Charity fundraiser Job Information | National Careers Service

The work

Your job could involve some or all of the following:

• media and marketing (creating press, television, radio and poster appeals to attract donors)
• corporate fundraising (arranging company sponsorship or setting up schemes for staff or customers to donate)
• trust and legacy fundraising (persuading companies or individuals to set up trust funds or leave money in their will)
• organising events such as charity balls, galas or sport events
• organising street or door-to-door collections
• direct mailing to ask for donations
• overseeing trading operations such as charity shops or mail order sales
• recruiting and managing volunteers
• managing budgets and reporting on fundraising performance to the charity’s trustees and donors
• giving talks and writing press releases
• meeting targets for the amount of money raised.

At larger charities, you would usually specialise in one or two of these areas. If you worked for a smaller charity, you might be involved in all kinds of fundraising activities as well as charity management duties.

Hours

In a full-time job you would work around 35 to 40 hours a week. Weekend and evening work is common, especially in jobs that involve organising events.

Part-time work is also common, particularly at smaller charities that may not have the budget to employ a full-time fundraiser.

You might be office-based or work mainly from home. You would often be responsible for fundraising in a local area or larger region, and you would travel around the area to give presentations and attend meetings.

Income

Starting salaries for full-time work can be between £18,000 and £23,000 a year. With experience, this can rise to between £24,000 and £30,000.

Fundraising managers in larger charities could earn up to £50,000 a year.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You could come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience, as employers will usually be more interested in your skills and commitment to working in the charity sector than in your formal qualifications.

Charities often have a preference for those who have done some fundraising, so previous experience as a volunteer fundraiser would help you. Experience in business, sales, marketing, public relations or events could also be helpful.

It could be useful to have a degree or BTEC HND in business or marketing and communications, but this is not essential if you have the right skills and experience for the job.

A few large charities offer graduate trainee schemes for new recruits. Others offer unpaid internships, which can be a good way of building contacts and experience. Competition is strong, particularly for paid positions. You can find details of some internships on the Institute of Fundraising website, or by contacting charities directly.

• Institute of Fundraising

You can also find out about local volunteering opportunities on the Do-it or Volunteering England websites (or the equivalent organisations for Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland – see More Information section below).

• Do-it
• Volunteering England

If you are thinking about working in the voluntary and community sectors, you may find it useful to take one of Working for a Charity's courses. These include:

• NCVO Working for a Charity Foundation Course – seven one-day seminars plus a short work placement with a charity
• Effective Voluntary Sector Management – an online course that takes around eight months of study.

Visit the Working for a Charity website for details of their courses, and for links to charity recruitment sites.

• Working for a Charity

Training and development

Your training will vary depending on the charity and its budget. Larger charities may offer their own in-house structured training schemes. However, in most cases you will learn on the job and attend occasional short courses run by organisations like the Institute of Fundraising and the Directory of Social Change.

The Institute of Fundraising and the Directory of Social Change jointly run the Fundraising Programme. This is a series of short courses at three levels for people who are new to fundraising, for experienced fundraisers and for current or future fundraising managers.

The Institute of Fundraising also offers the Certificate in Fundraising Management, which is a professional, postgraduate-level qualification for experienced fundraisers.

See the Institute of Fundraising and the Directory of Social Change websites for more details about their courses and training.

• Institute of Fundraising
• Directory of Social Change

Once you have experience, another option could be to take a postgraduate course in charity management and fundraising. You can find relevant distance learning and part-time courses at a small number of universities, in particular:

• City University
• London South Bank University
• Sheffield Hallam University
• Open University Business School

Skills and knowledge

To become a charity fundraiser, you will need to have:

• creativity and imagination
• excellent written and spoken communication skills
• good presentation skills
• drive and enthusiasm
• the ability to motivate and manage others
• excellent organisation skills
• the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• budget management skills
• commitment to your charity’s cause.

More information

Institute of Fundraising
Park Place
12 Lawn Lane
London
Tel: 020 7840 1000
www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk

Directory of Social Change (DSC)
24 Stephenson Way
London
NW1 2DP
Tel: 020 7391 4800
www.dsc.org.uk

Working For A Charity
NCVO
Regent's Wharf
8 All Saints Street
London
N1 9RL
Tel: 020 7520 2512
www.wfac.org.uk

Volunteering England
www.volunteering.org.uk

Volunteer Now
www.volunteering-ni.org

Volunteering Wales
www.volunteering-wales.net

Volunteer Scotland
www.volunteerscotland.org.uk

Opportunities

You could work for national or local charities, political pressure groups or not-for-profit organisations such as hospitals, schools or community groups. Competition for paid work is strong, especially with well-known charities.

Jobs may be advertised in the local, national and charity press, on employers' websites and through specialist recruitment agencies.

With experience, you could move into charity management, although promotion prospects can depend on the charity’s size and finances. Another option is to become a self-employed fundraising consultant.

You may find the following useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in a new window):

• Civil Society

• Third Sector

• Institute of Fundraising Jobs and Careers

• UK Fundraising

• Working for a Charity
• Society Guardian

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.