Eilish McDowell

Eilish is a Director of Bruce Tait Associates, a specialist integrated fundraising and recruitment consultancy. She has worked as a fundraising consultant since 1995 and was involved in the sector as a volunteer for many years prior to that. Bruce Tait Associates works with a diverse range of charities across the UK, and the Directors often give talks at conferences, including the annual Institute of Fundraising National Convention.

Eilish also holds a diploma in Recruitment Practice and is therefore a full member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. She has carried out recruitment for a wide range of organisations and sectors including Save the Children, Heriot-Watt University, Sick Kids Friends Foundation, The Lyceum Theatre and The Steeple Church, Dundee.

Following on from her initial volunteer work for a number of organisations including Marie Curie, Eilish was a fundraiser for Edinburgh and Lothians Clubs for Young People and sat on First Hand’s Management Committee for a number of years. She was a Specialist Adviser to the Scottish Arts Council and a former committee member of the IOF Scotland Income Generation Group. She is currently a Mentor for Project Scotland, the revolutionary charity that provides volunteering opportunities for young people across Scotland.

Striving to achieve a positive work/life balance Eilish is an avid reader of books (especially psychological thrillers), a keen pub quiz goer and reckons she can make a mean smoothie (she may even give you her special recipe if you ask nicely!).

Contact Eilish if your needs are in the following areas:

• recruitment of fundraising and development staff
• interim senior fundraising staff
• audits of fundraising performance
• fundraising training for staff across all fundraising disciplines
• mentoring of fundraising staff
• HR review of current fundraising department
• employee engagement
• change management
• an extra pair of hands through a Charity Career Start Programme placement
• fundraising challenge events
• donor recruitment and development
• affordable, effective eTapestry Internet based software solution for donor contact management