Internship of Erika Macasieb

My four-month long internship at Shared Services for Charities (SSC) has been eventful, challenging and enriching. In supporting the team in the planning and execution of, mainly, the SSC & CNPL Joint Governance & Leadership Workshop, SSC’s Annual Seminar, and SSC’s 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner, the experience has enabled me to venture beyond my comfort zone and gain a broader perspective of the Social sector as a whole.

SSC provided a professional and nurturing environment in which I was given many opportunities to develop project management skills especially in terms of coordinating between and communicating with staff, participants, vendors and partners. Working with the team on some of SSC’s marketing efforts also made me realise that the importance of building good relationships with existing and potential partners extends beyond commercial businesses and is, in fact, crucial to charities.

It was also during this internship that I first experienced how fund-raising is carried out and how a corporate video is produced. The former gave me a greater appreciation for the hard work charities put in to garner support for their causes and the latter taught me how storytelling and media can be an effective and engaging way to convey an organisation’s mission and vision.

All of these experiences have given me a deeper understanding of the challenge’s charities face and the environment within which they operate. I have also come to realise the importance of good governance in charities especially in enabling them to serve their beneficiaries more effectively and sustainably.

Thank you to everyone in SSC for your guidance and support these past four months. Working with such an encouraging and approachable team has been both a joy and a blessing.