Claire Hall studied MSc Charity Marketing and Fundraising (2014) but has lately turned her talents to the digital sector at WordPress Agency Moove Agency and found plenty of skills crossover. We spoke about it all.
Tell me about your time at Cass!
I applied for the MSc in Charity Marketing and Fundraising whilst I was working overseas with an NGO in Nigeria. The then Executive Director of United Purpose (formerly Concern Universal) Ian Williams was a visiting fellow at Cass and he mentioned the CCE (Cass Centre for Charity Effectiveness) and the Masters programme. I looked into the course and Business School further and I knew that I’d found the right place to study. So I applied, got in and moved to London.
I absolutely loved the programme – it was very intense! It took a while to get used to Fridays and Saturdays in the classroom but I loved the total immersion of the course. I look fondly on my two years. The lecturers were fantastic, and it was the perfect balance of academic and theory and guest lecturers from charities. The cohort came from different parts of charity sector and were at different points in their careers; I learnt as much from them as through my study and reading.
What did you do next?
During my time at Cass I was working at the NSPCC. I held a few different roles whilst I was there, starting as Major Donor Fundraiser, then a secondment working for the Director of Fundraising and finally a move into the HR team to develop the Fundraising training programme. It was really fantastic to get the practical experience of those three roles.
I then had the opportunity a couple of years ago to join Moove Agency. After spending 10 years in the charity sector I felt it would add to my professional experience if I worked in another sector. I’m very interested in technology and the challenge of translating my skills and experience into the digital sector really appealed to me. Several of my modules with CCE were very applicable too, like resource management and strategy. It’s been great to use the learning, knowledge and insight from the course.
What is your role now?
At Moove Agency, we work with some of the UK’s biggest brands to provide fast and reliable WordPress support.
Even though I have transferred to the digital sector, I’ve found that in terms of people management and specifically my sales role I had many skills already. I love my role because we work with a wide range of clients in different sectors including fantastic charities like Internet Matters, Nacro and also CharityJob, the leading provider of charity jobs.
I’m also proud that we donate 5% of our profits to charity, and this year we supported Free A Girl who free and rehabilitate young girls who have been forced into prostitution. Although I’m not working in the charity sector I still feel that I continue to work with and support the sector.
What does the future hold?
From a business perspective I’m really lucky to work with a talented team of Developers, Designers and Account Managers and I’m looking forward to growing the team to reflect the demand for our services. We have also just launched a new service for API integrations so we can get the websites to work harder and with more automation; we plan to launch more services in the future which is exciting.
On a personal level I’ve been mentoring people for the past two years through the Aspire Foundation which is specifically for mentoring women, and I actually started as a mentee. I also mentor for the University of Reading and I’m looking for the right opportunity to join a charity board where I can add value with both my fundraising and digital sector experience.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
From a personal perspective, after 10 years of experience in the charity sector and doing the MSc, I had built up a huge knowledge base of the sector. When I transitioned into the digital industry, I had to start from scratch in some ways. So I immersed myself in our work and the industry and I got up to speed pretty quickly. Every sector has its own language and I found I could quickly utilise skills I already had, because sales and fundraising are really similar territory.
From a business perspective, we have grown 20-30% year on year and clients love our work and we receive great feedback. The challenge is that as we scale and senior people take on more responsibility, we need to refine our internal processes to reflect the size of the business and continue to deliver the best service to our clients.
Do you have any advice to share?
Whatever stage you’re at in your career there’s always more to learn. You need to keep working on yourself, and the Masters for me was part of that. I really like the Churchill quote “to improve is to change, to perfect is to change often”. I love the sentiment to push forward, grow and improve; it’s good advice and it’s definitely what I’ve done in my career. Work on your personal growth and you will really add value to organisations that you are a part of.
Finally, it’s the quick-fire question round!
Favourite place in London: The Planetarium in Greenwich always puts things into perspective!
Favourite holiday destination: Venice
Must-check every day website: Futurism.com for insights into exciting breakthroughs and discoveries in science and tech
Dream travel destination: Japan
Cheese or chocolate: Chocolate
Find out more about Moove Agency on their website.