Fundraiser

To become a charity fundraiser you'll need to have excellent communications skills and the enthusiasm to drum up support for our organisation
As a charity fundraiser, your remit is to increase the contributions of individuals and groups to a charity by building relationships and exploring new fundraising opportunities from various sources.
You'll need to be able to network, since success in the role depends heavily on being able to forge positive relationships with supporters. Another area of your role will be to raise awareness of the charity's work, aims and goals.
Types of charity fundraiser

Your fundraising title will normally be categorized according to the types of donors you focus on:

• Corporate fundraisersraise money from businesses in various ways, from organizing payroll giving to agreeing sponsorship of major events. This may suit someone with a good understanding of business.
• Trust and statutory fundraisersbid for trust and grant money. This may appeal more to people who enjoy research and preparing proposals.
• Community fundraisersare the main point of contact for most mainstream fundraising involving members of the public. Community fundraising will suit those who can work with people from all walks of life and are keen to get involved in a variety of fundraising activities.
• Major donor fundraisersfocus on developing relationships with key supporters who can donate high-value gifts. Often this is a role to which experienced fundraisers progress.
• Legacy fundraisersencourage supporters to consider leaving a gift to the charity in their will. This type of fundraising may suit people with an interest in law or accountancy.

In larger charities you'll usually specialist in one particular area of donation. In smaller charities, you may cover several types of fundraising.

Responsibilities

As a charity fundraiser, you'll need to:

• motivate and facilitate supporters to maximize the funds they raise
• inspire new supporters to raise money, while maintaining and developing relationships with existing supporters
• organised traditional activities, such as sponsored outdoor events and house-to-house collections of donated goods and money
• develop new and imaginative fundraising activities, many of which involve organizing events
• raise awareness of the charity and its work at local and national levels, e.g. giving talks to groups or seeking photo opportunities with the media
• develop and coordinate web-based fundraising, online auctions and merchandise sales
• increase funds by researching and targeting charitable trusts whose criteria match the charity's aims and activities
• develop and implement a strategy for individual and corporate supporter recruitment and development
• recruit, organised and manage volunteers to carry out various functions within the charity
• oversee corporate fundraising, including employee giving and matched giving from employers
• manage and update databases to record donor contact and preference information
• write applications and mail-shots, using direct mailing to reach a range of potential and current donors
• make risk analyses and balancing time-cost ratios to focus effort on the fundraising activities that are most appropriate and will have the highest chance of success.

Working hours

You'll generally work 35 hours per week but the exact number will depend on Our Executive Director. Our Project may offer flexible working. Availability to work out of hours is often required, e.g. to attend evening or weekend events and meetings.

• Fundraisers are increasingly based at home with offices, which may be some distance away. You'll be expected to be at our meeting supporters for a significant portion of your time.