Fundraising: Three-minute read
5 July 2023
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AIM's Head of Marketing and Communications, Jill Minter has been looking at the Fundraising sector trends and recruitment
Fundraisers are most often found working in the charity/not-for-profit sector. Their role is to create social rather than material wealth. In 2022 almost one million people (950,000) worked in the voluntary sector, that’s about 3% of the UK’s workforce. This 3-minute read looks at the latest trends in fundraising activities and in sector recruitment.
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What we can learn from America
Now in its third year, the annual Fundraising Outlook survey from OneCause reports that not-for-profits have faced continued challenges and uncertainty. In their 2023 Fundraising Outlook: Insights for Planning and Prioritisation, 890 fundraising professionals shared a glimpse into their fundraising successes and challenges from 2022 and their strategies for 2023.
Their key findings are:
- Event and online fundraising revenue remain vital to nonprofit success.
- Donor-related challenges are faced by most organisations.
- In-person events will make a resurgence in 2023, but many are planning hybrid events to suit the needs of donors.
- Organisations have inconsistent access to data useful in data-driven fundraising and storytelling.
- Nonprofits are prioritising donor acquisition in 2023.
- Event and online fundraising revenue remain vital.
Fundraising trends in the UK
According to Charity Digital, the top fundraising trends for 2023 are:
- Income diversity: The need for charities to find alternative ways to raise funds and not simply rely on tried and tested (and often fading) channels.
- Physical events are back.
- The introduction of flexible giving: Providing the potential to unlock more donation opportunities. A report by PayPoint that found that 64% of people who make regular donations to a charity would welcome the flexibility to change the amount they donated and when.
- Gaming for Good is among the fastest growing area of fundraising.
- Diversifying social media in order to target specific markets on the platforms they use.
- Email marketing: Results in one-third of online fundraising revenue, according to Salsa.
Difficulties recruiting professional fundraisers
A study, conducted by Pro Bono Economics and Nottingham Trent University's National VCSE Data and Insights Observatory, found that more than half (54%) of charities have vacancies and four in five (83%) of these organisations are finding it difficult to recruit in a bid to meet rising need.
Fundraiser Apprentices
The Level 3 apprenticeship standard provides experiential training for people based within charitable or not-for-profit organisations, or those in agencies providing fundraising consultation and services.
What are the employer responsibilities when taking an apprentice?
By employing an apprentice, there are certain requirements to meet. Employers must:
- Provide an induction into their role and provide on-the-job training
- Allow the apprentice to spend at least six hours per week for off-the-job training for their apprenticeship.
- Issue a contract of employment and pay at least the apprenticeship national minimum wage.
- Provide apprentices with the same benefits as other employees.
- Meet the minimum hours of employment for the apprentice – usually a minimum of 30 hours per week.
- Have an Apprenticeship Agreement between the employer and the apprentice.
More information
If you are interested in recruiting an apprentice or are a training organisation with a cohort of fundraising apprentices, get in touch with our apprenticeship team.
T: 44 (0)1332 224 654
E: assessment@aimgroup.org.uk
Or find out more about the end-point assessment for this standard.
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