Meet the team - An interview with Greg, Charity Link’s new Area Manager for the North

Newly promoted area manager Greg is as down to earth as he is dedicated and is living proof that with the right attitude there really is no limit to where you can end up. With humble beginnings of a door to door salesman and then on to a successful fundraising career at Charity Link, we’ve seen Greg go from strength to strength. With a smile in his eyes and the type of easy going nature that any hot head would envy, Greg takes it all in his stride with a good dose of humility and positivity. It was our pleasure to grab a cup of tea with him (‘super strong with loads of milk please’ - is that even tea?!) and get down to the nitty gritty of his role and perspective. 

Tell us a bit about yourself Greg? What’s your background, what do you like getting up to outside of work?

I’m originally from Bolton where I still live with my partner and our two children – our 12 year old son and our 15 year old daughter. My daughter is definitely getting to that age where we’re basically embarrassing and old but I’m pleased to say my son still loves his dad and will still let me give him a cuddle!

I’ve always been a football fan – and a die hard Bolton Wanderer (of course)! Most weekends are spent managing my sons football team where I’m basically reliving my youth! When I was a lad all I wanted to do was be a professional goalie and I was pretty good. The sad news is I could never quite make the cut because I just wasn’t big enough. Eventually I gave up – which I think I’ve always regretted a bit. So these days getting to manage these young lads is a brilliant way to get back to that love of the game.

Me and my son also love a game of golf (my daughter used to but she’s in deep with the hair, makeup and piercing stage and obviously won’t be seen dead with me!).

My other interest is interior design – I’m always checking out Pinterest where I get inspiration. One of the reasons I love driving around so much for my job with Charity Link is because I’m so nosy and love to check out everyone else houses! It’s such a great way to get ideas for what we could to our house. We live in a Victorian semi and we have literally just finished renovating it – only took 20 years! So now it’s done I’m thinking I’d love to move so we can do it all again!

I’m a massive chocolate fan with a huge sweet tooth and don’t seem to have any self-discipline with that at ALL.

I love getting away with my family the most, but I’m a big fan of lads holidays (still!) and pretending I’m as young as I used to be!

In terms of my career, I actually started off doing a sports science degree and had planned to be a physio or a PE teacher. But after I graduated I was looking around for work and a friend of mine said I should try knocking door to door for British Gas. I took the job on and it turns out I had a bit of a knack. I ended up making a fair bit of money which helped me to pay off my student loan and have money to spare… I decided to stay put at British Gas where I spent the next 8 years.

What’s your favourite part of the job at Charity Link?

Probably the fact that it’s never the same. Every day I’ll be talking to different people and spending time at different venues all over the country. I’m always learning about all the different elements of our charities and the business as a whole.

I also just really like the driving side of the job (apart from nosing at peoples houses!) because I find it’s great thinking time for me. I have to say that the driving and the hotels are definitely not good for my waistline though! I’m totally weak at turning down a cooked breakfast and every garage I stop at has got way too many chocolate bars - They call out to me when I’m trying to be good!

But on the whole, it’s definitely the people – I just find people really fascinating and love to try and read them to work out how to communicate best with them.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

I’d say it’s having to reset and start at zero again every week.

You can have a great week and feel really proud of yourself and your team, but then you wake up on the next Monday and there’s a pressure to repeat that performance. That said, if you have a bad week then I guess it’s your chance to start afresh!

Over the years you learn what’s going to impact on the week ahead as well. You’ll check the weather and if that’s not going to be great you know it will be a struggle. Then of course the team might have stuff going on in their personal lives or a dip in motivation that affects how they’ll perform too.

I think you get better at being able to predict what’s coming up but nothing is ever certain! But saying that sometimes you do get a pleasant surprise too!

I think since we brought in the new framework to help fundraisers learn about how to get better it can really make the difference.

Obviously it’s a bit harder with the seasoned fundraiser who’s got their way of doing stuff as they generally like to be left to get on, but for anyone that’s new to fundraising it’s a brilliant guide that breaks down the elements of fundraising into easy to understand sections.

When they understand that, they know exactly where their weak spots are and how to improve. We’re really trying to get away from the job just being about numbers – especially at the start – and this is a great way to stop the new ones feeling like they’ve failed if they don’t hit the figures straight away.

Read how great fundraiser training can skyrocket your donor potential

How do you overcome those difficult days?

I know it sounds crazy but I really don’t get stressed!

My parents tell me I’ve always been a pretty cool and collected type and people tend to tell me that they’ve never seen me in a bad mood.

I think as well that as an adult I made a conscious decision a few years ago that I wasn’t going to react to stuff.  There is only one person in the world that knows how to get a bite out of me – and that’s the wife (laughs).

But of course there are tough days and I know it sounds really silly, but I love to sing it out!

You know that song “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”? Well that one is my go to song – I literally can’t sing that without smiling. If that doesn’t work then “Zippedy Do Daa” is guaranteed – I honestly recommend it to anyone!

What’s your favourite place for charity fundraising?

Definitely not home to home! (laughs). I think my 8 years door knocking for British Gas was enough to put me off for life! I remember actually saying I’d never knock another door again.

Mind you, when we came out of lockdown and management told us we’d be back on the doors I was dreading it but as it turns out I got 3 donors on the first day. So then I thought ‘alright… I’ll see what I can do”. Door to door fundraising is all about mindset!

“That’s the thing with any charity fundraising job – you have GOT to think positive – it’s all about looking for the good and never letting the negative experiences outweigh and overtake.”

What 3 qualities do you think a charity fundraiser needs to do the job well?

You know for the first one I’m going to say stoic.

I know that sounds like an odd choice, but I always think of it like this:

Imagine how the police or detectives who are on a stakeout. So they have to sit there for hours on end, always alert, always observant, just waiting for something to happen.

They have to be patient and somehow kind of find ways to occupy their mind – without letting negativity take over – but also be ready to jump into action the moment they need to.

That is basically how I look at a charity fundraiser job.

Some of the time fundraisers will be stood or sat at a venue and there’ll be quiet patches where nobody is walking past and there seems like no opportunities.

It’s those moments where the less experienced fundraisers start allowing negative thoughts to get a grip on them and before they know it they’re thinking it’s a rubbish venue, they’ll never hit target and they’ve made up their mind that it’s going to be a bad day.

Instead, they almost need to find a kind of meditative state where they can pass the time happily and be ready to greet the next potential donor with all the positivity and energy that’s needed.

The second quality I’d say that’s really valuable is to be a storyteller.

Fundraising is the ability to tell the story of the charity. Knowing how to spin a good tale with character and colour is always a massive asset for capturing people’s attention and holding them there.

A good story can quite literally change a persons mind from a no to a yes because if you can get someone to listen to your story you’re making that connection and helping them understand your mission.

Read about the power of story telling and fundraising

The third quality is knowing how to connect to anyone and everyone.

We all have our ‘type’ – the people who we’re just attracted to and can instantly get on with, but a good fundraiser instinctively knows how to appeal to anyone.

Being able to distinguish between people based on a split second impression takes experience and talent.

So one minute you’re called out ‘Hiya fella’ and the next you’re saying ‘Good afternoon madam’ and both times you hit the nail on the head with the best first impression.

Read the 13 qualities of a successful fundraiser blog

Describe the most frequent objection you get from the public when fundraising for charity

I mean you’ll always get people asking why they can’t just do it online or why they can’t just give you cash.

Sometimes we’ll get the narrative about why they mistrust charities or that they think the CEO is getting paid too much.

But you basically learn to work around those objections and know when to keep trying and when to let it go and wish them a good day.

Read more about objection handling for charity fundraisers

What’s your overall motivation for doing this job? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

It really is a funny one this job, because however hard some weeks are and however difficult people can be, it’s almost like it’s addictive. It’s like you’ve got to be a bit sadistic to do it (laughing) – we’re a ‘special kind of people!’. 

If you could choose a new charity for us to support, which would you love the most?

Well if I’m thinking with my ‘Area Manager hat’ on I’m immediately worrying that we’ve got so much going on with the growth of the company I don’t know how we’d actually cope with another!

But in an imaginary world where we had an endless supply of fundraisers … I guess - thinking about it being a man of my age -  I think it’s only fair that we go with a men’s charity because we’ve got Breast Cancer Now which is predominantly for women.

So that in mind I’d go with a Prostate Cancer Charity. I think we’d stand a great chance of doing really well because Charity Link’s got great experience from our work with Breast Cancer Now and Macmillan Cancer Support.

What’s your best memory of working at Charity Link?

Oh God there has been so many… I really have honestly enjoyed my 8 years here!

I can definitely tell you about my worst day though because I remember it too well!

It was one weekend where I’d been put on a National Show for a four day weekend - I seem to think it was Grand Designs or some other really big one.

These types of shows are so great to go on because there’s an amazing footfall but as you can imagine it takes a LOT of energy. I remember I just felt completely minging come the Monday - like you’re just on empty.

Read why the right venues are so important for charity fundraising

So that Monday I was then sent on another big show and I didn’t sign up a single donor in a whole day. I just remember cringing with embarrassment and felt awful about it.

But back to the good memories!

So I’m going to have to say it was the day I got promoted to ‘Team Leader’. This was back in the day when we didn’t have the Team Manager / Area Manager structure at Charity Link like we do now.

Team leaders basically took on whole areas and managed people. That day was just the best feeling of accomplishment because it really felt like I was being acknowledged for my hard work.  (and where the journey I am on now really started)

What do you love about working for Charity Link as a company?

I think we just offer so much more than other fundraising agencies.

Obviously I’ve known a lot of fundraisers come and go over the years and some jump ship because they think the grass is greener with other fundraising companies.

What I’ve found is that most that I speak with again end up admitting that they didn’t appreciate how good it is here!

In fact, the other day I saw an old fundraising friend on social media and he put up a post of himself in the Guide Dog kit from years ago describing it as ‘such good times’.

I think sometimes fundraisers can get stuck in that negative frame of mind and start blaming the company, when the truth is we really are well looked after at Charity Link. The support is just phenomenal.

Charity Link fundraisers for Breast Cancer Now at the Pride Picnic in Cirencester

I personally manage fundraisers who say they’ve never received support like what they’ve had at Charity Link. I’m not just talking about the fundraiser training (which is actually brilliant) or the Perks at Work scheme or the free health care we get. It’s the attention to mental health and the support that HR offer. They genuinely care about everyone and are so dedicated to making sure we’re all in a good place and are receiving help where needed. The Health Shield package we get provides free counselling and healthcare too which all helps.

Then of course the whole head office team show time and again how hard they’re trying to deliver the best support for the logistics whilst always looking at ways to improve and get better.

This company has changed my life and I will always think very highly of Charity Link!

Thanks so much to Greg for his time and letting us pick his brain! The whole company are delighted about his promotion and we can’t think of a more deserving person to lead his team!

If you’re interested in working at Charity Link then check out our jobs page for more info. We’re always interested in fresh talent and love getting to know new people!