Robbie Buchanan

I am currently an International Development Management Master’s student at the University of East Anglia , ranked top 10 in the world for International Development. With over 4  year’s experience of working for NGOs and nearly 2 years of experience working for varied international development NGOs. As part of my Master’s course I am searching for an internship from May 2023 for at least 3 months. Beyond my practical knowledge gained through my Master’s, varing from research and project management to in-depth theory, through varied roles in working in East Africa and liaising with programme teams in the global health sector, I have gained key experience in International Development and looking for a challenging internship from June 2023 for 3-6 months. 

University of East Anglia (September 2022- September 2023)

International Development Management MA
Modules include: Project Design and Management, Emerging Strategic Challenges in Development Management, Development Perspectives, Research techniques and analysis, Globalisation, Business and Development & Rural Policies and Politics
University of Hull Business School
BA Business Upper Second Class (2:1)
Richard Huish College, Somerset
A-Levels: Business Studies (B), Government and Politics (C), History (B)

EMPLOYMENT

Trust and Grant Lead, Lepra

(February 2022 – May 2023)

Responsible for leading on all trust applications, from pipeline research to the application stage and reporting to funders. On track towards a target of £200,000 income and supporting with institutional fundraising.

Co-ordinating with programme teams in India and Bangladesh to create new projects based on the needs of beneficiaries and potential funds to apply to, ranging across Global Health, Advocacy, Women’s Rights, and environmental emergency responses.

Supporting programmes’ team with monitoring, evaluation and creating funding reports, detailing budget breakdown and evaluation of impact on a variety of projects.

Significantly developed understanding of the international development sector, in particular to Global Health, Neglected Tropical Diseases and key partnerships on global strategy with tackling leprosy. This provided thorough insight into global health policies, strategies, and coordination of different NGOs within fundraising and operations.

Volunteer Grant Manager, Erick Memorial Foundation for Rehabilitation for the Disabled (October 2021- December 2021)

Through this volunteering position in rural Tanzania, I created a fundraising strategy which was focusing

on a 2-year strategy of grant writing and prioritising project funding. This was achieved by conducting

thorough competitor analysis and internal SWOT analysis of the organisation and programmes.

I managed and trained a team of two to understand the process of bid writing, including funder research,

creating budgets, annual reports, project reports and managing all stages of an application.

Created template for unrestricted grants and project applications and successful in 6 funding applications.

Met with local NGO partners to initiate a joint funding projects and form closer programme partnerships.

Fundraising Officer, Providence Row (London) (March 2020- October 2021)

Having started this role at the start of Covid-19 the role moved from community fundraising to a hybrid role of mainly community and trusts & grants. Exceeded Fundraising target of £70,000 despite the impact of the pandemic.

Attained over £30,000 in grants, whilst greatly improving my grant writing skills. Developed Project Evaluation Reports and building relationships with a portfolio of grant makers.

Managed 4 separate interns to support in community and event fundraising, supporting them with development plans, one-to-one support and creating targets.

Working Holiday in South East Asia (September 2019-February 2020)

Volunteer Facilitator for Empowerment of the Youth for Entrepreneurship and Employment,

VSO (Kenya) (June 2019 - September 2019)

Supported 7 Women and Youth Groups to provide them with the skills and resources to expand their businesses to encourage self-reliance for future business development.

Planned and managed sessions in Proposal Writing, Business Plan Writing, Record Keeping, Entrepreneurship Skills, Table Banking and marketing strategies.

Liaised with local NGOs and the district government to provide the beneficiary groups with market knowledge on agriculture and woven baskets, to create project plans for external funding.

Fundraising Assistant, Solving Kids’ Cancer Charity (London) (January 2019 - June 2019)

Responsible for facilitating and leading the fundraising strategy for families to access international trial- based cancer treatment. This mainly consisted of community fundraising and events.

Interviewed families to understand personal connections in order to create specific fundraising strategies for families with targets of £250,000.

Learned how to write proposals and managed to obtain over £30,000 from grant giving bodies

Successfully organised events and generated media presence to reach the fundraising target for 8 families

over the 6 months.

Worked under immense pressure to meet targets varying between fundraising methods of: community,

corporate, trusts and grants, which involved constructing written proposals.

Created an in-depth fundraising introduction pack and a social media community between fundraisers.

Community Fundraiser, Bibic Children’s Charity (Somerset) (July 2018 - December 2018)

Successfully organised fundraising events such as a Christmas Market and a ‘12-hour footballathon’, to raise £4,000. This was achieved through developing substantial relationships with key figures in the community to ensure maximum participation.

Obtained 4 unrestricted grants through delivering key presentations and written proposals to the board of committees for local Rotary Clubs and Masonic Lodges. This greatly enhanced my public speaking and written communication capabilities.

Established the first Bibic Fundraising Committee which streamlined the processes of facilitating and co- coordinating volunteer activity. This targeted 18 individuals with varied specific skill-sets to maximise fundraising income targets.

Developed a 3-year strategy for community fundraising, and a structured timetable for fundraising events. This involved interviewing multiple charities and community groups to contrast their approach to strategy on event management and fundraiser facilitation.

Account Manager, QA Ltd (Leeds) (July 2017 - July 2018)

Managed the accounts of 40 businesses in respect of their learning and development training requirements. Consistently exceeded monthly KPIs of sales revenue, totalling £200k in 12 months, by identifying the right product for the client and maintaining good business relationships.

Achieved an increase in income among accounts of 134% in contrast to the prior year.