Caroline Clark

Career Summary

Oxford graduate (PPE). For CV and details of all assignments please use link provided to visit LinkedIn.

Employers 1980-2000

Lord Harold Wilson

HM Foreign Office

Samuel Montagu and Co. Ltd  (HSBC):

Sunday Telegraph Magazine

Principal freelance Clients from 2000

Cambridge University – Newnham College

Eton College

The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Museum of London

Unicorn Theatre

Walking With The Wounded

Coexist House Advisory Board

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance

Alexandra Rose Day

Vincent Dance Company

Impetus Trust

Personal Assets

General

  • Entrepreneur/persuader
  • 20 year track record for the organised delivery of projects to time and on budget
  • Demonstrable record of business growth and innovation
  • Creator and manager of teams and budgets
  • Rigorous planner and strategic thinker
  • Creative in reconfiguring, adaptation or expansion of existing structures
  • Skilled networker with long experience in client identification, engagement and stewardship
  • Strong communications skills across all media
  • Exceptional skills in networking and the engaging of individuals

Fundraising

  • Track record of delivering donations – in one 18 month period soley responsible for £450k of gifts and pledges
  • Planning and creation of diversified fundraising team
  • Planning and launch of new fundraising activities
  • Major gifts
  • Trusts and Foundations
  • Individual/tiered giving
  • Prospect research, networking, and engagement
  • Event planning and execution
  • Donor stewardship, tracking and reports
  • Creation of template documentation
  • Design for database fundraising module

Alumni Relations

  • Creation and delivery of medium and long term strategy
  • Internal and external engagement activities
  • Events innovations, planning and execution
  • Internal and external communications
  • Writing, editing, publishing skills
  • Website, Facebook, on-line products management
  • Conception and introduction of innovations (e.g. alumni mentoring, student
  • awareness campaigns, overseas volunteers)
  • Database creation and maintenance

Long form career notes

Prior to joining Charity Sector 1979-2000

From 1980-1991 after graduating from Oxford (PPE), and prior to raising a family, Caroline completed projects for Lord (Harold) Wilson (UK Labour Prime Minister 1964, 1966 and 1974), at the House of Commons, followed by assignments at The Sunday Telegraph Magazine. She spent two years at H.M. Foreign and Commonwealth Office and ten years investment banking in the City of London (Samuel Montagu & Co. Limited, now part of the HSBC group), securing new business/executing transactions in non-recourse international project finance, Eurobond new issues and mergers and acquisitions.

Charity Sector assignments 2000-2018

National Charity CEO

For three years, Caroline was Chief Executive of Alexandra Rose Charities (founded in 1912 by HRH Queen Alexandra). She reversed a 7- year profits decline, generating an income rise of 250% to nearly £400,000 p.a. after conducting a wide ranging review and re-orientation of its activities, its staff and its board of trustees. She handed over the role in 2006 but remains involved as Honorary Vice President. A testimonial is available from Lord Wakeham, Chair of Trustees during the period of Caroline’s tenure.

Alumni Relations 

Caroline has met or exceeded every Alumni Relations target given.

From 2006-2011 Caroline worked at one of the federated colleges of The University of London at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Other members of the federation include King’s College, University College London and the London School of Economics.   Her first 3- year project was to establish their alumni programme positioning it with internal and external stakeholders. At the end of this period she had more than doubled the alumni base, secured the school’s first 6-figure alumni donation and created ownership of the programme both by the School and the alumni. Two of many of her innovations were introducing Central’s first alumni/final year mentoring program and the annual “exit talks” for each graduating cohort. She also transformed the alumni newsletter from a single fold over to an entertaining and visually appealing magazine later adapted by the School to become its principal termly marketing document. She then spent a year in Central’s government-appointed national Centre for Excellence in Training for Theatre devising and executing innovative income generation projects for templating to the sector.

In 2011 Caroline led the project at Eton College to create Front Row a new alumni relations group for Stage, Screen and Theatre. This included attracting membership, creating its database, its newsletter, designing the engagement programme and recruiting its volunteer committee and Chair. Later, Caroline was retained by Newnham College, Cambridge to run their alumni activities for three months during a period of reorganisation.

Fundraising

Caroline has met or exceeded every fundraising target she has been given.

At RCSSD (see above) Caroline was central to the creation of the fundraising team from the outset (2009), initially as the sole member of staff working alongside an external consultant and latterly helping to create the framework for the new team which included the creation of all supporting systems, platforms and documentation from scratch. She initiated all activities associated with Major Gifts and Individual Giving including the creation of a tiered giving club which is now active internationally.  Within 3 months of starting fundraising initiatives the alumni were donating and within 6 months the team had received its first £200,000 pledge.  In order to carry out this role effectively, Caroline had to introduce new good business practices to, and liaise with/influence diverse groups such as major donors, theatre academics, the Principal and other senior  staff, students, stars of stage and screen and the rest of the alumni. At all stages the need for identifying and growing positive personal connections was key.

Since 2011, Caroline has worked as a freelance consultant in both fundraising and alumni relations. She was fundraising consultant to the Advisory Board of Coexist House comprising The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Inner Temple, Cambridge University, the Corporation of the City of London and The Coexist Foundation. Other clients have included The Museum of London, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Walking with the Wounded and Unicorn Theatre. In one 18-month period she was solely responsible for approx. £450,000 in pledges or gifts, through a variety of fundraising activities from corporate sponsorship, individual (major) giving and trusts and foundations (in the latter case averaging a gift per week). She has also consulted or mentored for organisations that were new to or in the early stages of fundraising. A full list of her assignments for this period can be viewed on LinkedIn, please click here to be transferred to the site.

Personal

The more you have, the more you have to give. A volunteer and a patron.

Absolute conviction that theatre is a force for good.

Fascinated by the natural world and most lay science.

Happiest when outdoors near water or watching live performance.

Available on request

  • Detailed Curriculum Vitae including referees
  • Testimonials from every project client