London charities face fundraiser recruitment difficulties
Howard Lake | 1 June 2005 | News
Nearly three quarters of London charities are experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff, according to a survey of 100 charities in the capital by King’s Cross-based Keystone Recruitment in conjunction with UK Fundraising.
The hardest positions to fill, according to the survey, are the key posts of senior and junior fundraisers. Many organisations say they are losing experienced staff who are hard to replace.
One reason is that salaries can be up to £3,000 higher in the private sector, so staff can easily be tempted to move. The survey shows that charities don’t believe they have adequate funds to compete effectively in the jobs market.
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Staff shortages make life difficult because the vast majority of charities employ fewer than fifty people. Budgets are tight so they don’t have the resources to regularly advertise vacancies. The average advertising spend is only £10,000 a year.
Robin Norris, managing director of Keystone Recruitment, said: “to keep costs down it makes sense for charities to use the temporary market. Small specialist teams can be sent in for specific work rather than carrying the overhead for a whole year.”
The survey reveals that, in addition to staff recruitment problems, charities complain that too much well-intended legislation is adding to bureaucracy, and they do not feel they have adequate support from the government.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.