Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice for myself personally.  I founded our charity 9 years ago, we are a small charity which initially had very little paperwork to carry out.   In recent years we have grown (quadrupled our funds raised) and doubled the service we offer; counselling in schools.

We have a board of trustees and I am the founder, chair and do all the back office work for the charity which includes everything from fund applications, marketing, meeting schools, supporting counsellors, admin, the list is very long :-).

I have to work to pay the bills , as do most of us :-), but was lucky enough to move jobs so that I could reduce my paid work days to 4, freeing up 1 day per week for the charity.  I am now finding I need far more time than 1 day, and am working evening and weekends.  I know this is my choice and my passion and I would love to extend our services further.

My question is whether it is realistic to believe that if enough funds are raised through grants and our general fundraising activities, that I could then work more permanently in a paid position for the charity?  Is it realistic to believe that raising enough to cover 1 or more salaries is achievable within the next year or so?  I have not really applied for many grants to date, so have no idea if this is realistic for my strategic plan and budgeting?

I know if this happens that I would need to stand down as a trustee.

Has anyone else done the same or similar? Am I living in cloud cuckoo land :-)

Thanks for reading this and for your advice

 

Penny Hackney

The Matthew Hackney foundation