Three of my clients’ small charities have advertised for fundraisers recently, using most of the channels available including the Guardian. Yet all of them have gone into second rounds and only one has found the person it wanted, who happened to be the only suitable applicant.
A while ago the huge number of adverts for fundraisers seemed to draw in many more young people to the profession. A raft of courses and qualifications grew and grew, including the Institute of Fundraising’s excellent Certificate in Fundraising; but it appears that those taking the courses were fundraisers who were already in the profession, and new talent was slow in joining the sector.
There seems to be a disjuncture here between what I hear from a privileged position sitting on committees, i.e. that we are attracting new bright young talent, and the practical reports from the field that there are no fundraisers to be found.
Are the number of jobs outstripping new entrants to the field?
Has anyone got a clue? Or a useful opinion?
Comments
Martin Davies said (in the other blog post):
Looking at the job adverts I see regularly, few are for people with no fundraising experience. Makes me wonder if the charities are making it harder to get people to become fundraisers.
I mean its not like we have the most stress-free job around. I hate the stress of the job but love getting a £10K cheque (not payable to me).
Perhaps more charities should be willing to take risks on new fundraisers - with appropriate training, can be a cheap asset to the organisation.
I've started looking for possible graduate jobs and similar possibilities, and it seems true, there just aren't too many out there, most of them require experience, sometimes even considerable experience.
The only one I came across (in Scotland, as this is the place I really like to go) is a Charity Career Start programme (http://brucetaitassociates.com/jobsboard.aspx at the bottom), basically a 10 weeks internship with only expenses being paid. What do you think of this?
So, how would I go about joining the sector? Are there any graduate programmes that combine training on the job and those Certificates (I've had a brief look at those but their site is currently not accessible, so can anybody explain those certificates to me).
Do I even have a chance as a German (somebody actually suggested to me that I won't stand a chance because of my nationality) - I really would appreciate your honest reply to this question.
Or shall I consider doing a Master first while continue to do some volunteering, but which one would be advisable then? Don't really want to do this certificate in fundraising as I somewhat fear that it would limit my choice of employment too much later on, and if I don't get a job in fundraising then it looks like a waste of money.
Thanks,
Daniel
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Business Management student at Anglia Ruskin University
Dissertation on Building Trust over the Internet for fund-raising charities (see the forum post)
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Business Management student at Anglia Ruskin University
Dissertation on Building Trust over the Internet for fund-raising charities (see the forum post)