Hey there! I’m Alex, the Fundraising Officer at Déda, and I’m excited to share what a typical day looks like for me. Déda is all about dance, movement, and creativity, and my job is to keep the support rolling in!
You will often see me in the building with my Cocker Spaniel, Rhubarb. Working in a dog friendly building means I can bring her with me and share her energy with the wider team. Rhu loves all of the fuss that she gets when she comes to work with me and is always happy to have cuddles with visitors.
Our day starts with a look at my emails and checking the calendar. I check for any messages from donors and partners, making sure to respond to everyone and set up meetings if needed. I prepare for meetings and make sure I schedule some breaks for walks and lunch!
It’s the end of the month and that means updating reports and databases with all of the donations and partnerships we’ve developed this month. This can take hours depending on how many events we ran but we’ve had a quiet July so I’m able to get this done in just 2 hours. This includes collecting up the buckets and tins we keep around the building and counting the money that guests have donated and add them to the spreadsheet too.
This month we’ve raised an amazing £60 online and £45 in cash which will go towards funding core costs to keep the building open.
Mid-Morning:
By mid-morning, I’m done with the monthly reporting and ready for a sweet treat! I grabbed a toasted marshmallow hot chocolate from the Déda café (they’re great! Tastes like a s’mores and always hits the spot for the elevensies) and Rhubarb is treated to a pup cup!
We’re changing a lot of how we do fundraising at Déda at the moment which means I am now working with our events team a lot more in developing new and exciting events that will bring new people through the door. I spend an hour downstairs looking at the calendar of events and seeing what we can do to fill some gaps. Keep an eye on our website to see what we come up with!
Lunch Break:
I use my lunchbreak to take Rhubarb on a walk and recharge. Rhu’s favourite walk is down to the river where she can chase the pigeons off lead and we can grab some food on the walk back. Today we stopped at Portabello and got a salad and some chicken before taking it back to the office to eat. I try hard to keep this time work free so that I can come back refreshed and ready for the afternoon!
Afternoon:
This afternoon is all about preparing for tomorrow’s event. Our sing-a-long movie series is proving popular and tomorrow's movie of choice is Grease! We like to blast some of the tunes from the movie while we set up the tech and make sure everything is ready.
A lovely local cake maker has offered to make some Grease themed cupcakes for the event so I head over to hers to collect them before heading back to put the finishing touches in place.
Late Afternoon:
To finish off the day I am spending some time typing up some notes from a meeting with the Déda Ambassadors we had on Tuesday. The Ambassadors are a group of volunteers who are their to support and advise on the work we do at Déda. If you think this could be you then you can send us an email!
These notes will be shared with the wider Déda team so that we can all hear what the Ambassadors think about out events and campaigns. These meetings are so useful to us as they allow us to gain feedback from community members and act on any feedback given.
And that takes us to 4:30pm and home time! Rhubarb usually likes to walk along the brook to Markeaton park for a run around after a hard day in the office but tonight we’re heading straight home to play in the paddling pool and chill 😊
Share
