With 10 years of experience working in non-profit, Laurie Schertzer feels she has something to offer the sector. Currently, she is doing so, building a relatively new role from the ground up in her work with the most grassroots organization on her resume to date: the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.
Prior to joining the Trust Fund, Laurie’s nonprofit experience has included project management and marketing roles in organizations such as:
- the Tetra Society (recruits skilled volunteer engineers and technicians to create assistive devices for people with disabilities);
- the Canadian Diabetes Association; and,
- the Canadian Health Network (a former government agency with teams housed within nonprofit affiliate organizations).
Prior to her time in non-profit, Laurie was in sales for 12 years.
Laurie’s current role as the Project Manager, Marketing Initiatives at the Fund allows her to put her expertise to use while broadening her skill set even further. Since starting at the Trust Fund in October, Laurie has observed two critical ingredients for success.
“In such a small, grassroots organization, you have to have a ‘get things done’ attitude, and you have to be willing to wear many different hats. These things are simply expected of you,” explains Laurie. For example, though she is the organization’s marketing manager, Laurie is heavily involved in communications, fund development, event planning and more.
How does she manage? With help from her peers. Laurie has drawn upon the expertise and helping hands of friends and former colleagues within the non-profit sector when the ‘other hats’ creep in.
“Strong relationships will help you get projects done because you just can’t do it all on your own. If you have strong partnership skills, you will have more success in a role like this than someone with just business acumen would,” says Laurie. “In my time in sales, I developed the ability to build and maintain a good rapport with people. That ability has served me well in my non-profit career and continues to be critical today.”
Laurie says the most challenging aspect of her role is also her favourite aspect: being a part of absolutely everything that is going on at the Trust Fund. She is excited to have already achieved success and made progress on all of the priorities she identified upon her arrival in October 2011. Currently, Laurie’s long list of projects includes organizing a benefit concert – for which she helped secure celebrity appearances from members of the Barenaked Ladies and Skydiggers – and helping to build the Trust Fund’s strategic plan.
“The work we do, the people I work with and the nature and size of the organization make it all enjoyable,” says Laurie. “In an organization as small as this, you simply have to be prepared to do it all.”
Connect with Laurie and other non-profit marketers and communicators in our LinkedIn group.
Learn more about the work of the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund at musictherapytrust.ca.
Willing to share your story as a non-profit marketer or communicator? Contact Marlene at contact@moflow.ca.
