New community fundraising benchmark developed

Ten major charities in the UK have developed a benchmark job description for community fundraisers that identify and the key tasks and person specification for the role. The benchmark was developed following a scoping study by members of the THINK Community Forum.

The benchmark reflects the growing importance of community fundraising which grew by 17 per cent in 2006/07, according to the most recent Fundratios report. It is also designed to help attract more people to the role, one for which the charities reported finding "incredibly difficult" to recruit good candidates.

Charities that participated in the study included Cancer Research UK, RNLI and the Royal British Legion. They identified key areas of knowledge for community fundraising, such as stewardship, local 'political' awareness, people and volunteer management, and strategic planning.

Liz Showell, senior consultant at THINK Consulting Solutions, who runs the THINK Community Forum, said: "What our study shows is that community fundraising requires an inordinate range of skills. The sheer diversity of skills means you need a multi-talented person to carry it out. It's not just about being an expert in one category of fundraising; you have to be an expert in several.

"That's why community fundraising is perhaps the best entry level job in fundraising as it gives you a grounding in every discipline you’re likely to need throughout your career."

THINK Consulting Solutions set up the Community Forum in September 2006 as a consortium of charities that aimed to raise the profile and change the sector's perception of community fundraising, and explore strategic issues relevant to community fundraising.

The agency is now looking at how it might expand the reach of its community fundraising support by introducing a second tier of the Forum for smaller organisations.

www.thinkcs.org