8th February 2024 Developing the talents of our team

When Maria joined The Talent Foundry (TTF) in 2021 as a Programme Admin Officer, fundraising wasn’t on her career radar, but since joining the team she has been instrumental in driving forward our fundraising efforts.

Recognising Maria's potential, TTF invested in her development by enrolling her in a Level 3 Fundraising Apprenticeship, and here she tells us about her learning journey.

I’d only been at the Talent Foundry for a month, when I got involved with the annual fundraising bike ride from Carlise to Newcastle in 2021. Once I’d been part of this, I realised opportunities for other possible fundraising, and in 2022 my role became more active in planning fundraising activities for the charity, which had previously been led by our Trustees.

In 2022, Maria enrolled on her Fundraising Apprenticeship using 20% of her working hours to advance her knowledge and build her portfolio. Building on her base knowledge, and drawing on insights from case studies of other charities and applying her newfound skills to benefit The Talent Foundry.

Alongside time with her tutor and two workshops per month, Maria worked towards her End Point Assessment and presentation, successfully completing her apprenticeship in January 2024.

Her new found skills have seen the annual bike ride challenge income increase from £35k in 2022 to £45k in 2023, and over the past two years raise £10k from the digital fundraising Christmas campaign, The Big Give, generating a new revenue stream for the charity.

Maria’s future fundraising plans for include developing the partnerships we have with our fabulous corporate partners and building fundraising into our communications, to help build our pool of donors and to engage our supporters further in our fundraising efforts.

Maria’s ambition is to ‘develop our partnerships to become transformational, not just transactional.’ She backs this aim up with dynamic fundraising plans:

We have the Everest Challenge in October 2025, where 30 Dell Technologies colleagues will be venturing to Everest Base camp, and a new UK challenge trek in the Peak District. Plus of course, this year's annual bike ride from Copenhagen to Berlin – a ride of 270 miles over three days.

Income generation is just half of Marias role, she is also the Programme Co-ordinator for Rise and the Bridge pre-apprenticeship programmes – her own apprenticeship journey is a testament to the transformative power of investing in the talents of individuals, showcasing how nurturing skills can lead to remarkable contributions.

If you’d like to get involved in any of our fundraising challenge events or activities email Maria to arrange a call.