On Saturday 5 September 2015, JCI Curepipe in collaboration with Link to Life and Big Willy’s, successfully organized its first Fundraising event for the current year, to support cancer patients as well as some of its own projects. In my capacity as Fundraising Director, I cannot help but applaud the wonderful team who was working behind the scene. I can attest to the fact that we have all learnt something positive from this unique experience and sharing some of it here will certainly help other JCI members and aspiring members when they will embark on a similar journey in the future. Drum roll please . . .
Leadership skills. Being at the head of a team definitely requires that one has good leadership skills. Leadership is all about being able to walk the talk. Simply giving orders does not make one a leader; this, on the contrary, is being bossy. A leader should fully engage in the work by participating in different tasks. However, he/she should also learn to delegate tasks as and when required according to the members’ capacities and aptitudes.
Organisational skills. Someone who has good organizational skills ensures that the different aspects of an event are taken care of, while not losing the big picture from one’s view. And this is where task lists become important. Listing things out after concerting with other members allows one to properly plan things out. For this event I had to coordinate the marketing and logistics, confirm the venue, decide on the theme and decoration, all within a limited time scale.
Teamwork. Of course, all this work would not have been possible without the unflinching support from all the other team members. The successfulness of an event depends to great extent on the team working on it. During this event, I have learnt to recognize and appreciate the attributes of my fellow members which I had hitherto, no knowledge of. I seize the opportunity to thank each and every one of you who collaborated on this project. (Special mention to Yog, our mastermind who relentlessly worked on the logo until it was just perfect.) It is true that we have had some ups and downs, but at the end of the day we have all learnt to rise above our divergences and we have instead celebrated these differences.
Networking. Being part of the JCI Community has opened the door to such a wonderful network for me. I have been able to meet people from different walks of life, not only within the JCI network but even outside. As Fundraising Director, I often had to reach out to other organizations and companies to support us in our task. I have learnt the art of listening others and I have developed my influencing skills as well as my rapport with others.
Today when I look back at those moments, I cannot help but feel proud of the wonderful task that my team and I have accomplished. Thank you JCI Curepipe for believing in me, and I look forward to the many more beautiful experiences awaiting me.
Dr Koshal Gowrydoss
JCI Curepipe Fundraising Project Director
