The IoF has published “What does the public think of fundraising”, public perceptions survey results which explores how people view with fundraising profession.
The first in two installments of a public poll conducted by YouGov was published today by the IoF. The research looks at how the fundraising profession is seen and understood by the public, particularly at whether age, race, religion, disability, or gender make a difference to how fundraising is perceived.
The second installment will explore how people view a career in fundraising and will be made available on Monday 23 September 2019. The research was commissioned by the IoF and supported by TPP Recruitment and HR Directors Network.
Key findings from today’s publication include:
Importance of the role
- 78% of the general public think that raising funds for charity is an important thing, with young people more likely to agree that it is important
- 83% of the public had not recently heard, read or seen something about the fundraising profession
Diversity in fundraising
- 53% of people thought that fundraisers come from diverse backgrounds, however black respondents were more likely to disagree.
- Nearly 1 in 2 men think that fundraising “is not for people like me”.
Aspects of a fundraisers role
- 88% thought that being able to create rapport and build relationships, as well as engaging and influencing, were the most important aspects of the role.
- Women were more likely to agree that connecting with donors from diverse backgrounds is important to the job.
Chartered status
- Over one third would view fundraising more positively if it had a chartered body
Alex Xavier, Director of Professional Development at the IoF, said
We want to encourage the broadest range of people, from across the UK, to think of fundraising as a career choice. The public are absolutely right in that fundraising is a profession where people can make a difference to society, but we need to think more about how we can demonstrate and showcase the career and skills development opportunities that fundraising can offer.
There is a real opportunity with our planned journey to Chartered status in making fundraising a more attractive career prospect and we hope to work with schools, universities, and career development services to promote fundraising as a career. With a third of the public saying that they’d feel more positive about the fundraising profession if they knew that it had a Chartered body this provides us with a big chance to kick start the recruitment of the next generation of fundraisers.
Commenting on the findings, Rob Hayter, Director at TPP Recruitment, said
We are delighted to support the IoF in this research. Building a fundraising team is challenging; making it high-performing and then retaining its members is an often unachievable goal. We hope that the findings will help to educate and improve recruitment strategies and build a more successful and robust fundraising industry.
The second installment ‘Perceptions of a career in fundraising’ will be released on 23 September 2019.
