Karen Jefferys |
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The Crosslinks' Web Interview, September 2003
(Note: Karen got married in July 2006 - she is now Karen Jefferys We might get a new interview soon...)
The interview this month didn't involve a long journey - just a climb to the top floor at 251 Lewisham Way - where I met Karen Scutt, the recently appointed Individual Supporter Development Manager. I persuaded her to stop looking at balance sheets long enough to tell us a bit about herself and her job:
Karen, after you've had enough time to memorise your job title, what will you be doing here?
Now that Mission Partners need to raise their own funds they will need help and advice as to where to start. I will be helping them raise money and also raising funds for wherever the needs are greatest in Crosslinks.
What did you do before coming to Crosslinks?
I worked for a Christian charity doing fundraising. I organised a sponsored 10km run, wrote to supporters, worked at exhibitions like Spring Harvest and did telephone research into what supporters thought.
Give me plenty of warning before you try and organise a run involving Crosslinks staff... What are you looking forward to the most?
Making a difference to the financial status of Crosslinks so that God’s work can be furthered. Fundraising is not about raising money for the sake of it. As a fundraiser I am raising funds to enable people to answer the calling that God has on their lives. Practical resources and practical prayers need to be combined in order for Crosslinks to survive. So far we’ve been good at the praying!
Your immediate plans?
I am writing some guidelines to help Mission Partners raise their funds. I am also thinking about organising some sponsored events like a sky dive. (Do you think the staff here would prefer to take part in that rather than the run, Peter?) So, if you would like to help Crosslinks either through doing a sponsored event or through donating directly to us then please email me on or click here to give.
I'll let you know about the sky dive... What would you like to see happening at Crosslinks?
I would like to see more and more supporters feeling that they could give one-off donations, regular gifts or mentioning us in their will. I would like to be able to talk about money without it being a ‘dirty’ word. Jesus talked about money in Matthew 6.21 saying: ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’(KJV) Put simply I think that this means that using our treasures (including money) for God’s work says a lot about what where our hearts are.
In all of this I would like to see more people being given the chance to hear what Jesus is all about and given the choice to follow him.
Thanks, Karen - I think I'll go now before you find those "Sky diving volunteer" forms!
Karen's favourite lunch:
