What it’s like to work in the RSPCA events team

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Insider insight into working for the RSPCA's events team, from Sally Cornish, director of income generation

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The RSPCA is currently recruiting for an ambitious head of events to lead its growing events team. We spoke to Sally Cornish, director of income generation at the RSPCA, to find out what it's like to work in the events team and gain insider insight into the role it's recruiting for.

Tell us about the RSPCA’s events team and the work you do

We’re currently recruiting for an ambitious head of events to lead our team of two event managers and an event assistant. The small and well established team is set to grow in the next three years to help more than treble our events income to £1million. Our new head of events will revitalise the events programme and set a new vision, whilst maintaining our current successful activities.

What exciting projects are you working on?

We are expanding our portfolio of events to cater for any audience, as we aim to become the charity of choice for an increasing number of fundraisers. We are reviewing our stewardship programme which consists of partners who run events on our behalf, such as the London and Brighton marathons, so that we can better match what supporters want from us. And we’ll be piloting some new RSPCA-branded events over the next few months. So there’s lots happening!

Tell us about a typical day in the life of a head of events at the RSPCA

The head of events role will be very fast-paced for at least the first nine months as we increase our number of events and plan for team growth. You will spend a lot of your day getting to understand what motivates people to support the RSPCA, coming up with ideas and taking them to insight and research. You will get people excited about supporting us both within the RSPCA and externally, and you will work with creative agencies to implement the campaigns. Aside from income generation, you will also ensure our events maximise opportunities to enhance animal welfare, such as promoting our rehoming ask and creating educational activities.

What kind of person are you looking for?

We’re looking for someone who is ambitious, creative and brimming with ideas. You should have strong event management skills but even more importantly you will have solid marketing and creative skills, ideally with fundraising experience. You will be an inspiring leader with a get-go attitude and be able to motivate the team and get them excited about the new events we’re creating.

What training and development opportunities do you offer?

We have some great training and development opportunities here at the RSPCA, with a dedicated training and development team offering internal and external courses. We fund Institute of Fundraising memberships for all our staff and encourage everyone to not only attend conferences to stay abreast of the latest trends, but also to speak at events to raise their profile and that of the charity. We also offer mentoring options - as a head of department you will have the opportunity to be a mentor as well as receive mentoring from our director and assistant director of fundraising.

In a nutshell, why would someone want to work in the RSPCA’s events team?

It’s a ridiculously exciting time to join the events team. We’re injecting a huge amount of enthusiasm and passion into it and attracting new supporters and income very quickly. It’s a really fast-paced, creative and rewarding role for the right person.

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