Why I love being a face to face fundraiser

Phil Heffer is a face to face fundraiser for St Mungo’s . Here he talks about his current role as team leader and why he loves being part of our street fundraising team.

Working for St Mungo’s is unlike working at any other charity or agency. We are not regarded as just another face to face fundraiser, but are encouraged to get involved in many aspects of the organisation – from joining the outreach team and seeing firsthand how St Mungo’s helps the most vulnerable people within our community, to abseiling down the side of a building at one of their many fundraising events.

My role now is to help individuals in the face to face fundraising team to reach their full potential as professional fundraisers by providing extensive coaching and support. Our training programme is different to many other charities. We pride ourselves on our fundraisers being passionate and knowledgeable about what St Mungo’s does. You cannot get this from staring at an overhead projector with a few slides, or having someone read from a charity newsletter. Our training takes place at one of our many projects, where the team can really see how St Mungo’s works and the difference it makes to peoples’ lives.

One of the great things about working as a street fundraiser is not only the support and encouragement you get from your team coach, fellow fundraisers and members of the public, but also from people who have benefitted from St Mungo’s directly. They’ll often talk to us on the street about their experiences. This gives us so much confidence and pride in the job we’re doing.

Our face to face fundraisers are a hugely important part of St Mungo’s and play a vital role in changing homeless people’s lives. If you would like to find out more about becoming a face to face fundraiser for St Mungo’s, contact facetoface@mungos.org.