Meet Elizabeth Hunt

In another post in our occasional series of Q and A's with soloists, musicians and staff our Development Manager, Elizabeth Hunt answers a few questions. Elizabeth (otherwise known as Izi) is responsible for all our fundraising initiatives from individual donors to our friends scheme, to raising funds towards commissioning new works.

When are you happiest?

At home (I’m a bit obsessed with my house, as it’s my first and I only moved in 6 months ago!) in my garden reading a book or magazine with a cup of tea, listening to the birds sing!

What is your greatest fear?

Losing my family or experiencing a natural disaster first-hand. But I try not to think about those things, so I don’t really have a ‘greatest fear’ in the sense that it affects my day-to-day life. Hopefully no-one really has those!

What is your earliest musical memory?

My elder sister practising for and singing in a school nativity called ‘Hosanna Rock!’ in a little church in the village where we both went to primary school.

Most treasured possession?

I have a few! I am very sentimental so I have quite a lot of things that I hold on to and like (possibly also known as junk) but one thing I love is a little figurine of a dancer (called Esmerelda), which belonged to my grannie – I think it was the first gift that my grandpa gave to her when they were courting in the 1950s. And my house (or more realistically my mortgage?)

What would your super power be?

Being invisible might be quite fun… The power to convince everyone that environmental problems matter and they should take care of the environment, especially bees. Basically I’d be Bee Woman! The environment is so important and there’s so much more, even small things, that people can do to help preserve biodiversity and the planet, so it would be good to have greater influence on that.

If you were an animal would you be?

Giraffes are my favourite animal but I’ve always liked the idea of being a cat, so I could sleep all day in the sunshine. In a garden.

What is your favourite book?

For a while it was The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger), and then I read The Luminaries (Eleanor Catton). And The Rehearsal (also by Eleanor Catton) was great – though I’m still trying to work it out so I’ll definitely be reading it again... I’d happily take these three to a desert island and read them over and over.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Eating too much chocolate and too many cakes and biscuits in the office!

What is the most important life lesson you have learnt?

Never accept anything, or anyone, for that matter, at face value.

What is the first thing you do when you get into the office in the morning?

Check my work emails, log in to Raiser’s Edge, and see if anyone has already made a round of tea!

What has been your biggest achievement so far during your time at Britten Sinfonia?

Managing the Development Department for a couple of months while we were between Directors. And tidying the stationery room.

Favourite musical moment from the Britten Sinfonia concerts you have been involved with?

Well it’s a favourite music and dance moment, but definitely See the Music, Hear the Dance in November 2014 at Sadler’s Wells.

What was the last piece of music you listened to?

It was probably something on Jamie Cullum’s jazz show on Radio 2. And I’m hugely excited to be seeing Punch Brothers live this weekend.

What is your favourite item on/around your desk?

My plant, known as Wilma, who my lovely colleague Karys bought for me! (see picture)

Would you like to share a desk selfie with us?
Yes!

To find out more about the work of our development team and how you can support Britten Sinfonia click here

There’s something about print

For the past few months, one of my projects as part of the fundraising team has been working on developing new print for our annual giving programme. I’ve researched other giving print, collated ideas, helped decide on our message, developed the copy, worked with a new designer, our printers and the marketing team to create something that hopefully stands out and will encourage more people to give to Britten Sinfonia.

I know what some of you might be thinking: ‘in a world of digital marketing and social media campaigns, what’s the point in print? We’ve all seen the hugely successful selfie campaign and ice bucket challenge…’ But even though digital campaigns are important drivers of both marketing and fundraising we don’t want our print to get left behind because it’s important, too. You’re right that much of the information we print is available in some form online, but if you’re anything like me however much you might walk around with an iPhone glued to your hand there’s still nothing better than sitting down (or snuggling into bed in your pyjamas) with a magazine or a good book; turning the pages, feeling the weight of it (or lack of, depending on whether you’re reading Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries or Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea) enjoying the experience of holding an actual book with a lovely cover and beautifully printed pages... And, let’s face it, we get much more excited to receive post through the letter box than an email in our overflowing inboxes.

We decided to update the annual giving print for a number of reasons. The text was out of date (highlighting Britten Sinfonia’s 20^th birthday while we’re now approaching our 25^th) the cover image was dark and dated, and since it was produced over two years ago it feels like every orchestra has chosen to entice potential donors to ‘play your part’, and Britten Sinfonia is no ordinary orchestra. It was time for a change and for something a bit different.

Our previous annual giving print

After a lot of research and thought we came up with a few things that we wanted to achieve: something different, bold and eye-catching yet simple, concise and tidy. With our ideas settled we left the final design in capable hands and continued to work on our overall message and how we were going to communicate it.

Although our previous ‘play your part’ stance was, and still is, relevant, we think there’s much more to your ownership of the orchestra than that. There’s more to being a supporter of Britten Sinfonia than sending a cheque or setting up a direct debit and playing a part in financing our concerts. Everyone who is a regular concert-attender and even those who only come along occasionally should feel that the orchestra they have invested even a little bit of their time and/ or money in is truly theirs for the taking.

Instead of highlighting funding cuts and the need for more gifts from individuals, we have chosen to emphasise the positives: in spite of everything, Britten Sinfonia is growing and achieving more than ever before and it’s thanks to our current partners, donors and everyone who has ever purchased a single ticket. All of you have contributed to our successes and so each concert and project belongs to you. And giving, whether it’s your time in a concert hall or your hard-earned cash, is all about you and your relationship to us. You’re not just playing your part; we’re here because of you, so Britten Sinfonia is your orchestra.

Our exciting shiny new annual giving print

Nothing beats a good book, and (at least at Britten Sinfonia) it’s always exciting to receive a pallet-load of new print. I think everyone in the office could do without the smell of ink that lingers for weeks, but it’s great to write letters, stuff envelopes and post out our latest leaflet or brochure to our donors and audiences, because there’s definitely something about print.

Izi

Development Assistant