Fiona Halton, the founder and CEO of Pilotlight, told Spear’s that the 820 people who have become Pilotlighters did so ‘because they want to give back but also because they want to learn’. In experiencing a charity’s trials and tribulations, they can take back skills and lessons to their own lives and careers.
'What comes across,' says Halton, 'is a great hunger not just to learn more about the sector but to know about how charities and social enterprises work,' part of which is taught in seminars and education sessions. Pilotlighters don't start with baseline ignorance, however: executives need to understand how - if - a charity works before they'll get involved.