Image 2023 08 08 T03 44 42

Ask the specialists: what's happening in fundraising recruitment?

Search by
Search by blog tags

‘Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?’ asked takeaway promoter Katy Perry to widespread bemusement in an early hit, but fundraisers may have been able to relate, given they’re also very useful, increasingly hard to find, and if you get a really good one you'll definitely want to hang on to them.

That's where the similarities end though, as it’s not obligatory to keep a large fundraiser full of other fundraisers somewhere in your kitchen, nor do they bob around the Pacific choking turtles once retired.

In fact, they're becoming more of a scarce resource, as we recently shared (for an article you can read here) with the good people of UK Fundraising, who were keen to hear our thoughts on:

  • Recruiting fundraisers

  • The state of the market post-pandemic

  • What charities can do to attract more of these elusive employees

With thanks to Melanie May at UK Fundraising for the questions, we quizzed our fundraising specialists Hannah Laking, Dagmara Wolosiuk-de Paula, Hayley Wilson, Dominic Gilchrist and Lucy McBride (L-R below), and here’s what they had to say in full.

How has fundraising recruitment changed in the last year, and in comparison to during/before the pandemic?

Compared with 2020-21, we were inundated with vacancies right through 2022, only slowing down slightly in the last few weeks before Christmas as normal. However there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in candidate numbers – there’s still a real shortage, so it’s been tougher than ever for charities to attract the people they need.

Relative to previous years we’ve seen a notable increase in internal promotions, particularly in areas that were less affected by the pandemic, like Trusts and Statutory fundraising. That’s a positive thing in many ways, but with more people achieving career progression where they are, there's less incentive to move, which means even fewer candidates in the market.

In the last year we’ve definitely seen people’s salary expectations increase – not so much at the senior end of the market but certainly from assistant to mid-manager level. People seem to have become much more confident in asking for more, likely because high inflation and sharp increases in the cost of living have made rises essential at the lowest levels, and given most people a strong case for seeking higher rates.

Have you had to change the way you recruit?

We’re certainly having to be much more proactive in the way that we find people. Job adverts still have their place but can’t be relied on to bring in enough of the applications you need. That’s made things like LinkedIn far more important, as it’s become more about us reaching out to candidates than the other way around.

The rise of remote working has added a new dimension too: if you're not restricted to commuting distance of a particular location, it opens up a lot of new possibilities and makes for a very different search.

​What kind of skills and experience are employers currently looking for?

There’s strong demand across the board, but fundraisers with digital skills are particularly sought-after, as they have been for several years.

What's new is that in areas like philanthropy, corporate partnerships and regional community fundraising, we’re seeing charities becoming a little more open to considering candidates from outside the sector. It’s a smart move, given there are insufficient numbers in the charity sector yet plenty of skilled people eager to join.

Out-of-sector candidates are also starting to see more opportunities where organisations have introduced more inclusive policies, under many of which, a lack of charity sector experience isn’t considered a valid reason to exclude them from the process.

What are fundraisers looking for and how can charities attract them?

Flexibility has become job seekers’ number one concern over the last few years, even more so than salary, and it’s now very much an expectation rather than an optional extra. Where organisations won’t meet their expectations or agree an acceptable compromise, we’re seeing many fundraisers walk away altogether, confident they’ll find somewhere else that will.

For their part, most organisations are offering some degree of flexibility, but in the last year we’ve seen a shift towards a slightly more rigid approach, with many requiring two days per week in the office as a non-negotiable minimum.

We’ve also seen a notable increase in people seeking to condense their role into four days rather than five. It may not be viable for everyone, but where charities are willing and able to accommodate this type of arrangement, it's one way to gain an advantage at potentially no extra cost.

The other question that candidates are sure to ask is around diversity, equity and inclusion. Fundraisers will want to see you have clear and well-communicated policies, and to feel that they’re working for a forward-thinking employer. We’ve worked with several charities in the past year who are really setting the pace, reconfiguring their recruitment process with bold, innovative and far more inclusive practices.

Speaking of the recruitment process...

Simple and straightforward is definitely the way to go. In this market, candidates don’t want or need to jump through hoops like lengthy application forms and statements, presentations or multiple interview rounds (stick to two at most), so consider what's really essential.

Most importantly, don't let it drag on for weeks: candidates won't hang around, so you can't afford to either. Holding interviews online is generally quicker and in our experience more effective, as people tend to be more relaxed, and once you've seen them all, make the final decisions as soon as you possibly can.

If you follow these steps, will you suddenly find it's raining fundraisers (hallelujah!)? Unlikely. But will you have the best possible chance of emerging victorious from your next battle for fundraising talent? ​Absolutely, and even more so if you've got a dedicated team of experienced fundraising recruitment specialists on your side.

That was a (shamelessly obvious) plug, by the way, but just in case you missed it, here's how to reach us if you’d like to know more about the current market, or if you need our assistance with new fundraisers or new opportunities during 2023 and beyond. We'd be delighted to help!

Team Fundraising

Your fundraising specialists

Hannah Laking

020 7820 7331 • Email Hannah

Dagmara Wolosiuk-de Paula

020 7820 7315 • Email Dagmara

Hayley Wilson

020 7820 7306 • Email Hayley

Dominic Gilchrist

020 7820 7332 • Email Dominic

Lucy McBride

020 7820 7324 • Email Lucy

​Contact our specialists

​Search fundraising jobs

Recruit for your team

  • Image 2022 11 26 T23 39 23

    Opportunity for all

    Find out how we’re working to deliver more diverse, equitable and inclusive recruitment…

    Find out more

  • Image 2025 09 11 T13 43 23

    Recruiting a charity CEO?

    Our executive recruitment specialists have an exceptional record of successful CEO, chair, trustee and…

    Find out more

  • The Harris Hill Salary Survey 2024

    Charity sector salaries

    Our 2025 Salary Survey has the latest rates and expert insight for roles throughout the sector.

    Find out more

News and insights

For more careers and recruitment advice: Read the Harris Hill Blog
Exec Blogthumb 1

2025 Salary Survey: Charity CEO salaries and executive trends

How much do charity CEOs get paid?The short answer is that although charity leaders tend to earn considerably less than their commercial counterparts, pay still varies enormously, depending on factors like the size and complexity of the charity's operations, its annual income, and the scale of the challenge facing the incoming CEO.Every organisation is unique, with its own particular priorities...

Read more
Blogthumb Temps Min

2025 Salary Survey: temps market trends

​Tough economic times have certainly had an impact on the number of permanent hires that charities have been able to make this year, but what about temporary and interim positions?Here's what our Temps specialists had to say about the trends they're seeing in the market, in our 2025 Salary Survey.​​It says everything about the current market that this is the only one of our specialist areas to ...

Read more
Blogthumb Finance

2025 Salary Survey: finance market trends

Say you work in finance and many will imagine a world of six-figure salaries, baffling spreadsheets, detached houses in the Home Counties and a statistically inexplicable number of people called Steve. Working in charity finance however, is – baffling spreadsheets aside – a rather different story, but with their finger on the pulse and their ear to the ground at all times (we should really get ...

Read more
Business Services Blogthumb Min

2025 Salary Survey: business services market trends

The roles we group under ‘Business Services’ aren’t about raising funds or raising profile, but about delivering an organisation’s work – including operational staff at all levels, project managers, programme leaders and all the admin, data and support staff in less visible roles that are nonetheless essential to getting things done. So what’s happening in the recruitment market for those work...

Read more
Blogthumb3 Min

Charity salaries: the ten-year trends

How have charity salaries progressed in the last 10 years? Who's seen the highest and lowest increases? And how has the sector fared against others and the cost of living? Our 2025 Salary Survey gives us a tenth year of directly comparable data, so this time, along with the latest rates for third sector jobs, we look at the longer-term changes too, travelling back to 2015 to compare rates of pa...

Read more
Blogthumb Marketing

2025 Salary Survey: marketing, PR and digital trends

As a charity professional, your experience of working and job-seeking in the sector will very much depend on the type of work you do, which is why our 2025 Salary Survey looks at the trends and challenges for each specialist area in turn. You can find the figures for all departments in the full survey here, but in the meantime, here’s what we’re currently seeing in the market for those in marke...

Read more
Blogthumb Fundraising

2025 Salary Survey: fundraising market trends

Driven by high demand and short supply, fundraisers' salaries have been rising in recent years, but how have things changed in the last 12 months? What kind of roles are organisations offering and which are the most challenging to fill? Here's what our fundraising specialists had to say in our 2025 Salary Survey (available here).​​It’s not the way we might want it to happen, but a combination o...

Read more
Blogthumb1

2025 Salary Survey: market overview

​The 2025 Harris Hill Salary Survey is out now (get your copy here), reporting on charity and not-for-profit sector salaries over the last 12 months, with the latest rates and expert insight for each of our specialist areas. This year we're also looking at how pay in the sector has evolved over the last 10 years, but first, here's what we had to say about the charity recruitment market in 2025....

Read more