{"id":6837,"date":"2017-02-08T16:26:39","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T16:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charityjob.co.uk\/careeradvice\/?p=6837"},"modified":"2024-01-30T15:42:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T15:42:41","slug":"charity-sector-experience-lily-elizabeth-davies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charityjob.co.uk\/careeradvice\/charity-sector-experience-lily-elizabeth-davies\/","title":{"rendered":"My charity sector experience: Lily Elizabeth Davies"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,196],"tags":[356,293],"class_list":["post-6837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-charity-sector","category-your-stories","tag-career-change","tag-fundraising"],"acf":{"job_search_bottom_form":false,"image":6836,"background":6855,"excerpt":"","contenttypes":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","menu_title":"","content":"

We spoke to CharityConnect<\/a> Champion, Lily Elizabeth Davis, to discover what she went through in order to break into the charity sector.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

How did you first get into the charity sector?<\/h4>\r\nI first got into fundraising when I was 14, where I held a cabaret fundraiser at our local arts center in aid of a children\u2019s hospice \u2013 and I even got us a celebrity host for the evening! After that I got the bug, volunteering and raising money for causes I supported on and off.\r\n\r\nHowever, I didn\u2019t make the transition until 2014, when I transferred my proposition development and commercial experience into a role at Marie Curie, where I helped establish their first innovation team.\r\n\r\nThe transition from commercial to charity was not as steep as I had expected \u2013 although there are a couple of shifts in terminology (i.e. talking more about ROI and less about profit and margin). \u00a0I had been determined to make the change as smooth as possible, so in the 6 months leading up to my new charity role I immersed myself in books and blogs to get a feel for what best practice looks like across different fundraising disciplines.\r\n

What interested you about the charity sector?<\/h4>\r\nIt was the chance to use my skills to make a positive change in someone else\u2019s life.\r\n\r\nI cut my teeth in fairly unforgiving commercial environments which didn\u2019t always put people at the heart of their decision-making. In contrast, a friend of mine who had worked in the charity sector for some time always loved her job and always had a smile on her face \u2013 and that clinched it for me. I haven\u2019t looked back ever since.\r\n

How did you progress in the charity sector to where you are now?<\/h4>\r\nThis is my second charity role, and I came into the sector at a fairly senior level. My approach has been fairly consistent however, regardless of where I\u2019ve been working:\r\n