We’ve recently started working with a new charity client. This has got us thinking about the services that we can offer charities and these are our top three ways a Virtual Assistant can help a charity:

Project Work

If your charity has been awarded a grant or funding for a specific project then you might need an extra pair of hands. The day-to-day running of the charity is taken care of by your regular staff but projects require extra resources and often a big push to get to the end goal in time. A Virtual Assistant is the perfect partner to bring in for charity projects.

Red Desk Virtual worked with the wonderful Penelope Tobin and her charity Barrier Breakers Foundation for 5 years. We were brought in to support the facilitation of the Soft Skills for Young People workshops from identifying opportunities to run workshops at Further Education colleges right through to the co-ordination of the facilitators and collation of feedback after the workshops. You can read more about this amazing opportunity here.

Ad-hoc Tasks / Busy Times

Virtual Assistants are ideal for small businesses and charities as we can be brought in at busy times to cover ad-hoc tasks that other staff members are unable to cover. These could include:

• Taking minutes for board meetings
• Arranging for items to be printed, despatched and tracked
• Helping with event co-ordination
• Marketing or social media support

Ongoing Support

Did you know that using a Virtual Assistant as part of your charity resources is a great way to ensure that budgets aren’t blown? You will only be invoiced for the time the VA’s services are used. You could agree a monthly fee, buy blocks of hours up front or ask to be billed on a pay as you go basis. A good VA will check in with you and keep you updated with weekly timesheets.

As we supported our last charity client for over 5 years, our role developed and we took on various other tasks that included:

• PA duties including diary management, booking appointments and keeping track of finances
• Building and developing relationships with key stakeholders so that awareness was raised and aims delivered of the charity’s causes
• Developed and documented processes and procedures so that workflow was maximised

You can read more about our Charity Administration services here.

 If you are interested in finding out about our special charity admin rate then please contact Mel by email mel@reddesk.co.uk