Sunday Assembly London is seeking a volunteer Trustee Board member with drive and enthusiasm to serve as Secretary of the Board.
Trustees at Sunday Assembly London determine strategy and oversee operations for a vibrant volunteer-run community that organises twice-monthly in-person Sunday Assemblies, featuring inspiring guest speakers and poets, with a live band leading singalongs.
What will you be doing?
As Secretary, you will attend and contribute to our monthly Board meetings.
You will be able to apply your individual strengths on the Board as well as learn new skills, defining a specialist role, projects and activities where you will take the lead and focus your time.
The Secretary role is a pivotal role, helping to organise all things Board related and keep things on track, as well as having an oversight of issues and queries relating to governance.
What difference will you make?
Trustees at Sunday Assembly London are currently playing a vital role in directing our community through changes driven by the post-pandemic impact on live events.
Our board conducts work that is essential for the sustainability of the community by determining a long-term strategy that will ensure financial stability and create a lasting community long into the future.
Your experience in areas such as governance, community building, change management, live events, or related topics will directly contribute to the health and longevity of this London institution.
Not to mention, becoming a trustee is a great opportunity to gain more knowledge about volunteering in the charity sector, and will make a great addition to your CV!
At Sunday Assembly on 2 March (Everyday Jews), we reintroduced This Much I Know: a segment where we hear from a member of the Sunday Assembly community on a topic close to their heart.
David Goldstein explained why he started coming to Sunday Assembly and shared some good news involving a grant application.
Here’s an abridged version of David’s speech.
“I heard about Sunday Assembly in 2013, its first year. I immediately liked the idea. Then I started coming along… 10 years later.
So what spurred me into coming?
2023 was the year I really started thinking that I needed something more in the structure of my life, other than family and work. There was a musical that came out that year called Subspace Rhapsody, and I was particularly struck by the song How Would That Feel, which includes the line, “It might be time to change my paradigm.”
And then came the events of the 7th of October, which left a lot of us feeling vulnerable in a way we hadn’t before.
Sunday Assembly popped back into my mind, and I thought, “Here’s a community where I can hear voices other than my own – singing voice included – and I’ve got more to gain by walking through those doors than I have to lose.”
The fact that I’ve kept coming to Sunday Assembly is a testament to how welcoming everyone’s been, and I reached the point where I wanted to give something back, so I’ve done two things.
One was to offer some ideas about Sunday Assembly’s marketing, and I’ve ended up joining the crew of marketing volunteers.
As for the other thing… Marketing’s also my day job. I’m the copywriter at an accountancy firm called BKL, which has a charitable foundation called The BKL Foundation, which allocates a percentage of BKL’s profits to good causes. The trustees are BKL employees but it operates independently of BKL. I decided to request a grant for Sunday Assembly. So I wrote an email to the Foundation explaining why Sunday Assembly was a worthy cause that fitted their criteria.
And at their February meeting, The BKL Foundation trustees decided to award Sunday Assembly a grant… of £,5000!
Thank you to The BKL Foundation, and to all of you as Sunday Assemblers for being part of something that’s worth every penny of that grant.
The thing to do now is to keep going. Make sure that if BKL check back in six months, a year, to see how it’s going, we can show them how we’ve built on that grant. You’re all part of Sunday Assembly’s marketing. So please, forward the Sunday Assembly newsletters, share the social media posts, do your own posts tagging Sunday Assembly, and keep telling people about us. Just tell them not to wait 10 years before they give it a try.
I thought about signing off today with ‘Kind regards’, but no one has ever said “Kind regards” in an actual conversation, except for the King. It’s documented: 9th of March 2021. So Instead I’ll end with the sign-off that the future Queen Mother used in 1941:
‘Tinkety-tonk, old fruit, and down with the Nazis.’”
From the Sunday Assembly trustees…
Sunday Assembly London wishes to sincerely thank The BKL Foundation for its very generous grant of £5,000. This vital financial support will help Sunday Assembly London to continue offering community engagement, and connection through our inclusive, secular gatherings.
With this funding we can expand our programmes, enhance our events, and reach even more people with our core values: Live Better, Help Often and Wonder More.
Here’s David’s photo of Karen, our treasurer, meeting The BKL Foundation chair and some of their trustees at BKL’s North London office.
We’re looking for volunteers to help run the sound and stage tech at Sunday Assembly. This is a great chance to gain more familiarity with live stage tech, work closely with brilliant musicians, and be involved in Sunday Assembly behind the scenes! If you don’t have experience but are keen to learn, we can provide support and training.
You will lead the Fundraising Hub to devise and deliver the fundraising strategy with a view to sustaining and developing Sunday Assembly London and in turn helping the community and the wider public achieve the aims of living better, helping often and wondering more. You’ll advocate for excellent supporter experience and as part of the co-ordination crew, play an important role in shaping what we are able to offer to our community.
What you will be doing
Devise Sunday Assembly’s fundraising strategy, which is likely to incorporate grant funding, one off fundraising events, and donations from community members (either as regular givers or as one off donors at assemblies)
Identify and apply for relevant funding opportunities
Deliver grant evaluation reports, where required by funders
Come up with creative ways to increase donations and promote donor retention
Recruit, co-ordinate and support volunteer fundraisers (for example, to run one off fundraising events)
Be the point of contact for fundraising practice across the charity
Stay updated with best practice in fundraising and data protection, ensuring compliance with GDPR and PECR
How much time will it normally take?
We anticipate that this role will take up around 8 hours a month. This time is likely to reduce once you have recruited a team of volunteers to support you.
You will also be expected to attend co-ordination crew meetings, which are currently held fortnightly on Zoom. These usually last about an hour.
What support will be available?
You will meet fortnightly with other members of the co-ordination crew, where you will be able to share any concerns and be supported to carry out your role. You will also have access to a WhatsApp group.
In addition, you will work closely with the board of trustees to ensure that our fundraising strategy is in line with our charitable objectives and strategic plans.
You will receive a volunteer handbook designed to help everyone access information easily and dip into to check things out.
What should I be able to do?
These are the skills and experiences that will be useful for you as a fundraising lead:
Strategic thinker with a resolution focused attitude.
Experience in diversifying income streams.
Experience of successful grant writing and authoring evaluation reports.
Community and events fundraising experience.
Proven ability to improve acquisition and retention of supporters.
Advocate for the supporter experience and improving community engagement.
Knowledge of fundraising regulations, best practice, GDPR and PECR.
Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a range of activities.
What will I learn?
You will have the chance to gain the following skills:
Leadership and volunteer management, including supporting and mentoring peer volunteers.
A good understanding of how small volunteer-led charities run.
Experience of applying for grants and developing a charity grant portfolio.
Experience of working as part of a team to organise fundraising events
What do I do if I want to apply for this role?
The first step is to have a chat with the co-ordination crew lead, Gwawr. Drop an email to gwawr@sundayassembly.com or find me at an assembly, and we’ll arrange a chat.
