Founding Treasurer · Northumbria Marketing Society
Building Northumbria’s first Marketing Society, from zero to 30+ members
No existing members, no budget history, no brand. Here’s what real financial governance, a real partnership, and a real Freshers Week campaign actually looked like as founding Treasurer.
The challenge
Zero members. Zero budget history. Zero brand presence.
In 2026, myself, Tom Jeffries and Jan Tomas co-founded Northumbria University’s first-ever Marketing Society — Tom as President, Jan as Secretary, and me as Treasurer. There was no existing membership, no financial track record, no social following, and no precedent for how a brand-new society should actually run its money. Everything — the bank account, the fee collection, the reimbursement process, the recruitment — had to be built from nothing, correctly, with real students’ £5 on the line.
My role
Real financial governance, from day one
- Treasurer
Financial Oversight
Managed the society’s deposit account, collected £5/year membership fees, and ran the full expense reimbursement process through NSU’s Dashboard system.
- Grant Funding
Secured Funding
Secured an £82.80 microgrant from NSU to fund Freshers Fair materials — banner, business cards, and poster.
- Problem-Solving
Handled Real Complications
Resolved an incorrect print run and a reimbursement discrepancy professionally, working through NSU’s correct process rather than around it.
- Partnerships
Partnership Development
Helped secure a genuine local business partnership with Awesome Franks café, tied to a joint Freshers Week recruitment campaign.
Execution
What actually happened
- Freshers Fair
Live Stall — City Campus, Reds, Stall 26
Ran a full Freshers Fair stall with a professional banner, business cards, a whiteboard quiz activity, and a live QR sign-up demo.
- Presentations
Induction Talks
Delivered induction presentations to Level 4, 5 and 6 marketing and business cohorts to recruit founding members.
- Social Event
Habita Society Takeover
Organised the society’s first official social event, giving early members a reason to actually show up and stay engaged.
- Multi-Platform
Instagram, TikTok & LinkedIn
Launched TikTok and LinkedIn presences alongside Instagram to build a real, multi-channel brand from scratch.
Results
The numbers
- 30+Paid members, up from a founding committee of 3
- 138+Instagram followers, up from 50 in under two weeks
- 48Sign-ups from the joint Awesome Franks QR campaign
- 67+Members in the society’s WhatsApp community
What I learned
The honest reflection
This was the first time I’d handled real money that wasn’t mine — a shared deposit account, real students’ £5 subs, a grant I had to account for properly. It’s easy to treat a student society’s finances as an afterthought. I didn’t have that luxury once the print run came back wrong and a reimbursement didn’t add up: it forced me to actually learn NSU’s process rather than guess at it, and to sort it out properly rather than quietly absorb the difference.
The other thing that stuck with me: a partnership like Awesome Franks doesn’t happen because a society has a nice logo. It happens because someone follows up, turns up in person, and treats a small business’s time as seriously as a client’s. That’s the same discipline I’ve tried to bring to AIgnite — understand the real thing first, then build.
Be part of what’s next
Northumbria Marketing Society is open to all students — £5 for the whole year.