Profile

A little bit more about me, my work history, and areas of expertise.

Profile - Gerard Donnelly

Hi! I’m Gerard Donnelly and I’m the owner of We Contribute, a Scottish-based creative and communications agency.

I’ve worked in the creative industry for over 25 years and 2009, I founded We Contribute as a creative outlet, starting with self-initiated briefs and small projects for friends and family. What began as a side venture soon evolved into a outlet for exploring new ideas and honing my approach to design. By 2012, I decided to focus on We Contribute full-time… a decision I’ve never looked back on!

Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working on meaningful projects for charities and purpose-led organisations, collaborating with a trusted network of associates who are specialists in their field and suppliers who have been trusted throughout my career. Together, we create impactful visual experiences that empower clients to engage their audiences, raise awareness, and inspire action. Some of the organisations We Contribute has partnered with include Support for Ordinary Living, Inclusion Glasgow, Fair Deal, Potential Living, Glasgow East End Community Carers, Interfaith Scotland, Interfaith Glasgow, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, South Lanarkshire Carers Network, and HCPT.

In addition to working with a wide range of charities, I’m also a member of the Communications Member Advisory Group for the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS).

Expertise:

  • Branding
  • Graphic Design
  • Website Design
  • Website Development
  • Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Social Media Management
  • Digital Media Campaigns
  • Photography
  • Print Management

Expertise:

Work Experience

We Contribute
Jun 2012 – Present · 12 yrs 9 mos

We are a design agency based in Central Scotland. We cover a variety of disciplines including graphic design, web design and development, digital design, social media, print and marketing.

We focus on results. We work closely with our clients to ensure we gain a greater insight into their business and marketplace. This enables us to produce creative ideas that not only enhances their image but allows them to engage with their target audience in a meaningful way whilst offering a healthy return on their investment.

As a senior manager in Support for Ordinary Living (SOL), my role as Media and Communications Manager involves overseeing all aspects of communication within the organisation. This includes managing internal and external communication channels, whilst ensuring that all communication is clear, concise and effective. Additionally, I work closely with other senior managers to ensure that communication is aligned with the overall goals and objectives of the organisation.

My role covers:

• Developing and implementing media and communication strategies to promote the organisation’s services and activities
• Writing and editing content for the organisation’s website, social media accounts, newsletters, and other communication channels
• Designing and producing internal and external communication and promotional materials
• Taking photographs and creating videos that highlight the work of the organisation
• Producing Easy Read materials
• Building, maintaining and updating the organisation’s websites
• Managing 7 social media channels for the organisation and their technology enabled care department, SOL Connect
• Collaborating with other departments to ensure that all communication materials align with the organisation’s brand and messaging

Support for Ordinary Living · Part-time
Jun 2012 – Present

Overall, I aim to ensure that the organisation maintains a positive public image and effectively communicates its mission and services to its stakeholders and the wider community.

I am also a member of the ‘Quality Checkers’ group. This group is composed of SOL employees and some of the people we work for. The group gathers feedback from target audiences regarding the quality of care provided by SOL. The feedback is then reported to the senior management and Leadership Team for review.

I am also a member of the communications group of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS). CCPS represent, promote and safeguard the interests of third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland.

Shine Design + Digital
Aug 2008 – Jun 2012

As well as generating ideas and seeing a job from initial brief through to taking receipt of the completed print job, I also gave art direction to the other designers.

I scheduled the workflow for each designer ensuring that deadlines were met and that we kept our clients happy. I also ensured that the studio ran smoothly on a day to day basis. I was the first point of contact for the studio.

In addition to this I was occasionally called upon to take on a more client facing role. Due to my creative abilities, technical knowledge and organisational skills the vast amount of clients dealt with me directly. I attended client briefings, networking events and new business meetings.

Music Scotland Ltd. (M8 Magazine)
May 2004 – Jun 2007 · 3 yrs 2 mos

My job at Music Scotland Ltd consisted of overseeing the design and production of three magazine publications and all of the instore design, point of sale and marketing material for Original Shoe Co. I organised the workflow through the design studio, making sure that the work was fairly split between myself and the other five designers and that we had the appropriate information and materials to carry out our jobs to the best of our abilities. I was the principle point of contact for the design department.

I took a magazine from the first initial page plan through to completion. This process involved designing editorial pages and adverts, liaising with the editors, advertising department and printers to make sure that the magazines could be produced on schedule and making sure that all pages were correctly sent to the printers. I also organised and sourced visuals that come in from individual columnists, pr companies and photographic/design studios.

After leaving this post in June 2007 I had the opportunity to try a different career path but after a year I decided to return to my first love of Graphic Design.

Shine Design + Digital
Jan 2001 – May 2004

When I first joined “Shine” their client list was mainly made up of pubs and clubs but through my work and my attitude we attracted some major blue chip clients. I took a project from brief to finished product. My job involved sourcing print quotes and dealing directly with their clients.

I took a magazine from the first initial page plan through to completion. This process involved designing editorial pages and adverts, liaising with the editors, advertising department and printers to make sure that the magazines could be produced on schedule and making sure that all pages were correctly sent to the printers. I also organised and sourced visuals that come in from individual columnists, pr companies and photographic/design studios.

After leaving this post in June 2007 I had the opportunity to try a different career path but after a year I decided to return to my first love of Graphic Design.

First Press Publishing (Trinity Mirror)
Jun 1999 – Jan 2001 · 1 yr 8 mos

This was a very fast moving publishing environment where there was always a deadline to meet. I had the pleasure of designing for such big organisations as Celtic F.C., Rangers F.C. and the Scottish Rugby Union.

I took a magazine from the first initial page plan through to completion. This process involved designing editorial pages and adverts, liaising with the editors, advertising department and printers to make sure that the magazines could be produced on schedule and making sure that all pages were correctly sent to the printers. I also organised and sourced visuals that come in from individual columnists, pr companies and photographic/design studios.

After leaving this post in June 2007 I had the opportunity to try a different career path but after a year I decided to return to my first love of Graphic Design.