch and raise funds for us by providing specific dishes where a proportion of the price will go directly to conservation. What a fab way to make sure the birds are fed whilst feeding yourself!
Straight after that I was off to have a meeting at a local gym, who are hopefully going to be holding a fundraising exercise event in the summer for us, where people will literally be ‘stepping up’, getting fit and raising money for us at the same time! If you are interested in being a part of this literal mass-movement, keep your eyes peeled to the blog in the new year when we will have more info about the event.
On Friday I was back at my desk, catching up with emails from our Local Group volunteers (conduits for the RSPB in their local communities) and pin badge box volunteers. I was also making phone calls and signing people up to collect at our forthcoming ‘Save Nature’ collections, happening around the time of Big Garden Birdwatch around the region.
Then, about 3pm the call came in – more ‘reindeer food’ was needed and fast! This is a little initiative we are doing in the region – rolled oats and bird seed mixed with edible glitter makes the perfect treat for Rudolph and his friends on Christmas eve. The sparkles in it attract the reindeer and ensure Father Christmas will find your house – the food the reindeer don’t eat will be a lovely snack for garden birds. At £1 a bag it was selling out at Bury Christmas Market and more was needed, so I spent the next two hours covered in glitter, making up the little packets! Contact me at gena.correale-wardle@rspb.org.uk if you fancy getting your hands on some.
Finally, I was working on Saturday at Ipswich Town Football Club, dressed as a robin and collecting donations from the generous fans. We raised £221 in less than two hours, which we were thrilled with, and it was really nice to hear people’s stories about their encounters with nature and wildlife – from watching the birds in their garden to whale watching in the Carribean!
My job is very varied and it’s easier to say ‘I’m in fundraising’ than tell people the full extent of what I do, but actually, I should be proud and tell them all the exciting things I’ve got going on and the diversity of work in my field. I’m saving nature every day, one little pound at a time!