Fotis K.
About me
| Fotis K. | |
| Music | |
| Music | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Derwent | |
| 2023 | |
| Greece |
My employment
| Development Officer (Organisations) | |
| Guildhall School of Music & Drama | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Charity and voluntary sector | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2023 |
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A day in the life of a Development Officer (Organisations) in the United Kingdom
Doing fundraising at a conservatoire is a nice blend between fundraising and music
Briefly describe the organisation you work for
Guildhall School is a conservatoire in London offering Music, Drama, and Production courses at an undergraduate and postgraduate level.
What do you do?
I work in its Development team (basically fundraising). I am responsible for stewarding and renewing a portfolio of organisational donors (Trusts & Foundations, Liveries, and Corporations). This mainly includes drafting grant applications and reports, as well as managing communications with donors remotely and at events. I also manage the scholars, matching their financial awards to specific scholarships, while ensuring they meet their scholar responsibilities.
Reflecting upon your past employment and education, what led you to your current career choice?
I was a Music student with experience in fundraising at YuCall campaigns, organised by the Office of Philanthropic Partnerships and Alumni at UoY. Even though I never expected to get into fundraising before that, I really enjoyed it, and doing fundraising at a conservatoire is a nice blend between fundraising and music.
Is your current job sector different from what you thought you would enter when you graduated?
While at uni, I was between continuing my academic studies in composition or get into music administration. In the end, I decided to pursue music administration. Music admin is such a vast field, so I was applying for various jobs that just sounded nice. I was extremely fortunate to get my favourite one of those I came across, even though I didn't particularly expect to work in fundraising specifically prior to that.
Describe your most memorable day at work
I had an important role in the planning of an event for supporters who have established scholarships to meet their scholars. It was a really busy event for the team, but had such a lively atmosphere. I got to meet supporters in my portfolio and students who I've been in touch with over email, and saw what fundraising for those scholarships looks like in real life.
Are there any challenges associated with your job?
Even though I focus on organisational fundraising, everything is run by people in the end, and each person/application is unique, and all communications should be personalised. It's tricky to learn as much as possible about each person within a relatively large portfolio! Definitely an aspect that makes my job more interesting too though.
What extracurricular activities did you undertake at university and what transferable skills did you develop through these?
Whatever I could! I tried to say 'yes' to everything that even remotely sounded interesting, with an open mind (to the extent the workload remained manageable, of course). Some didn't work out, but many did, a couple of which unexpectedly ended up being defining for my career at this first stage. I took activities ranging from STYCing, open days, international students welcome team to volunteering for a marketing project and a festival. The two most important were participating in an ensemble committee as a Treasurer & Librarian, gaining music admin experience, and being first a Student Fundraiser and then a Senior Fundraiser leading YuCall campaigns, which involved fundraising phone conversations with York alumni.
What top tips do you have for York students preparing for today’s job market and life after graduation?
Everyone talks about how competitive the job market is. Don't let the stress get to you, try to get as much experience as you can and try out different things and it will work out in the end. It does require a lot of hard work in terms of managing extracurricular activities alongside your studies, but York makes finding such opportunities incredibly easy. Use as many of the resources available to you as you can. You often don't even have to look for these opportunities, they come to you over email!
Even the activities that don't end up being directly relevant to what you do, it's all about what you make out of them, how they help you develop personally and professionally, and experience from one activity will lead you to the next etc. My best interview scenario answers were from very random activities.
What topics from students are you happy to answer questions on?
I only graduated last year so won't be able to answer advanced questions from an interviewer's perspective. However, if you're looking to get into either fundraising or music administration, chances are I went through a very similar route to you last year (hopefully yours is less chaotic). I'd be happy to answer any questions on finding that first graduate job from my recent experience.
Next steps...
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