What could you achieve as a marketing trustee?

Senior marketers can find that their best way to support a cause is by taking a formal role as one of its trustees. This can enable them to support the marketing strategy of the cause and to mentor junior staff, and may help them expand their own interests, for example as a segue to a portfolio of non-executive director roles or as experience to help them take on roles of greater leadership in their primary organisations.

At Pimp My Cause our expertise lies in connecting marketers and good causes for pro bono projects and over the last year we’ve expanded our activities to include matching up experienced marketers with charities in need of marketing-oriented trustees. 

As a first step in trustee matching we try to understand both the marketers’ and causes’ needs and goals to help to make the right connections. The two most critical factors for success are of course a shared passion for the cause’s mission and a compatibility between the marketer’s capabilities and the cause’s goals.

We recently connected Jeremy Laight, who we met through The Marketing Society and is Global Director of Marketing for Crown Worldwide Group, with the National Youth Arts Trust (NYAT). 

Jeremy has a deep belief in purposeful marketing and has donated his expertise to several causes in the past. His current employer Crown Worldwide Group has a strong CSR initiative that actively encourages their employees to help good causes. So when Jeremy heard about our trustee matching events he was keen to get involved. 

We asked Jeremy to share with us what made NYAT the right cause for him:
 ‘As a devoted father, I have seen for myself how the performing arts can uniquely enrich, inspire and connect the lives of young people. But too often, talented and ambitious young people miss out on such opportunities because they lack financial support. It’s fantastic, through the NYAT, to be able to help overcome such barriers and give all young people opportunities to access the performing arts.

‘Like many small charities the biggest challenge for NYAT is how to maximise finite resources. This is where marketing expertise can really help create strategic focus around the organisation’s purpose, whilst powering up the impact of all communication and digital marketing activities. I really hope by becoming an active trustee to help give even more talented young people opportunities to learn, train and audition in all aspects of the arts, and, in the process, gain valuable additional board-level experience.’

NYAT speak very highly of Jeremy’s support. Joanna Kennedy, chair of their board said, ‘Jeremy has been a wonderful introduction to the board of NYAT. He is helping us to look at our communications in a much more structured way than previously and has brought energy and enthusiasm to our board discussions’.

With our partners at EMR Recruitment we’ll be co-hosting our third charity trustee matchmaking event on Oct 1st in London. If you’re interested in attending please email Anna Mullenneaux, Chief Matchmaker at Pimp My Cause at [email protected].