Helping Career Compass Build a Sustainable Future Through Fundraising Strategy

When a growing social mobility charity needed expert support to build a structured and sustainable fundraising strategy, Skilled Volunteer Dagmar Ulrich stepped in to help.

About the Charity

Career Compass is a London-based charity working to improve social mobility by boosting the employability of Year 12 and 13 students from less advantaged backgrounds. Through workshops, career sessions, and work experience placements, Career Compass gives young people the tools and confidence they need to succeed. Since 2019, they’ve worked with over 175 schools and reached more than 10,000 students.

The Project

With big ambitions to grow and deepen their impact, Career Compass recognised the need for a strategic approach to fundraising. They reached out to Link UP London for support developing a comprehensive fundraising strategy to diversify income and ensure long-term sustainability.

The Skilled Volunteer

Dagmar Ulrich, a seasoned senior development operations manager with over 15 years of experience in the charity, arts, and higher education sectors, was matched with Katie Linshits from Career Compass. Bringing deep expertise in prospect development and strategic planning, Dagmar began by assessing the organisation’s current fundraising capabilities.

She worked closely with Katie to explore a range of potential income streams including grants, individual donations, corporate partnerships, and innovative funding approaches. Together, they crafted a strong Case for Support and developed a practical, long-term fundraising strategy to guide the charity’s efforts over the next three years.

The Outcome

Thanks to this Skilled Volunteering project, Career Compass is now equipped with a structured and actionable fundraising strategy. The organisation has a clear understanding of their fundraising goals, audiences, and tactics – a shift from their previous ad hoc approach.

Project Lead Katie shared: “The work with Dagmar has been extremely beneficial for Career Compass and its stakeholders. We now have a clear strategy on how we have to approach fundraising, rather than the patchy ad hoc approach that was used before. We’ll use this framework to fundraise over the next three years and hopefully secure the funding needed to grow as a charity.”

Dagmar also reflected on her experience, saying: “It was a pleasure working with Katie, who is dedicated to running Career Compass to the highest standards.  The project helped keep my professional skills active and it felt good to help this small and fabulous organisation.”

A Win-Win Collaboration

This project is a great example of the power of Skilled Volunteering: a growing social mobility charity now has the tools to plan for a sustainable future, and a passionate professional was able to use her expertise to make a lasting impact.

Want to use your skills to support a local charity? Join Link UP London and help transform communities through Skilled Volunteering.