8:15am – I work in the office 2-3 times a week so on office days I get up early-ish to travel to north London ready for what is always a lovely day in our women-only, trauma-informed community space.
9:30 – As soon as I arrive in the office, I say my hello’s and grab a cup of tea. We often have sweets/biscuits/chocolates in the staff kitchen which is great for a morning treat!
10am – Team Time is our weekly, all-staff meeting where we all share one key thing we’re working on that week. As Development Manager this can vary from getting an application submitted, writing a funding report, organising a Supporters event or updating the team on a funding success.
*If we’re in the office we celebrate any successful grant applications by ringing a bell (Selling Sunset style) and celebrating as a team which is very fun!
11am – Writing compelling funding proposals for Trusts and Foundations is a key part of my role and is the first step to hopefully getting money in and reaching our fundraising targets each year. After completing prospecting, I will work with teams across the organisation to prioritise applications and understand which projects to focus proposals on. After this, I will set about completing the funding applications (around 2-3 per month) often to tight deadlines (fuelled by lots of cups of tea in the process!)
1pm – Lunch time is one of my favourite parts of the day as we will often share a meal with Members and colleagues in either the Green Room or our lovely courtyard area. We have a group of wonderful Catering Volunteers who cook delicious hot meals 3x a week which makes for a lovely treat on office days.
2pm – Each week I catch up with our Head of Development and Communications to talk through what I’m working on and what’s coming up. I really value these weekly chats as they are a great way to check in, ask questions and make sure things are in place to support us both in completing work, which often have competing deadlines. We will work through our application/reporting trackers, discuss any events that need planning and talk through strategic plans for future funding.
3pm – Reporting: my favourite part of the job! It’s such a joy writing reports for funders to tell them about all the amazing activities that their funding has supported. These reports will be used to release grant payments, act as a renewal ask or summarise the end of grant. Reports typically comprise some key aspects: summarising delivery of projects (Members Programme, productions, prison work & partnerships), presenting monitoring data from Members/audiences and updating funders on the future of our work. Once this is all collated, I’ll spend an unnecessary amount of time making the report look good in Canva before sending to funders.
5pm – I spend time each month prospecting new funding opportunities to ensure we are aware of upcoming grants that we can apply to. Carrying out due diligence, understanding funding guidance and thinking about upcoming fundraising needs helps us to make informed decisions to support strategic plans.
5:30pm – After another lovely day in the building I head home, ready to go again tomorrow!
Clean Break is currently recruiting for a Development Manager and Development Co-Ordinator to support the expansion of the Development team. For further information and how to apply, please visit this section of our website.
Applications are open until Wednesday 12 July 2023.
