6.30 AM

I wake up and get ready for the day, have a quick breakfast and jump in the car. At UWA, we are lucky to have staff parking available.

7.45 AM

I get coffee from my favourite coffee shop near UWA. I like to spend an hour before work in the morning reading the news or interesting articles. We spend a lot of time speaking to different people in our work, therefore it is always good to be aware of what is happening in the world and locally.

8.30 AM

I arrive at work and make my way to my ‘office pod’. I catch up with my colleagues and ask how one of the alumni relations events they ran last night went.

9.00 AM

Team power-up meeting – where the whole team comes together and shares great things that happened last week and what is coming up this week. I share with the team that a development colleague and I had a great meeting last week with a donor, who has decided to support a student access scholarship.

9.15 AM

I am currently doing a rotation with the Development (Fundraising) team. I start preparing for a discovery meeting with an alumnus of UWA. This man graduated 10 years ago, has attended a couple of events and has been donating to our alumni fund generously and loyally for three years. One of our assignments is to touch base with alumni fund donors like him, hear about their experience, thank them for their loyalty and determine if they would be interested in getting more involved with our programmes (either as volunteer, a donor or both).

9.30 AM

I jump on the bus into the city (only 10 minutes away). I meet with the donor at a café overlooking the Perth city streets. The donor shares with me he is interested in engaging more with UWA. We discuss some of the different opportunities and discover that the Career Café mentoring event (where there are opportunities to mentor students informally) happening tonight is of interest to him. He also has an interest in giving back to disadvantaged students and is open to me sending him more information of our different scholarship programmes.

11.00 AM

I get back to work and write up the Contact Report on what was discussed at the meeting and follow-up actions. I share with my ‘office pod’ colleagues how the meeting went and get their advice on how else I can engage him with our programmes and the type of scholarship proposal I should put together.

11.30 AM

I am also assisting the Stewardship team on some donor reports. I am putting together a 10 year ‘Where Are They Now’ scholarship impact report for a loyal major donor. I continue to reach out to the scholarship recipients to compile pictures, stories and quotes.

12.30 PM

Team lunchtime! We head over to our favourite Chinese restaurant for the $10 lunch special. One of our colleagues is leaving to have a baby, so we bring along our baby shower gifts.

1.30 PM

I have my monthly mentor catch-up with one of the Development Officers. Since it a beautiful day, we decide to make it a walking meeting along the nearby river. I ask my mentor about the type of donors she is working with currently and fundraising proposals she is working on. She also offers me some helpful tips on what to say in meetings to bring up philanthropy and get people talking about what they are passionate about.

2.30 PM

Time to head over to the University Club to meet with the Bequest Manager from our team and the Central Events Team. We are discussing the final details of the upcoming Bequest Society annual luncheon. This is to celebrate the donors who have decided to leave a gift to UWA in their will. We are finalising the research guest speaker, menu and thank you gifts. We are trying to be creative and looking into the feasibility of 3D printing a little reef for the thank you gift (since the theme is on Oceans).

3.30 PM

Time to shadow a donor meeting with one of my development colleagues. We take our donor on a tour of the new Engineering facilities (as they have not been on campus for some time), have a quick visit to the University Art Gallery (as she is interested in the current exhibition) and then we host her for coffee at the University Club.

4.00 PM

My CASE graduate trainee colleague and I have a quick skype call with the University of Hong Kong to finalise details for our one-month secondment in a couple of months.

4.30 PM

I offer to help the Alumni Relations team set up for their Career Café mentoring event this evening. We need to put signage up, arrange name badges and greet guests on arrival (especially the panel speakers).

5.00 PM

The alumni event starts. Everything goes smoothly, and all the panel speakers arrive (just) in time. Everyone enjoys the panel session where recent graduates offer advice on what life is like after university and tips for success. I am starving and luckily there is some great food at the event. I get the chance to network with some very interesting alumni who are interested in engaging more with UWA and handed out my newly printed business cards.

7.00 PM

Lots of talking and networking today, so I’m ready to wind down for the night. I drive home, have a quick dinner and settle in for the evening. As I worked a couple of hours overtime, I can go in a bit later tomorrow morning – so sleep in for me!