Recruitment / People

Gill Raikes MInstF Cert, Director of Fundraising at the National Trust, and a trustee of the Institute of Fundraising, has been awarded the MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list.

I was surprised to learn this week that out of 317 small charities recently surveyed, half found fundraising vacancies the most difficult to fill.

In an increasingly competitive job market your CV needs to stand out. A good CV will open doors to job interviews giving you the opportunity to shine in person.

Fundraising magazine has announced that voting is open for the 2011 poll to determine who are the most influential people in the fundraising sector.

Dear Trustees and Executives

The Sunday Times this week published its list of the top 100 third sector places to work, 76 of which were charities. Whilst the authors wouldn't pretend that the findings are representative of every single charity in the UK, they might help us (I am a Trustee too) as a collective of leaders to think about the factors which make our organisations positive places to work. It seems that there are still significant differences between the commercial and not for profit sectors in terms of what motivates people to work there (no kidding) so I recommend we start focusing on these:

• Charity staff value highly the opportunity to give something back. Perhaps we can make the results of their contributions more specific and more obvious? I'm thinking internal communications, appraisals and reviews... simple and sincere thanks?
• The vast majority believe their organisation makes a positive difference to the world - surely something that we should reinforce with evidence and beneficiary stories wherever relevant to ensure staff stay engaged with the cause.
  

When I set up my fundraising recruitment consultancy at the start of the year, one of the first things I did was to talk to as many people in the sector as I could to find out what impact the economic

Did you know that you can nominate anyone for a Queen’s Honour such as an OBE, MBE or Knighthood for achievements in their field of work or community?

Are you a schmoozer?  Do you use schmoozing to work a room full of potential donors or partners or just when attending an even or conference?  According to an article I saw recently, schmoozing is a vital networking skill and is not in fact a load of old cobblers!  The art of schmoozing is defined as:

“To converse informally, to chat, or to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favour, business, or connections.”

The McLean clan has truly arrived in the fundraising sector. Indeed, we now have A McLeans at the head of two of the fundraising sector's principal bodies.

The news that the Royal British Legion has accepted a (likely multi-million pound) donation from Tony Blair raises an interesting question.  At what point does charitable purpose outweigh ethical considerations when trying to do good?