From Charity Life to Agency Life: A Tale of Both Sides
For over 15 years, I worked charity side in small fundraising teams, specialising in individual giving (acquisition, retention, and legacies). And through this time, I’ve developed a wide range of skills, albeit some more helpful than others.
Earlier last year, I was looking for something different. I still wanted to use my skills, but step back from being in a charity, I asked myself the question, what do I want to be when I grow up. And as if by magic, the role of Fundraising Planner came up at Different Kettle. I had worked with Different Kettle as a client for many years across charities and projects, and I reached out to them to find out more about the role and what agency life is like. 6 months on, and here I am, settled into my role as a Fundraising Planner, thoroughly enjoying it and getting stuck into a variety of projects.
When you work charity side, you live and breathe that cause. It becomes part of who you are. Every story you tell, every campaign you deliver, every supporter you speak to, contributes directly to that single mission. But you also face challenges that impact your work and ambitions for programmes. Whether it is getting data in or out of your database, capturing content that inspires supporters to give, or challenges with fulfilment – I’ve felt your pain. And I bring this understanding into the role here when helping you develop your fundraising programmes.
Joining Different Kettle has given me a completely new vantage point, seeing the sector with a much broader perspective, seeing the sector’s shared challenges and strengths. One day, I might be helping a small medical charity develop an acquisition programme, and the next, I’m working with a large nationally recognised charity on their individual giving strategy and supporter journey. It’s fast-paced and varied, and there is never a dull moment (all of which I love). And most of all, it’s made me appreciate just how much unites the sector.
As an agency, our role isn’t to prescribe, but to collaborate, to become an extension of each charity’s team built on curiosity and trust. Every charity has its own voice, culture, and pace, so the key is to listen closely, ask the right questions, and understand their pressures and priorities. From there, we can turn insights and stories into practical, creative solutions that will inspire action. And we’re here to celebrate every win and learn from every challenge.
The biggest lesson from moving from charity to agency life is that the sector has far more in common than it sometimes realises. The daily challenges are the same, resource, budget, sign-off processes – just to name a few. But even more than this, what they have in common is passionate teams who care deeply about making a difference. And supporting these teams and the causes they champion is an enormous privilege.
Different Kettle exists to help charities of all shapes and sizes thrive. For me personally, this move hasn’t taken me further from purpose, it’s brought me closer to it, across many causes at once.
I won’t lie, taking the jump to agency side made me nervous, it was new, it was different, but it was also bringing the skills I have acquired over many years to be more strategically focused. Different seat. Same heart.
Amy Mitchell – Fundraising Planner
If you want to know how Different Kettle can help your fundraising programme, get in touch at sayhi@Differentkettle.com.
