Michelle Vickers is Chief Awareness Officer at Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK, following its merger with the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation where she served as CEO for seven years. She is also Chair of her local Women’s Aid.

The charity sector needs passion. You don’t work in charities for money – you get paid less than in other sectors. It has to be a calling. Impact matters. I’m always asking “So what?” When we give a grant, I need to know exactly why we’re doing it, so I can tell people how it will make a difference to someone’s life.

Find your voice in a crisis. With issues like the HPV vaccine, we’re facing a crisis of awareness. Sometimes you have to tackle difficult conversations – like parents discussing their children’s future sexual health. But if you believe in the cause, you find ways to have those conversations with sensitivity and purpose. It’s about making people aware so they can make informed decisions, not telling them what to do.

Collaboration makes you more powerful. While most charities resist working together because they’re competing for the same fundraising, we actively seek partnerships. When you reach out honestly about shared aims, you can achieve more. Yes, it can get complex dealing with two CEOs and PR teams, but laying clear ground rules helps.

Your career path doesn’t have to be linear. I started as a designer at John Lewis, then followed my husband’s career to Dubai and Istanbul. When I returned to the UK, I took admin work to fit around my children. That led to 12 years at Sport England, working on everything from elite athletes to the 2012 Olympics legacy. Sometimes you need to take a step back to move forward.

The charity sector is changing. Today’s donors, especially those in their 30s and 40s, want more than just a fluffy mascot – they want tangible impact. It’s a more competitive market because people have less money and are choosier about which causes they support.

Know what “enough” means. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, we were caught in the trap of more, more, more – better jobs, higher salaries. But ask yourself: What fills your glass? How much do you need to earn to pay your bills? If you enjoy your job and earn enough, why chase promotions? Sometimes you need a career pause to catch up with what’s real.

Don’t waste time on negative people. When I was younger, I spent too much energy trying to understand difficult people and improve communication with them. Now I prioritise working with good people whose values align with mine – from employees to contractors.

Volunteering gives back more than you put in. As Chair of my local Women’s Aid, I’ve gained far more than I’ve given. Being part of an incredible group of women, working together to make a real difference in the lives of women and children, fills me with immense pride and joy. Offering your time and expertise, no matter how small, can have a far greater impact than you might ever imagine.

The emotional rewards are irreplaceable. Working in the charity sector brings moments you don’t get elsewhere. When someone sends you a video showing how your work has impacted their life, it touches you deeply. Those moments keep you going because you know you’re making a real difference in people’s lives.

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Cause & Effect is a series from Hope, a charity branding agency, in which leading figures who have been involved in building and promoting good causes tell us what they’ve learned from their experiences. Interview by Michael Isaacs.