Look at any large charity and you will find a marketing manager, a fundraising manager and sometimes someone who is in charge of evaluating and reporting on the impact the charity is making. Often these ‘departments’ have more than one person with the teams working together to plan social media campaigns, apply for all the grants available and gather detailed data to showcase the impact of the work they do. In contrast, smaller charities are unlikely to have teams of people to work in these areas. There might even just be one person, perhaps the CEO, or in the case of Headway Luton, this person – over time – has evolved to be me!
I started working at Headway Luton as a casual minute-taker for the Board of Trustees in 2018. Grahame Atkins, the then CEO needed some assistance with bid writing, report writing and a range of other things including marketing, so I stepped in as Business Support Officer. Over the years my hours and responsibilities have increased and now I take care of the funding applications and evaluations as well as the marketing. The marketing aspect however, always seemed to go to the bottom of my to-do list as the other tasks always seemed more urgent.
I decided to do the Multi-Channel Marketer Apprenticeship as I hoped it would give me a structure and help me to prioritise getting some marketing done. I also wanted to take the opportunity to experiment in things I have been a bit nervous about doing e.g. making videos or paying for a Facebook advert. As part of my course work, I have to create portfolios to prove what I have done (for example launching a e-newsletter) and evaluate it’s success (by looking at the statistics to see if anyone has actually opened the newsletter and read the articles such as this one!).
I am also in the process of creating a clear Marketing Strategy that complements a Fundraising Strategy. Marketing, fundraising and reporting on outcomes and impact are all interlinked.
Personal stories are the most important way in which the value or impact of services like Headway Luton can be shown. Therefore I am always looking for clients and their families who are confident in having their photos taken, don’t mind sharing their stories of life before and after their brain injury, as well as people who are happy to be on short videos. If that is something you want to take part in, then please do contact me annika.coughlin@headwayluton.com
The apprenticeship I am doing is an ‘upskilling’ one rather than the traditional style one that Hannah and Emmy are enrolled on where you start with limited or no experience, and are often, but not always, completed by younger people. I am in my mid-40s with a range of qualifications already, but am able to do this Level 3 because I do not have any formal qualifications in marketing. My apprenticeship is run by Professional Apprenticeships and is free as it is government funded so there is no cost to the charity.
I would recommend the upskilling type of apprenticeship to anyone working in a charity where you might be the main or only person with the marketing role. You get guidance, structure and of course have your qualification at the end that makes you feel like a legitimate marketer.
