#096 Linda Arnmark - Launching Fundraising In A New Market

Linda Arnmark has worked in fundraising at Médecins Sans Frontières for 12 years and is now New Zealand Fundraising Manager. In that time, she birthed three boys and helped establish Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand. In fact, she was so involved and in love with Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand she termed it her ‘fourth child.’

Is launching a fundraising program in a new market all that different to raising
kids?

Linda will explore the labour of love that went into establishing Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand and show the success of the first two years of fundraising.
But raising a child or a charity doesn’t come with only rewards. There are of course challenges. Linda loves her baby number 4, but do New Zealanders know who Médecins Sans Frontières is, and if not, what is the best way to tell them? Given Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand runs out of Sydney, Australia, how do you get staff on board with such a mammoth task, taking on more work for no additional love? And how do you nourish a charity from a distance? How do you love donors from across the sea? Finally, where is Médecins Sans Frontières New Zealand headed now she’s truly exited the baby stage and in the throws of the toddler years?