case study

Working closely with the MS Society we sourced and placed 17 fundraisers into a range of roles, income streams and levels.

This was the outcome of real partnership working, in depth candidate research building on our existing networks and a creative and diverse candidate attraction campaign.

Contents

Background
Approach
Resource and Networks
Candidate Attraction
Process
Roles Placed

Background

This project was delivered as the MS Society launched a new five year strategy which was devised through extensive consultation with people across the MS community. Seven goals have been put in place which reflect what people affected by MS told the charity was most important to them, with the number one goal identified as ensuring all people with MS can access effective treatments.

A big part of the work to achieve this goal involves building a major fundraising appeal aimed at doubling the charity’s investment in MS research to find new treatments. The charity also planned to significantly increase its income from restricted sources such as trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships.

The success of fundraising is key to achieving the MS Society objectives for 2015 and beyond and the catalyst for making a substantial investment in developing the fundraising team and recruiting to a range of new posts.

Approach

Following a competitive process, were appointed to deliver this campaign on a sole agency basis. We were chosen for the creativity in our approach and level of resource we committed.

Fundraising is one of the most challenging areas of recruitment in the beyond profit sector. The success of the campaign is a reflection of open and transparent partnership working with the MS Society and the substantial resource and expertise we committed to the project.

The MS Society also committed to a clear talent development programme for successful candidates and an opportunity to build a career with the organisation.

Resource and Networks

We dedicated one Account Manager for the duration of the campaign who was supported by the wider fundraising recruitment team at Prospectus. Our specialist fundraising team is resourced with individuals who have worked successfully as both charity sector fundraisers and recruitment consultants and we have developed our extensive networks as longstanding active and engaged members of the fundraising community. Through our non-commission salary policy for our consultants, which creates a collaborative team working environment, we are able to leverage and amplify our reach and networks unlike any other recruitment firm. This was critical to sourcing high quality candidates at volume.

The fundraising team were also supported by our research team who, using our database, Linkedin and client/candidate networks, mapped out organisations and comparable charities to pinpoint specific individuals, approaching and engaging the most talented fundraisers and adding real value to the recruitment process.

Candidate Attraction

Alongside a comprehensive research and candidate engagement strategy we delivered a creative campaign which played a key role in attracting active candidates, but more importantly told the story of this campaign, raised the brand of MS Society as an employer of choice and demonstrated the investment the MS Society were making in the fundraising team. The candidate attraction campaign included:

• Branded advertising including web banners
• Candidate packs for senior roles
• Bespoke recruitment microsite specific to this campaign which generated 2,347 unique visitors over a 4 month period
• Social media campaign
• Sponsored thought piece in the Guardian Voluntary Sector

Process

The scale of the challenge was significant - to source and attract enough potential candidates to appoint to 17 roles required robust processes and planning.

Our processes included telephone interviews and thorough briefing on the roles and organisation, CV reviews of all candidates, 1st stage interviews, candidate profiles, final interview support and all administration and candidate engagement throughout the campaign.

Roles Placed

As a result of the hard work of our team and the MS Society we appointed to 96% of roles within the campaign timescales - including 2 roles added during the process. We also appointed the Executive Director of Fundraising as part of separate brief.

“MS Society have worked with Prospectus at every level and income stream of our fundraising team and they provide a professional, creative and engaging approach to this challenging area of recruitment.

We enjoyed working in partnership with them on this project and their networks, resources and experience added real value to the project.”

Paul Amadi
Executive Director of Fundraising
MS Society

This was a challenging but enjoyable process. Our success required a diverse and creative attraction brief, and the skills, networks and expertise of our fundraising recruitment team and MS Society.

• Executive Director of Fundraising
• Head of Community and Events
• Head of Partnership Fundraising
• Special Events Manager
• Major Donor Manager
• Area Fundraising Manager
• Trust Fundraising Manager
• Community and Events Manager
• Prospect Research Manager
• Major Donor Officer
• Major Donor Officer
• Prospect Researcher
• Community and Events Officer
• Appeal Programme Officer
• Corporate Fundraiser
• Area Fundraiser - South
• Area Fundraiser - East