A mentoring match is a mutually respectful, professional relationship. It’s important to remember that our mentors are volunteers who are giving up their time to support others working in the sector.
Here are some tips on making sure you are working together effectively, along with some more detailed terms and conditions about taking part in the scheme.
- Work with each other identify clear and realistic goals for your time together.
- While a mentor is there for support and guidance, mentees are responsibile for making their own decisions.
- Mentees should also take responsibility for driving the relationship forward to ensure they maximise the time together and meet their goals as much as possible.
- Remember that things discussed during meetings are confidential.
- Respond to each other in a timely way and be clear with your timelines and schedule of meetings.
- Attend meetings on time and, if you need to cancel or reschedule a meeting, to give each other as much notice as you possibly can.
Eligibility for the scheme
To be matched with a mentor on the CharityComms Mentoring Scheme, you must be an organisational member of CharityComms. Our service is aimed at supporting comms professionals directly employed by a charity.
Anyone can be a mentor and you don’t have to be a CharityComms member to sign up to support others in the sector.
We cannot guarantee your chosen mentor will be available
Both mentors and mentees sign up online to create a profile and mentees can then search the directory for potential mentors and send a direct request to a mentor they would like to be matched up with.
However, CharityComms can not guarantee an appropriate mentor will be available (they may already be in a match and not be able to take on any more mentees). If you do send a request to a mentor and it’s not accepted, don’t worry. Things change for people and it might just mean that they con’t have as much time to commit to the scheme as they thought. You can search again and find someone else you’d like to work with.
Setting your objectives
Mentoring
You are in control of your objectives for the scheme and CharityComms cannot guarantee your experience.
Individuals looking to be mentored set their own objectives and are helped to reach them through the support, guidance and advice of a mentor. When a mentoring match is set up, it is up to the mentoring partnership to lay-out the objectives of their relationship and create a plan for how it will work. CharityComms can be contacted if any problems or questions arise.
Respect each other's time
Respect mentors involved in the scheme – they’re giving their time for free
Given that our mentors donate their time and advice for free to support this scheme, it’s crucial that mentees respect this. Please make sure you are organised, punctual, responsive and take the lead in sorting out the meetings and setting the agenda.
Professional relationship
Naturally the relationship between mentor and mentee is expected to remain professional. Please don’t hesitate to let CharityComms know if you feel uncomfortable about any aspect of your mentoring relationship.
Confidentiality
The nature of the mentoring relationship means that, on occasion, issues of a confidential nature are discussed. By taking part in the scheme, participants agree to keep this information confidential at all times. This includes any notes shared. CharityComms cannot be held responsible for any breach of confidence between participants of the mentoring scheme.
Applying for a different mentor/mentee
When a mentoring relationship comes to an end, mentees on the scheme can apply for another mentor as long as their membership is active. As individual needs and circumstances change (change in roles, promotions etc) it may be appropriate to work with a different mentor.
If things are not working out
Sometimes the match might not work. This might be because of chemistry or because one person does not have the time they initially envisaged, or for another reason. In this case you should agree to end the relationship and inform CharityComms.
If either party feels the need to make a formal complaint, this must be done in writing to the CharityComms trustee board via the CharityComms Membership Manager. Any justifiable complaint will be considered by the board and the complainant will be notified of the outcome within 21 days. If any complaint against an individual is upheld, CharityComms reserves the right to disbar the individual from any future participation in the mentoring scheme. Also, if anyone, through their actions during participation in the scheme, brings CharityComms into disrepute, we reserve the right to disbar the individual concerned from the CharityComms membership.
CharityComms and/or a mentor will not be be liable to the mentee or to any third party for any loss, damage, cost or other liability which occurs as a result of, or in connection with the mentoring scheme.
How we store your personal data
The Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR (which applies from 25th May 2018) apply to all Charity Comms activities and processes involving personal data (e.g. whenever we collect, share, access, destroy, analyse or store data). The details you provide during the application process will be used for the purpose of the Mentoring Scheme only. Full details about how we collect and use personal information can be found in our privacy policy.
The data we collect from you goes straight onto our database and may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. CharityComms does not rent or sell mailing details to any third party. Our website includes links to other sites, not owned or managed by CharityComms. We cannot be held responsible for the privacy of data collected by websites not managed by CharityComms.
We’re here to support you along the way so if you have any questions or need to check anything with CharityComms, get in touch any time.