Fundraiser
Sales, marketing and procurement
Level 3 -
Raise funds for charitable causes.
Reference: OCC0887
Status:
SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 3554/02 Fundraisers
- 2494/03 Fundraising managers
Technical Education Products
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Macmillan Cancer Support, Alzheimer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust, Marie Curie, Children Society, WWF, Mencap, BHF, Action for Children, NSPCC, Cancer Research UK, Shelter
Summary
This occupation is found in the third sector in charities and not-for-profit organisations of all sizes. The role is usually based within a fundraising team internal to a charitable or not-for-profit organisation but on occasions can be with a specific agency that provides fundraising consultation and services.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to raise funds for charitable causes. Funds are raised from a range of sources including but not limited to trusts and foundations, digital media, major donors, corporate partners, raffles and lotteries, payroll giving, events, community engagement, individual giving, gift aid and legacies. A fundraiser will typically work within or have a focus on one or more of these areas. In addition, a fundraiser is also responsible for raising awareness and non-financial support for their charitable cause. As part of a fundraising team a fundraiser will contribute to the implementation and execution of the fundraising strategy. projects and plans. They will be responsible for delivering day-to-day fundraising activities that provide the essential income and engagement with supporters for the delivery of the charitable purpose of the organisation. They will also carry out research for opportunities and analyse and provide data to support any proposals for developing fundraising activities. The role is a common entry point for many looking for a career within fundraising and, potential progression into more senior fundraising roles.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of internal teams such as (but are not limited to) marketing, media, finance, service delivery, volunteering, advocacy, I.T and procurement. Externally, a fundraiser would interact, either autonomously or as part of a team, with clients, donors, supporters and prospective supporters of their charitable cause (e.g. corporate partners, high net worth individuals and the general public), as well as other stakeholders including suppliers, other charities, the media and professional bodies. The role is likely to be home or office-based, although they may spend time away from their base attending and supporting events, meetings with internal or external stakeholders, carrying out specific fundraising activities or carrying out research.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for reporting to a fundraising manager they will undertake the required tasks for the fundraiser. These tasks may require planning and prioritising personal and team activities to meet organisation needs. Due to the nature and level of responsibility it is not anticipated that the role would have any budgetary responsibilities.
They will be responsible for:
- Building and maintaining relationships to acquire new supporters and retain existing ones
- Securing funds and raising awareness of their charitable cause in line with agreed targets and KPIs
- Managing a portfolio of external stakeholders including supporters, volunteers, corporate partners and eventers
- Contributing towards the management of suppliers
- Maintaining a database of supporters
- Conducting research in order to gain valuable insight
- Developing and delivering fundraising plans as directed
- Putting together creative content to build a case for support
- Contributing towards the development of fundraising plans and evaluating their effectiveness
- Promoting fundraising propositions and using innovation to develop new ones
- Compliance with Fundraising and Data Protection regulations
- Addressing and solving problems within their role
- Sales activities identified in fundraising plans
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Macmillan Cancer Support, Alzheimer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust, Marie Curie, Children Society, WWF, Mencap, BHF, Action for Children, NSPCC, Cancer Research UK, Shelter
Typical job titles include:
Keywords:
Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)
Duties
Duty D1
Identify, build and maintain relationships to raise financial (such as funds) and non-financial support (such as raising awareness) of the charitable cause
Duty D2
Develop proposals and recommendations for inclusion in the development and execution of fundraising plans, such as plans to identify and acquire new supporters or plans to maintain and develop a portfolio of existing supporters
Duty D3
Recommend and autonomously carry out fundraising activities to achieve financial and non-financial targets and KPIs whilst keeping within agreed expenditure budgets where applicable
Duty D4
Undertake external market research and analysis of fundraising activity to continuously improve performance and support innovation across the team, making recommendations where necessary
Duty D5
Use a variety of different mediums to create material for an effective 'Case for Support' to acquire new supporters and/or retain existing ones
Duty D6
Monitor, evaluate and report on fundraising activities using a range of metrics to identify and make recommendations for areas of development and opportunity
Duty D7
Support the ongoing care and stewardship of supporters through recommending and implementing activities and initiatives that meet both the needs of the supporter and the organisation
Duty D8
Produce high quality written and verbal communication material to engage internal and external stakeholders to maximise any opportunities, situations and issues that will impact on the charitable work, such as (but not limited to) approaches to and from prospective donors and partners, applications for funding from trusts or statutory bodies, planning for fundraising events and the development of fundraising campaigns
Duty D9
Undertake, both autonomously and with others, data analysis and research of existing and prospective supporters in order to understand behaviour and motivation, to enable them to appropriately support the charitable aims of the organisation
Duty D10
Carry out the accurate update and maintenance of IT and records systems to ensure data is compliant and appropriately used to inform fundraising activities
Duty D11
Provide a high quality first point of contact with donors to identify and address complaints or problems and seek early resolution or escalation where required
Occupational Progression
This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.
In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.
It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.
Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.
Sales, marketing and procurement