Finding and Paying Fundraisers

Fundraising staff are crucial to any organisation. It is therefore important to find the right fundraiser for your organisation. Knowing where to look and what criteria the fundraiser must fulfil is paramount for ensuring that your fundraisers are as effective as possible.

Before you start your search, it is important to know what (or who) you are looking for. What sort of skills will they need to do the job? What sort of person will fit in well with team or do you need someone who can work on their own? It's much easier to find what you're looking for if you know from the start what it looks like.

You will also need to think about whether you can pay someone to fundraise for you. Many fundraisers are paid but there are also lots of fundraising volunteers that support organisations throughout the UK.

Institute Resources

There are a number of considerations when you are looking to take on a fundraiser. The Institute has an Employing and Paying Fundraisers briefing that raises a number of issues that should be considered before starting the search for a fundraiser. A briefing specifically aimed at those thinking about employing a consultant is also available.

The Institute also has a guide on managing fundraisers. The guide is designed to provide advice, tools, techniques and templates to implement best practice within your organisation. Structured to offer managers insight into each aspect of the Human Resources cycle, we have sought input from successful organisations, large and small, that have a track record of excellent fundraising.

Finding Fundraisers

The Institute maintains a Consultants Directory, which is made up of individual members who can provide consultancy/professional fundraising services. The Directory lets you search by different criteria to try and match you with any members that may be suitable to your needs.

As well as being able to search for fundraisers on our site, you can post positions on the Institute's Job Shop. The Job Shop works in partnership with Third Sector publication and allows your organisation to advertise any vacancies.

The Institute also has a Consultants Special Interest Group. This group is made up of volunteers, all of whom are consultants and who maybe to offer advice, information or other services.

Further Information

There are a number of other sector publications that you can advertise vacancies with, and many recruitment companies also have experience in finding fundraisers for organisations so it is worth doing some research to see if these avenues are suitable for your recruitment needs.

More information about finding volunteer fundraisers is available on our Volunteer Fundraisers page.

Payment of Fundraisers

The Institute of Fundraising supports the payment of fundraisers and promotes fundraising as a career. It is important that fundraisers are paid reasonably in order to ensure a fair wage and maintain public trust and confidence.

There are many payment mechanisms available to organisations. Commission-based payments are one well known mechanism. The Institute of Fundraising is opposed to commission payments in principle but does recognise that in some cases it may be the most appropriate payment mechanism.

Codes of Fundraising Practice

The Payment of Fundraisers Code of Fundraising Practice considers the payment different options and provides best practice guidance to follow in this area.

The Codes of Fundraising Practice set out the law and best practice for a range of fundraising techniques. All of the Codes are available online. The Best Practice for Fundraising Consultants Code may be particularly relevant when employing fundraisers, providing guidance for both fundraising organisations and consultants on how best to work together.

The Institute also have a Best Practice for Fundraising Contracts code which assists charities and professional fundraisers/consultants by laying out considerations for what should be discussed and what should be included in the contract. The code also contains a model contract that can be amended or used for guidance.

Other Institute Resources

While fundraising payments must not be excessive, the Code does not specify the salary ranges that might be expected. Fundraising salaries can vary greatly and may be related to the resources available, the size of the organisation or location for example. However, the Institute's Fundraising Salaries briefing has been compiled as to an indication of the sorts of payment levels that can be found in the fundraising sector.

When recruiting a fundraiser, organisations need to be aware that there may be the need for the fundraiser to make a solicitation statement. This is a statement which tells members of the public how much the fundraiser is receiving so they know how much money will reach the fundraising organisation.