Today we are talking about Leadership roles in Fundraising. How many CVs make those shortlists, what titles do they have? How can you hire the best Director of Fundraising in the most inclusive way? Read on!
In September 2024 we ran our latest Fundraising Network Event, which was focused on bringing together some incredible Heads of and Directors of Fundraising. With a lively discussion on how fundraisers can make the transition from Head of to Director, we discussed the importance of support and mentoring networks for fundraisers, finding personal time to decompress, consistent learning and development, and how to approach those first few months once in a new Leadership position.
The event also brought to light the importance of inclusivity within Director of Fundraising recruitment processes and techniques that can be used to achieve this. We understand there are numerous different drivers for inclusivity, and equally some excellent tactics that can be used to achieve an inclusive search. For example, being transparent on career journey and development, sharing interview questions in advance, paying for candidate travel expenses to attend the interview, sharing publicly your diversity statistics or inclusivity accreditations to build confidence in potential applying candidates.
Across the Prospectus Fundraising Team, we on average appoint 37 fundraising directors each year, with 50% of our appointments being first time Directors, and 43% not holding the director title before. Across Prospectus placements we have placed 33% people of colour, 7% with a declared disability, 10% who identify as LGBTQ+, and 72% who identify as women.
We also know the importance of finding the right person, but this can take time with our director processes from instruction to appointment taking on average 6.7 weeks. We have also seen over the last 12 months an average of 14 applications for Director level roles and with an average of over 5 interviews in the first instance. While we are Relationship Recruiters at heart, we love data! So get in touch if you’d like more information on these numbers and the useful data we can share as you plan your next Director appointment.
To give a few examples of recent Director appointments look at our case studies and do reach out for an informal conversation if you are considering your next senior career move or support with your next Director recruitment campaign.
